On a lighter note for a change... one of the things we look for in books that are going to be made into movies for Johnny are familiar bits. Possibilities for previous characters to peek out at us. One huge popout possibility is the "Bob's your uncle" part of the book. At the end of Khader's war in the explanation of the "Robert's your uncle (Fanny's your aunt)" saying that we heard Capt. Jack Sparrow say in POTC. If it makes the cut, I know it's a "just a bit of silliness, really" that will bring a little grin to our faces.

So before we get into the war discussion.....is there any bit in the book where you thought Lin might sound like any of Johnny's other characters?

I'll have to think about the other bits - but I kinda had the opposite thought when reading that part in Shantaram...

Somewhere a long the line in an article or interview about CJS - a comment was made about CJS lines that could be attributed to "Johnnyisms" or lines that weren't in the script that Johnny said that made the final cut. (one of them for sure is the "My eyesight is as good as ever" comment CJS made in Tia Dalma's shack after everyone saw the black mark.") It was mentioned that this was one of the reasons it is difficult to work with Johnny without cracking up - you never know what he is going to say!

When I read that part of the book - I thought "that is where Johnny got that line!" and it made me wonder what books other Johnnyisms in POTC and other films came from.

I guess what I am saying is now I attribute that line in POTC to Shantaram rather than the other way around (although if it does make the final cut, I'll definitely grin :D )

Am I making any sense at all?

You're definitely making sense, irish! I made the same connection, having read the phrase in Shantaram before I connected it to the line in COTBP. So I've always thought Johnny read the book first and brought the line to the film. I think the same is true of the 'humiliated raisins' adlib in the outtakes that came from Benny and Joon. I mean, it may have other, earlier connections for Johnny, but I heard it first in B&J.
As far as possible connections between Lin and other characters Johnny has played, I haven't a clue. It's hard to come up with any similarities, verbal or visual, except maybe with Donnie Brasco, who likewise was living undercover in a big crowded city amongst mafia types.
I just finished rereading the part in the book where Lin and Didier go to the Palace and Lin gets attacked by Madame Zhou's eunuchs (a connection there to POTC)...Lin convinces Didier not to shoot the Madame, and when they're leaving they fall through the floor and land in a heap...Didier says, "That's it." "I'm going back up there and shoot that woman!" That line sort of reminded me of Captain Jack and the monkey. :lol:

Ahh but will the phrase make the cut into the film? lol

I'm not sure about particular phrases, but there seem to be a few themes that run through each of his films.
"what a man can and can't do" , "stepping down into the crowd", "the underdog fighting for what's right" etc...

LOL Yes, we have an accord!

One can only hope! That whole sequence with Lin and Didier riding on the motorcylce and ending up at the Palace is priceless! It's one of the few humorous parts in the story.
To wit:
"By the time we reached our destination, I calculated that the danger faced during a thirty-minute ride in fast traffic with Didier was roughly equivalent to a month under fire in Afghanistan." (pg. 802)

There's one more, I think it's in Pirates 2.
um... :blink: .... about taking the hard way , the right way vs. the easy way.
Guess I have an excuse to see P.2 today. Or it could be CACTF. It's a very quick 4 or five word quote.

I know there were a couple of phrases that stuck out, although I can't be specific at the moment. :blink:
I do know that throughout the book, I kept thinking of the converstion with Lizzie and Jack in DMC where she says 'there will come a moment when you have a chance to do the right thing' and when she says 'you're a good man' and his response is 'all evidence to the contrary'.
I also thought of Ichabod Crane when Lin was learning how to ride the horse.

I'm sure that if I see and hear connections to other Depp films or lines in Shantaram, it will be like some kind of epiphany and I will recognise it.

I could almost wish I had these questions BEFORE I read the book, you know? It's so massive, and I've spent so much time reading it, TWICE, (and I admit I'm not done yet) and my focus is often on something else entirely that has not been a discussion point. My point is I have no good answer to this question because I can't remember anything that leaps to mind and I don't even remember the line about eyesight! Maybe I haven't come to it yet.

Arnelle, it's just a discussion...there really aren't any answers..only our opinions. Sometimes we relate more to one discussion point or question than to another and sometimes we just don't have an opinion. And that's OK too! ;)

I don't know how many times I've wished there was an annotated edition of this book! It would make it sooo much easier to look things up in the text, na? :P

Right! :D so again, I look forward to the film so these "connections" to other films can smack me square in the face - and make me smile doing it!