In a similarity to my recent post about the Salt Path, The Penguin Lessons is another story which I saw on the silver screen first, before borrowing the book from the library. If you’ve not seen the film, it’s based on a true story and set in Argentina during the 1970s when an English teacher, Tom Michell, finds masses of dead penguins washed up on a beach following an oil spill. Initially presuming there are no survivors, Michell finds there is in fact, one penguin still alive, although it is in a terrible state.
Michell takes the penguin back to the apartment where he’s staying. He cleans the penguin up and essentially saves its life. The following morning, he takes the penguin back to the beach with the intention of releasing them back into the wild. However, the penguin is reluctant to leave Michell’s side. The stubborn penguin outright refuses, in fact. Michell thinks he has no other choice but to take the bird to live with him at a prestigious boarding school where he has just started working. By taking care of the penguin, he inevitably ends up learning more about himself.
Tom Michell published this memoir in 2015. He was inspired after he found some film in his garage that had never been developed. Upon getting it processed, he found on the film was footage of the penguin, known as Juan Salvador, swimming in the pool at the boarding school. One can only imagine how finding something like that can trigger memories of such overwhelming nostalgia. Memories of a forgotten time when Juan Salvador captured not only the heart of Michell, but also of the staff and students at the school. I, for one, am pleased that Michell felt it was his duty to share this story with the world.
As is usually the case when a book is adapted into a film, several changes are made for numerous creative reasons. While the setting and era of the story remain unchanged, it’s the dramatic change in the depiction of Michell’s character that is perhaps the strangest. Michell was twenty-three when he took the job and found the penguin. A young man with the world at his feet. But he is portrayed in the film by Steve Coogan, who must have been around 58 at the time of making this film. Coogan’s portrayal of the character is disillusioned with life, and there’s the suggestion that he’s suffered great loss. While he initially despises the penguin – unlike in the book – he grows to love it, and it is through caring for the bird that he can finally heal.
There’s something that I’ve heard Harlan Coben say when asked about book-to-film adaptations. “They didn’t do anything to my book. My book is still there.” My point here is just to point out that there are significant differences between the book and the film of The Penguin Lessons. But I’m not here to decide if one is better than the other. I think both are good, and both can be enjoyed. Separately or together.
My Goodreads rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)
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