previous books. Detail slows down the writing process but he felt it was needed, as you don't want events to happen too quickly. So viola! Follett finally got the pace right, slowing down the action & focusing on the detail
in a scene. He realized that the reader wants a tense situation to linger, that the writer's job is to keep thinking of new things that can go wrong.
Before he finished The Eye of the Needle, Follett knew it was better than anything written previously. He remembers sitting at the typewriter knowing in his heart - this time his writing was "terrific." His agent, after years of saying Follett's books weren't good enough to sell in the American market changed his mind
about this one, commenting "this is going to be a huge international best seller and you are going to have tax problems."
The Eye of the Needle was published in 1978 and did well all over the world. Twenty years later, this book continues to sell in over 25 languages, and has sold approximately ten million copies.
We will be discussing The Eye of the Needle, on March 3rd at 10 AM in the Communiity Room.
The following Thursday, March 10th, we will watch the movie staring Donald Sutherland, and have
a brief discussion afterwards.
Come see the movie on the big screen in the library.
Sip coffee, eat popcorn
and share insights.