Seeing as Vanity Fair made popular the party game where a guest (most famously Marcel Proust) is asked to answer a series of illuminating questions and seeing as Unity Books stocks Vanity Fair and seeing as what other people are reading is always of interest (as an avenue to further reading oneself), I hereby introduce: The Reader - a selection of questions asked of various persons aimed at unearthing their literary habits and, as is always the case with great literature, some hint of what's going on between the lines...

Cameron Rhodes

"Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple."

Actor, director & all round thespian, Cameron Rhodes (Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, She Stoops to Conquer...), talks about acting, manhood & Yeats...


Which book caused you to love reading?
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovic byAleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I read (it) in forth or fifth form English at Upper Hutt College. The  descriptive detail captured my imagination at a time when I wanted to inhabit different worlds and places. I also read Stanislavky's Creating a Role and Being an Actor on the Hutt train into Wellington to drama classes.
All serious Russian books, perfect for an intense, earnest, fifteen year old aspiring actor, from Upper Hutt.. plus...The Hobbit, and Lord of the Flies.

What are you currently reading & how did you come across the book?
Dipping into three: Yoga Wisdom and Practice, by Bks Iyengar, my mother lent to me over the Christmas break.  A Method To Their Madness: Inside the Actor's Studio, a friend dropped it off on my doorstep , as a gift, late last year . Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky,  was an opening night gift from a director, and am finally starting it three years on.

What is the book you have re-read the most?
Probably  Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen, a great 1970's acting book. Reminds me why I do it, and is useful  for acting teaching and directing. Also Manhood by Steve Biddulph, a book I give away to friends, and recommended to every male in NZ...The collected poems of W.B Yeats and collected works of the late Alister Te Ariki Campbell.                                                            

Favourite book to movie adaptation?
A Room with a View, great Merchant Ivory film adaptation of the EM Forster novel.

What books are next to your bed?
None...I get over stimulated reading before sleep, so I have a minimalist, zen like room..books by the couch however: The Consolations of Philosophy By Alain De Botton, Instant Zen by Jim McMullan and M Levin, and Shakespeare by Bill Bryson. Oh, the Bike Repair Manual by Chris Sidewells..trying to cycle more and DIY bike repairs.

Favourite literary quote?
"Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple." Ceran