Books to Movies.
Sep 23 2018, 1:35 pm
Do you have Netflix? I don’t. I’m afraid I’d become a giant blob of algae sitting on the sofa watching all the good shows. Nothing would get done. No writing. No cleaning house. Well, have to say I’m lax on that already. I have Amazon Prime and it’s bad enough. My passion is movies and small screen series adapted from books. Love seeing book characters come to life. I do my best to read (actually I listen to the vast majority of books) a book before I watch the movie or series because, the book is always better. Right?
Some adaptations I’ve enjoyed are:
The Martian. Of course there are book details left out of the movie production. But the movie was totally fantastic.
Bosch. Amazon Prime series. I’ve read all of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch books and really enjoy the story of an older LAPD homicide detective. I also like how the production, working with Connelly, have taken story lines from different books and woven them together in episodes for a season. If you’re into car chases and shootouts this isn’t for you. It’s definitely about the human side of police work.
Amazon also has the Jack Ryan series. It isn’t directly from any of Clancy’s books. It does evoke what the Ryan stories are about. Kinda like how the 007 movies developed. I liked it. Seeing comments, people either loved it or didn’t. I particularly like John Krasinski as Ryan.
Outlander. Okay. I confess. I LOVE Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Time travel. Men in kilts. Epic love story. What’s not to like? Taking giganticus books and producing them for a TV series has to be a giganticus undertaking/headache. In which, it is difficult to please the purists book readers. If you are a fan and in any fan groups you will know of what I speak. From my perspective the casting is spot on. Acting, scenery, settings, and costumes are perfect. Personally I’ve found very few things to get squinty eyed over. The series adds to the book story IMO.
Mr. Mercedes. Made for TV series from Stephen King’s trilogy of the same name. It’s dark and disturbing and I love it. Not even minding changes from the book.
Unbroken. WoW. If you haven’t read Louis Zamperini’s story of survival and overcoming I suggest you add it to your TBR list. I listen to parts frequently. The book was broken in 2 parts for movies. First part is war experiences and the second, which I haven’t seen, is how he overcame experienced horrors.
The Monument Men. When I read the book I was floored I hadn’t heard the story before. My hubs and I are WWII history buffs and had seen much of the art and been to many places mentioned in the story. IMO the movie hardly did the story justice.
A favorite book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, was made into a film showing only on Netflix. I sooo want to see the movie but, once I have Netflix there would be no going back. Can you feel my pain?
These are only a few books to the screen adaptations. Do you have any favorites?
I love the shack as a book and as a movie. The characters I saw in my head in the movie fitted my picture. It’s always a gamble when you have really enjoyed a book to then have those images messed with on the screen. Especially when they change or miss pieces.
Liza, I like that movie also. Warm and comforting. Did not read the book.
To Kill a Mockingbird Bird was my first and still favorite book to film. Also my first time seeing Robert Duvall, Boo Radley, an all time favorite actor. Loved the Martian. Saw the movie first then read the book, excellent. Just the same with One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. Movies first then book, but movies very true to books. Have also read every Bosh and eagerly binge watched Netflix‘s Bosh. Loved the Guernsey L & PPPS book but avoid Netflix for the same reason. I’m an avid audiobook reader with Apple air pods in my ears most of my waking hours. I’m very active while actively reading ?
So you are a movies first person. I never read Cuckoo. Hmmm. Something to think about. IMO listening to a book can be as good as seeing the Movie. O. I just thought of another Water for Elephants. The audio production was brilliant. Didn’t see the movie until years after it came out. Still like the audio book better.