Friday, March 29, 2013

Fiction Features: Fiction to Film

By Kayla Curry

What are your favorite fiction books that have made the leap from paperback books to plastic DVD cases?

Some of mine are Fight Club, Atonement, The Shining, Carrie, The Help, and so many more. I didn't read the Harry Potter series, so I can't comment on that. I also haven't read all the Lord of the Rings books, but I did watch the movies. Don't hate me. And I'm a Twilight fan, so I'll throw that in too.

I know that books don't always translate to the big screen perfectly. Some things are better in the written world and some things, even if they seem important to the reader, have to be cut. In the movie world, time is essential. Movies longer than 2 hours are frowned upon and screen plays that are too thick don't get opened by any major movie producers.

Some upcoming adaptations I'm REALLY looking forward to are The Great Gatsby, The Mortal Instruments, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Books are also making their way on to the small screen with shows like Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Pretty Little Liars, and The Lying Game.

It seems that the story line strays even more from the books when adapted for the small screen, but that makes a little sense. They need to keep it fresh and unpredictable on TV.

If we were talking non-fiction, I'd say Girl, Interrupted is my favorite book to film adaptation. How about you guys? Any faves I left out? Fiction or otherwise?

2 comments:

  1. The most recent one I can think of is obviously Life of Pi. I thought the book was good, but not great (4 stars) but the movie was a total knockout!

    Loved it!

    Some of my favorite movies of all time are based on books, but I've never gotten around to reading most of them.

    Children of Men and Blade Runner are two movies that come to mind. Love those movies!

    Have you read The Host by Stephanie Meyer? A lot of folks says it's a pretty good book. I'm watching the movie tomorrow morning, hopefully it turns out good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't been able to read The Host yet, but I do plan to. The movie looks good too!

    ReplyDelete