Effective simplicity: The book that shaped Emma Stone’s life
The rising trajectory of Emma Stone‘s career seems to be never-ending, and she consistently gives acting performances that stultify her fans and peers from within the Hollywood film industry alike. The two-time Academy Award winner first came to the fore with a series of teen comedy appearances, including Superbad and Zombieland.
However, it was clear shortly after that Stone had her heart and mind set on bigger things, and her first Oscar win arrived in 2016 after she had played a hopeful actress in Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. A second honour then came for her effort as a resurrected suicide victim in Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, a testament to Stone’s sheer versatility in front of the camera.
It can be hard sometimes to emancipate the artist from the art, but aside from all the excellent acting performances, Stone is, by and large, a normal person seeking to gain experience from her life. In a feature with Vogue, she once spoke of the book that had inspired her the most, from a true titan of American literature.
“Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters,” Stone revealed. “It’s a super-fast read; you could read it in like a day. It’s two parts – it’s Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. It’s the first part I’m talking about. It’s JD Salinger and I sat down and read it in a day seven years ago on a trip and it has stayed with me ever since.”
The single volume containing two novellas, previously published in The New Yorker in 1955 and 1959, respectively, was compiled and published together by Little Brown in 1963. The first story focuses on Buddy Glass as he recalls his brother Seymour’s wedding day, which failed to go ahead due to a strange event.
The second story sees Buddy focus on his relationship with Seymour, a complexly brilliant yet troubled character, and Buddy explores his brother’s philosophical insights and his ultimately tragic demise. Salinger dives into the themes of religion and alienation in a world of sheer chaos and the search for deeper meaning.
Stone said of her impression of Salinger’s book, “It showed me how writing can be very simple and straightforward and still effective. They’re stuck in traffic for the majority of the story. I really like simple stories with great characters and not a lot of plot and heavy lifting. I feel that way with films, too.”
Evidently, Stone is always on the lookout for inspiration, and she found it deep within the words of Salinger, who was known for his sharp dialogue and introspective narratives. Finding an examination of the human condition in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, Stone began a fascination with a story of moving simplicity.
