Mark Spragg doesn't act like a novelist. He is down-to-earth and unpretentious. Yet he has written two highly acclaimed books ("Where Rivers Change Direction" and "The Fruit of Stone"). And he just completed a third, "An Unfinished Life." A movie based on the book is scheduled for release in December. Many novelists write books that are optioned to be movies, but it often takes years for them to hit the screen and just as often the movie project dies.
Spragg wrote the book and the screenplay simultaneously — with his wife collaborating on the screenplay — and they submitted the screenplay before he finished the book. "It was a writing exercise," said Spragg during an interview from his Wyoming home. "And Virginia, my wife, is a remarkably talented woman. Although I spent five years writing the book, the screenplay was complete in eight months."
Originally, Robert Altman was set to direct the film with Paul Newman starring — but all that has changed. Now the director is Lasse Hallstrom ("My Life as a Dog," "Chocolat" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape") and Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez star. "Redford brought a vitality and sense of power to the role that is extraordinary. I think it's the performance of a lifetime," said Spragg.
Spragg, 52, described his central character, Einar Gilkyson, as an embittered, 70-ish man who spends most of his time caring for a war buddy, Mitch — portrayed in the film by Morgan Freeman — who was badly injured by a bear. Gilkyson is bitter because he believes his son, Griffin, who died in an auto accident, would be alive had his daughter-in-law, Jean (played by J. Lo), not been driving the car. When Jean returns to the Gilkyson ranch after a horrible experience with a brutal boyfriend, she has her 10-year-old daughter, Griffin, with her.
"Originally, this old guy kept appearing in my mind and my dreams, lonely, surrounded by cats — then I started to ask why was he embittered. That process helped define the book," said Spragg. "I'm enamored with the elderly. I was raised in a bunkhouse with older cowboys who were pivotal in my life. Old men raised me, and they embodied a lot of wisdom and taught me ethics. They valued hard work, and they cared for me."
Spragg was born in Pittsburg and spent a few months in an incubator before his family moved to Shoshone, Wyo., to run a dude ranch. He attended a one-room school, graduated from Cody High School and the University of Wyoming. He recalls his mother asking him when he was only 8 what he wanted to do when he grew up, and he quickly said, "novelist."
"I'm remarkably fortunate that I have had no other aspirations. I studied comparative literature as an undergraduate, but when I finished, I shod horses, worked on an oil rig, taught in high school and wrote a few short stories, but not enough to support me. I thought about writing all the time. I have been an inveterate reader since I was 12. All my life I've read up to 175 books a year, a lot of them twice."
Spragg thinks that his varied experiences provide good background for a writer, making him "an anonymous observer of the world." On the other hand, Spragg often includes quantum physics as well as poetry in his voracious reading. "Quantum physicists look at life theologically and scientifically. Being raised in a national forest, I fundamentally see the world from a sense of quietude, a bit of magic and the inexplicable."
Spragg has never expected applause. "It's foolhardy. I rarely contemplate the possibility of success or being awarded prizes. I truly love the process of writing, but I'm not much enamored with the notoriety that comes with it."
He sees the theme of "An Unfinished Life" as forgiveness. "I was thinking about that when all the elements of the story came into play. One of the gifts of aging is that you become more comfortable with who you are. Einar and Mitch are plain spoken men who are very comfortable with who they are."
Although Spragg includes some cursing in the book, he doesn't consider any of it gratuitous. "Almost all of it comes in the chapters about Roy (Jean's brutal ex-boyfriend). He's a horrible man. He sentimentalizes violence and feels utterly righteous in his sense of violence. I wanted him to seem to be a crude person. He feels misunderstood, but we understand him perfectly in the book. Griff, the young girl, is such a brave, extraordinary soul. For her to be damaged by this man is atrocious."
Spragg concedes he is obsessive in his writing. "I work seven days a week until I get a first draft of a book down. I have lunch, take a walk, then edit through the afternoon. I used to be concerned that I was obsessed. But then I realized I want my doctor and my plumber to be obsessive, to really know what they're doing. I care about writing far and away more than any other activity in my life."
Interestingly, Spragg is a close friend of Kent Haruf, the noted author of "Plainsong" and "Eventide" — and they spend a lot of time talking about writing. Anyone who has read both men's work will likely see some similarities of style — spare, straightforward description, prickly dialogue, strong, disparate characters, most with an appealing sense of "goodness."
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com