Women Who Love Books Too Much discussion
books to movies
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Cathy, I just love your topic! It is one of my book categories....as I love to review movies (a hobby of mine). Perhaps this list will help others to post to this topic????? I apologize though & must admit I am one of those who has NOT read evey book turned into a movie! (Posted by Teresa aka Fenixbird SandS)BOOKS-INTO-MOVIES I have watched & adored!!
Angela's Ashes* McCourt, Frank
Breakfast at Tiffany's* by Capote, Truman
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum**
Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile***[This was a phenomenal movie...totally unexpected!]
A Clockwork Orange (Paperback) Burgess, Anthony
Dune by Frank Herbert***
The Earthsea Trilogy: A Wizard of Earthsea;
The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore
by LeGuin, Ursula K.
***Fight Club: A Novel by Palahniuk, Chuck
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials: Book 1
by Pullman, Philip*
The Hobbitt by J.R.R. Tolkein***
Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkein***
Memoirs of a Geisha by Golden, Arthur***
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville***
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
A Sound of Thunder*** (short story) by Ray Bradbury
Snow Falling on Cedars*** (my personal favorite!) by David Guterson
Starship Troopers*** by Heinlein, Robert A.
Spirited Away Picture Book by Miyazaki, Hayao***
To Kill a Mockingbird by Lee, Harper***
When The Legends Die by Hal Borland***
Wizards***
Books I HAVE read (or am currently reading):
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Capote, Truman
The Bourne Identity*** by Robert Ludlum*
Dune by Frank Herbert**(campy movie!! LOL)
The Earthsea Trilogy: A Wizard of Earthsea;
The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore
by LeGuin, Ursula K.***
The Hobbitt by J.R.R. Tolkein*** His writings are magical! I was NOT dissapointed by the Cartoon version of this!
Lord of the Rings (Trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkein***I was NOT dissapointed by the movies & I loved the books! Read them at about age 14 from cover to cover. Had the notebook that was published with the map, etc.!
Moby Dick by Norman Melville ***(just had to see the movie--starred Patrick Stewart--he played quite the brute in this film!)
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane (LOVED the book...cannot remember the movie well...saw it a loooonnng time ago. Of course war themed told from a individual soldier's perspective..)Going to RE-read this book...found it for $1 in my college bookstore tonight!
Starship Troopers*** by Heinlein, Robert A. [what an original sci fi story centered around the hominess of high school buds!]
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee***
When The Legends Die by Hal Borland*** [actually loved this film...but again it was not that like the book (required reading in middle school)....Thought Brad Pitt was well cast...]
Wizards*** [MUST SEE!! I bought a Blockbuster DVD copy of this animated film--with wonderful additional commentary by among other s THE originaly animator! famous!]
* currently reading or on the quest for it!
** perhaps the best mystery writer
*** ADORED this movie!!
For more on my movie reviews see: http://www.flixster.com/user/terris85017
I didn't really like the book Devil Wears Prada, but loved the movie! It's one of the few times I liked the movie a whole lot more than the book.
This is hard to compare. The purpose of a book is to inform or ignite our imagination through written word and our own pictures in our head. The purpose of the film is to show the picture that was ignited in someone elses head - their perspective. And perhaps that jives with the perspective we got from the written word and perhaps it doesn't. Some of the Harry Potter movies dragged for me because in parts where my imagination could move me along with the words, the movie was just too slow in trying to capture all that on film.
However, with Lord of the Rings, the movies, although everything wasn't covered in detail, I felt Peter Jackson did a great job and his perspective of the words were true to what I felt as well.
Mod
To be honest, I never cared for the Lord of the Rings books or movies, but I am almost always alone in that sentiment, just like my sentiment that I find Matthew (damn i can't spell his last name -- the shirtless guy in People) boring and almost repellent. But there ya go.
I guess the wonderful thing is that we HAVE wonderful movies we can see and also we have all of these lovely magical books. What bliss!!!
Anyway, GREAT list, Fenixbird!!
Seabiscuit---loved the book...read it first..didn't like the movie. I found the races in the book far more fascinating than the scenes in the movies.
I'm so glad someone mentioned Starship Troopers. This is one of my favourite movies - Silly, I know! I didn' know it was a book - I'll have to go and read it!I love the adaptations of Jane Austens books, particularly the ones that were made by the BBC - there is something about a costume drama I just can't resist!!
I am always amazed that they don't make more of Carl Hiassen's books into movies, because they really do read like a movie script!
Ito disappointment - I enjoy Elmore Leonard's books - some have been made into movies (Out of Sight, Jackie Brown) but it just doesn't seem to translate as well as you would expect.
What I don't like is having the movie characters/setting different from what I've created in my head. Usually like it better when it's an unknown actor.
I have to agree that it is rare to come across a movie that is better than the book. I watched the Notebook several years ago and couldn't wait to get my hands on the book. The movie really touched me---so incredibly romantic!!!! I have to say...I was disapointed with the book. I don't think it even compared with they movie. However, it is only fair to say that I am not the biggest Nicholas Sparks fan. His books are too marshmellow (for lack of a better term:)) for me.
Lisa....I totally feel your Jane Austen and the BBC comment! Didn't you just love Pride and Prejudice (w/ Colin Firth) I loved the movie as much as the book. One of my all time favorites!
I have to say that I preferred the film version of Shawshank Redemption - but only just.Have to agree that Peter Jackons did an amazing job, even if they did tamper with book 2 a bit much for my liking
Other books to movies:
Brokeback Mountain - loved it both ways. The book is great but I really enjoyed being able to see all that stunning scenery.
The Shipping News - I have never been able to bring myself to watch it as I think Kevin Spacey was miscast. Can anyone tell me I was wrong?? I always thought that Brendan Gleeson would have been great (big Irish red head, in case you were wondering).
I just watched Atonement and love it! Has anyone read it?
Oh, and I think Dune was much better in book form!
Katie....I have yet to see Atonement, but the book is fantastic. Very vivid. McEwan brought the story and the scenery right off of the pages!
Mod
I LOVE colin firth and that version of Pride and Prejudice is deep in my heart. He is just so pretty.
I also hate Nicholas Sparks. Marshmallow is a good word to describe his writing. To me it is all so cliche and corny. But others love him ...
But Amy said the way I feel about movies to a T. I have pictures in my head, how the book is progressing and characters and sometimes the characterization in movies are so different from my expectations. Usually I get over it in seconds and go ahead and feel entertained. But sometimes it just doesn't fit.
Never watched Brokeback Mountain nor read it. That good, eh? I will take that as a challenge. But I am unfamiliar with the Kevin Spacey movie, Shipping News. However, he is a terrific actor and usually makes me giggle just to look at him.
And I have to say this -- i LOVE Alan Rickman (?? spelling?) and he has made a wonderful Snape, MUCH better than my imagination of him before I saw any of the movies.
that was kind of random ...
Cathy, I am a big Harry Potter fan and I completly agree with you. Rickman nailed it! I couldn't have conjured up a better Snape if my life depended on it.
Hmm Lisa there is a sequel to Starship Troopers which does not compare to the original movie in my humble opinion. Enjoyed both Out of Sight and Jackie Brown.
Re: The Shipping News. Well I personally adore Kevin Spacey. Could he have been miscast? uh...I suppose a slight more "passionate" individual might have been selected but the morbid tone set by Judi Dench (whom I adore) totally conveyed the eeriness of the tale!! Isn't story line that Spacey has returned following the loss of his estranged wife with his daughter(s) to live with his Aunt (Judi Dench)??The young actress (child) was excellent; admittedly I have not read the book....amazing paranormal tale....never anticipated it!
I do not like watching a film before having read the book.....the few occasion when this has happened I couldn't give start to my imagination. It was like for all the book-length my attention was concentrated on recollecting the images I have watched in the movie rather than on the feelings and emotion the text would inspire in me. That's why I always wait until I have read the book before watching the film....my husband has placed the book “Perfume” by Patrick Süskind on my bedside table because he is looking forward to watching the film!
If I know a movie is coming out and I haven't yet read the book, I will see the movie first. If I read the book first I am always disappointed in the movie. A movie can't possibly add everything from the book. The books are almost always better and if I am going to pay a small fortune to see a movie I at least would like to enjoy it for what it is and not try and pick it apart for what was not it in.
Hi Sheila, I completely understand your point...if you have to pay money to see a movie you do want to enjoy it. Even though I always read the book first I normally enjoy the film in itself without comparing it with book. When I am in front of the screen I make the film take me into the story and I manage to appreciate it even if it does not match with what I have read. I cannot do the same the opposite way around because the power of the images seen on the screen it is more vivid and longlasting than the images the texts suggests to my imagination.
I feel the total opposite. The book's images stay with me for a lot longer and most of the time the movie doesn't live up to what I imagined. I've stopped reading books before I see the movie, because all I do during the movie is comparing it to the book. I have a really hard time just enjoying the movie for its self. Right now I'm reading Cold Mountain. I really didn't like the movie but, the book is really good!
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The movie was able to convey so much more than the book did. Although the movie was technically based on the book, so it was not exactly the book anyway. The book itself is amazing, but the movie is (dare i say) life-altering. Everyone should have to see the movie and read the book. (Humanity's list of required reading is another topic altogether)The movie version of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey, was awesome!! Sometimes when I read books I can picture the characters as movie people (for visualization's sake)- Cusack and Spacey are exactly who I pictured! Although I can't say the movie was better, both were excellent.
Matilda by Roald Dahl. loved the book, LOVED the movie.
What do you think? Can you think of any book that you have read where you have preferred the movie?
I am just now reading "Stardust" (Gaiman) and what a cute movie. But the book is better so far.
And I want to see Kite Runner too. Has anyone?
Saw, but not read yet, "No Country for Old Men"
comments? kicks in the teeth? anything at all is welcome ...