Some people tiptoe through the work of great writers. Twyla Tharp barrels through like a tank.
“I’ve read probably 25 or 30 books by Balzac, all of Tolstoy — the novels and letters — and all of Dickens,” the legendary choreographer tells The Post’s Barbara Hoffman. “I learned my craft from these guys.”
The creator and director of the Billy Joel Broadway hit “Movin’ Out” — and the misfire that was the Bob Dylan project, “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” — is back with a new show, “Come Fly Away,” built around the Frank Sinatra songbook. To prepare for it, Tharp says, she didn’t read any Sinatra bios. Instead, she mined the Romantic novels of the 19th century for what they told her about the singer’s main theme: love. Here are her favorites.
David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens
Dickens has a fascinating character in Wilkins Micawber — some say he’s modeled on Dickens’ own father. Micawber is what we’d call a loser, but his wife, Emma, tolerates him the whole nine yards. In the end, he triumphs because he believes something will turn up tomorrow, and she believes him. It’s the patience that goes with commitment.
Cousin Bette
by Honore de Balzac
Balzac loved courtesans. They were independent women, and in the 19th century, that was a breed that was just evolving. In this book, Jenny Cadine is a gorgeous courtesan who acquires great wealth, gives great parties, she plays men off one against the other and shows no mercy for the men who are taken in by her net.
Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy
I think Tolstoy had an unbelievably complicated relationship with women . . . Poor Anna Karenina pays for her independence with her life. She’s gorgeous, she leaves a relationship and a child to go off to become her own person and of course comes to a devastating end.
Remembrance of Things Past
by Marcel Proust
“Swann’s Way, Volume 1,” is about the completely obsessive relationship Swann has with a woman, Odetta. It’s extremely dense — Proust’s command of language is incredible — but my French isn’t good enough, so I’ve read this in English. This is as great a study of obsession as “Moby-Dick” is.