Diary of a Film

My glib line on this novel is, "Like Rachel Cusk, if she liked people," but that doesn't really do this book (or the great Cusk) justice. Like Cusk, Govinden, a British novelist hardly known over here, places his narrative in the uneasy but alluring conversational space between people, but what his story (built from the unpromising bones of a master filmmaker presenting his latest picture at a European festival) reminds me most of, in its generosity, its easy-going, wide-ranging intellect, and its savvy and immersive celebration of creative work, is The Conversations, the wonderful dialogue between the writer Michael Ondaatje and the film editor Walter Murch. I was swept away by this brilliant and humane little book—it's my favorite novel of the year so far.