> "claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, and that he had never given serious consideration to using it"

So he knew there was a final chapter; he just didn't care.

dude. you have apparently been here long enough to know that that kind of response is unacceptable here.

you are choosing to interpret that series of events differently than i did. i see it like this:

1) kubrick reads the american version of the book.

2) he writes most of the screenplay.

3) somebody tells him about chapter 21. he reads it.

4) kubrick decides that, even if he had originally read the 21-chapter book, he would ignore the final chapter as being unrealistic.

in that version of events, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t know about it beforehand or not, it would not have affected his final screenplay.

>you have apparently been here long enough to know that that kind of response is unacceptable here.

Clearly; sometimes people are insufferable though, and I'd rather let them know then carry anything into my actual life.

>you are choosing to interpret that series of events differently than i did. i see it like this: ...

And how does that disagree with my statement that he didn't know there was a last chapter until later? He may have never started the screenplay if he'd read the original since it completely changes the story. It's like Raymond Carver edited by Gordon Lish vs. not.