Carlos Cuarón
Mexican writer, director and producerMexican writer, director and producer Carlos Cuarón is the brother of filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, who made a big splash in Hollywood with Y tu mamá también (And Your Mother Too). Not many are aware, however, that the 42-year-old Carlos shared the Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for that film with his more famous sibling. But Carlos has two passions in life, with literature sharing a place in his heart alongside the cinema.
Q. Where does your love of literature come from?
A. Just like everyone else, from reading.
Q. Reading what?
A. I began at 11 with the humorous literature of Marco Antonio Almazán, the Mexican version of Enrique Jardiel Poncela, whom I also read. Juan Rulfo’s books, Pedro Páramo and El llano en llamas (The Plain in Flames), also left their mark on me, as did those of José Agustín Ramírez Gómez, (a writer) of the new wave of the 1960s.
Q. Which book stands out?
A. (Miguel de) Unamuno’s Niebla (Mist). I keep re-reading it.
Q. And which book in another language?
A. The Catcher in the Rye made my head explode. I prefer to read in English whatever (happens to be) in that language. Some translations from Russian or Japanese are better in English (than in Spanish).
Q. Do you have time to read?
A. Not much, so I hope the books forgive me. I’ve just finished reading Israeli (author) Etgar Keret in Spanish.
Q. Do you see yourself combining your passions by doing a literary adaptation?
A. I’d like to and I want to do a short film with a story by Haruki Murakami. But so far each time I’ve adapted a novel as a screenwriter it hasn’t made it to the cinema.
