Being There

Rating:
Summary: a deliciously wicked satire on America...
Review: As most folks probably recall, 'Being There' was a Peter Sellers film some twenty years ago with the memorable line "I like to watch". The film was well done, both funny and sad in equal measures. Most folks probably don't realize the film was based on book by the late Jerzy Kosinski, written some ten years earlier. I decided to see how the book compares with the film. I'm delighted to say it fairs very well indeed.

'Being There' is a short novel about an illiterate, dim-witted man who had done literally nothing in life but garden. During his life he has engaged in limited social intercourse, and none of the other sort of intercourse. But his life completely changes when his guardian dies. Thrust into the world, the rich and beautiful people he meet view him as deep thinker ... interpreting his gardening statements as profound metaphores. He becomes an overnight sensation.

Taken as a story by itself 'Being There' is just ordinary. The prose is adequate as are the characterizations. But 'Being There' is a scathing satire on how the most undeserving become stars in America. Clearly one can become a celeb without an ounce of intelligence or talent.


Bottom line: if you enjoyed the film you'll really enjoy the book.

Rating:
Summary: being there
Review: Being There by Jerzy Kosinski; London: Black Swan,1983 (19711), 111 pp., L5.99

The novella "Being There" written by Jerzy Kosinski in 1970 is about a retarded man called Chance who has been living isolated in his rich benefactor's house as a gardener since he was a child. Therefore he was only educated by TV. After his benefactor's death, he is flung into the real world, the world of sex, money and power. After a car-accident he gets the chance to live with EE and her husband Ben Rand who is very ill. As Ben Rand is a famous financier, Chance gets in contact with the President of the USA and with other important persons so that he becomes a famous media superstar himself although he does not really know what he is saying; the people interpret his words like they want. Kosinski has already seen the development of media, especially of TV in our society 30 years ago. Today many things are shown on TV in a way that everybody can find something he is interested in. TV is always a topic to talk or discuss about. But many people, especially children and teenagers are influenced by TV. This goes so far that some people even do spend nearly their whole leisure in front of their TVs'. In our opinion it is not very realistic to become an important, famous member of society without really being educated. As it is exaggerated on purpose, the book is interesting to read because it deals with a very topical problem everybody should be confronted with. For these reasons we recommend "Being There".

Rating:
Summary: A gardener in politics
Review: Chance, the mentally handicapped hero of this story, has spent all his life working in the garden. Having never been on the other side of the wall surrounding the house he is living in, he has learned everything he knows about the world and its people from TV. Suddenly launched into the real world, dominated by money and power, Chance accidentally becomes a media superstar. Due to his metaphorical speeches about nature, wrongly interpreted as political statements by everybody, he becomes very popular. His road to success leads him straight to the top. Will Chance's emergence find its end in being the next President of the United States of America?

“Being There“ is a well written satire criticizing American society and the media in particular. Although this novel is fiction, Kosinski included some personal experience he gained. “Being There“ partly is an imaginative projection of his life. Connecting both, satirical and thrilling elements, Kosinski created a story which is worth to be read. The image of modern society mirrored by this novel will still survive in your mind when putting the book down.

Rating:
Summary: Why he walks on water
Review: During the time period portrayed by the book, people would hide and not acknowledge their retarded offspring. The author goes to great lengths to show physical similarities between the "old man" and Chauncey "the gardener". The old man's discarded clothing fit Chauncey absolutely perfectly as if they were tailored for Chauncey. Chauncey was not listed as an employee. No one knew who Chauncey's father was. There was no records for Chauncey. People of that time period were not known for taking in retarded strangers, the retarded were either institutionalized or otherwise hidden away. Not even the old man's business parter knew about Chauncey. The only possible explaination for these facts would be that Chauncey was the old man's child. Otherwise you would have to credit the old man, a retired lawyer, of having Chauncey working in his house as a gardener for over 40 years, starting when Chauncey was a little boy, as unpaid slave labor. At the end of the book, Chauncey is himself an old man visiting his garden, just like the "old man" used to do (another parallel drawn by the author). When reading this book, please keep it in perspective of the time period that is represented.

Rating:
Summary: Was the movie better?
Review: I bought this book expecting some answers to questions the movie posed. Nothing doing. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book and it literally zips right by. But I couldn't help but think that Mr. Kosinski wrote the book and when Peter Sellers finally got someone to make the movie (Sellers tried selling the idea of an adaptation of this book to the studios for years) that he took the opportunity to change, and improve things, in his story. I read it in about four hours and it's an inexpensive book so go ahead and buy it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it for the price.

Rating:
Summary: Das Wunschbild: A Fable for our Times
Review: I first became aware of this book as the basis for the remarkable film starring Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas. Kosinski's book, however, is just as remarkable in its own right.

The hero of the book is Chance, a mentally retarded adult who works as the gardener at the home of a wealthy retired New York lawyer. During the whole of his adult life, Chance has never left the house and garden; his only contact with the outside world is through television, which he watches obsessively. His life changes, however, when his employer dies, the house is sold and he is forced to leave. Chance is slightly injured when he is hit by a car belonging to Elizabeth Eve ('EE'), the wife of Benjamin Rand, a rich and influential Wall Street financier and a friend of the President. EE, mishearing 'Chance the gardener' as 'Chauncey Gardiner' and mistakenly believing Chance to be a successful businessman, invites him to stay with her and her husband at their home. A series of misunderstandings leads all concerned to believe that Chance is not only a businessman but also an economic prophet. He is invited to speak on national television where he talks about the only thing he understands, gardening. A series of platitudes about the changing of the seasons in the garden is taken to be an extended metaphor forecasting an upturn in the economy, and his supposed optimism strikes a chord with the viewing public. The book ends with the elderly, terminally ill, Rand about to name Chance as his heir and successor, and the President about to nominate him as his vice-presidential running-mate.

The book is short, a novella rather than a novel, of around 100 pages. The style is direct, simple and like a fable. It has been interpreted as a satire on the role of television in the modern age or on the American political system. Those elements are certainly present and were emphasised more in the film than in the book. (In Britain the film was widely taken to be a direct attack on the Reagan administration, even though it was actually made during the Carter years but not released here until after the presidential election). The significance of the book, however, is a deeper one.

In the film, Peter Sellers portrayed Chance as a lonely, pitiable character in late middle age, young only by comparison with his aged employer and the ageing Rand. It is an affecting performance, but subtly different from the Chance of Kosinski's book. Kosinski's Chance is relatively young, good-looking and emotionally detached from his surroundings. This detachment allows others to treat him as what in German would be called a Wunschbild, that is to say a picture of one's wishes, a blank canvas onto which one can paint one's own desires. Each of the other characters sees in the supposed Chauncey Gardiner whatever he or she wishes to see. Rand, who has no children with EE and who is estranged from the children of his first marriage, sees him as a potential successor to his business empire and almost as an adopted son. EE, sexually frustrated in a marriage to a much older man, sees him as a lover and a possible second husband after Rand's death. The President sees him as the ideal candidate for Vice-President, a position he has been struggling to fill. The Soviet Ambassador to the UN sees him as a liberal, Russophile capitalist who will use his influence to further east-west relations. The American TV audience see him as the man who will lead them out of recession and into prosperity.

The book certainly is, in part, a commentary on the television age. It certainly is, in part, a political satire. (We can all think of politicians who have the ability to be all things to all men). Most importantly, however, it is a brilliant fable on the human capacity for self-delusion and for seeing others not for what they are but for what we would wish them to be.

Rating:
Summary: Das Wunschbild: A Fable for our Times
Review: I first became aware of this book as the basis for the remarkable film starring Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas. Kosinski�s book, however, is just as remarkable in its own right.

The hero of the book is Chance, a mentally retarded adult who works as the gardener at the home of a wealthy retired New York lawyer. During the whole of his adult life, Chance has never left the house and garden; his only contact with the outside world is through television, which he watches obsessively. His life changes, however, when his employer dies, the house is sold and he is forced to leave. Chance is slightly injured when he is hit by a car belonging to Elizabeth Eve (�EE�), the wife of Benjamin Rand, a rich and influential Wall Street financier and a friend of the President. EE, mishearing �Chance the gardener� as �Chauncey Gardiner� and mistakenly believing Chance to be a successful businessman, invites him to stay with her and her husband at their home. A series of misunderstandings leads all concerned to believe that Chance is not only a businessman but also an economic prophet. He is invited to speak on national television where he talks about the only thing he understands, gardening. A series of platitudes about the changing of the seasons in the garden is taken to be an extended metaphor forecasting an upturn in the economy, and his supposed optimism strikes a chord with the viewing public. The book ends with the elderly, terminally ill, Rand about to name Chance as his heir and successor, and the President about to nominate him as his vice-presidential running-mate.

The book is short, a novella rather than a novel, of around 100 pages. The style is direct, simple and like a fable. It has been interpreted as a satire on the role of television in the modern age or on the American political system. Those elements are certainly present and were emphasised more in the film than in the book. (In Britain the film was widely taken to be a direct attack on the Reagan administration, even though it was actually made during the Carter years but not released here until after the presidential election). The significance of the book, however, is a deeper one.

In the film, Peter Sellers portrayed Chance as a lonely, pitiable character in late middle age, young only by comparison with his aged employer and the ageing Rand. It is an affecting performance, but subtly different from the Chance of Kosinski�s book. Kosinski�s Chance is relatively young, good-looking and emotionally detached from his surroundings. This detachment allows others to treat him as what in German would be called a Wunschbild, that is to say a picture of one�s wishes, a blank canvas onto which one can paint one�s own desires. Each of the other characters sees in the supposed Chauncey Gardiner whatever he or she wishes to see. Rand, who has no children with EE and who is estranged from the children of his first marriage, sees him as a potential successor to his business empire and almost as an adopted son. EE, sexually frustrated in a marriage to a much older man, sees him as a lover and a possible second husband after Rand�s death. The President sees him as the ideal candidate for Vice-President, a position he has been struggling to fill. The Soviet Ambassador to the UN sees him as a liberal, Russophile capitalist who will use his influence to further east-west relations. The American TV audience see him as the man who will lead them out of recession and into prosperity.

The book certainly is, in part, a commentary on the television age. It certainly is, in part, a political satire. (We can all think of politicians who have the ability to be all things to all men). Most importantly, however, it is a brilliant fable on the human capacity for self-delusion and for seeing others not for what they are but for what we would wish them to be.

Rating:
Summary: Rare case of Movie being better than the book
Review: I have long been a fan of the movie "Being There," so out of curiousity I picked up this book. First thing I noticed was that it was only about 130 pages, minus a few blanks between chapters, with not many words per page. From there I was somewhat disappointed at the character development which somehow was better pulled off in the movie. I think Peter Sellers is "to blame" for this because he added so many nuances to the main character through his economy of gestures and complete involvement in the project. I also much preferred the Eve movie character to EE of the book because the screenplay and her acting fleshed out her vulnerability much more. An example of this being her telling Chauncey that she is a "shy person," before trying to be intimate with him. I was also disappointed to find out that there was no Street Gang episode nor was there Louise's reaction to Chauncey's being on television. These two scenes, aside from the "I like to watch" scene, were some of the funniest in the picture. Last, but certainly not least, was the somewhat mysterious walking on water scene at the end of the movie which ended the picture on such a sublime note where in the book it is just politicians babbling over the next VP, before going back to the nature metaphors.

Seems like the author, since he also cowrote the screenplay, did better on his second take with this idea and by combining it with the talents of Shirley Maclane, Melvyn Douglass, Hal Ashby, and Peter Sellers made it into a comedy classic.

BTW the only other picture I can say that was better than the book it was based on was "Lost Horizon," but that movie is in its own category altogether.

Rating:
Summary: Relevant to current times!
Review: Is it a coincidence that Chance is a gardener, and we have a President Bush? *wink*

Quick, dry, and fun to read. Humorous look on American society. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: It seems to me that the works of Kosinski set in Eastern Europe have far greater strength and authenticity than the work set in America. This particular little piece of ' Look at the anarchic dismal impersonal civilization we live in' school has a touch of the randonmness and violence which Kosinki's world is pervaded by.The story of the gardener whose guardian dies and who has to encounter the ' real world' for the first time gives no sense of any redeeming moment or beauty in life. One might say that Becket doesn't either and that is his genius. But I have the sense that the emptiness which Kosinki finds at the heart of 'Television Civilization's is an emptiness in the heart of Kosinski himself.
Unfairly perhaps I think of Tolstoy and that kind of fiction which makes the person love life more, not wonder why one is reading something which makes one wonder if life really is so worthless and so small.