Books to Movies and the Small Screen.

Feb 26 2022, 4:25 pm in

Do you have streaming services? I didn’t for a very long time. I was 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 always behind on that.

Welp, I now have 6 streaming services. I so enjoy seeing 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?

I’m super nit-picky about how characters I love on the pages of books are brought to life. 

Some adaptations I’ve enjoyed are:  

Reacher. Lee Child’s long running book series on Amazon Prime. I’ve been a Reacher Creature since the first book.  

The Martian~ Andy Weir.  Of course there are book details left out of the movie production. But the movie was totally fantastic.

Odd Thomas ~ Dean Koontz. Production did an amazing job of putting the best story details on the screen.

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 humongous 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.  The series adds to the book story. I did get squinty eyed over a few episodes when the heart and soul of the story went too far off the rails.  

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 ~ Laura Hillenbrand. 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 movie covers his war experiences.     

The Monument Men ~ Bret Witter and Robert M. Edsel. 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 ~  Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffel, was made into a film. All the story nuances couldn’t be captured but the production did an amazing job. The acting was excellent.

Do you have adaptions you enjoyed? Please share.

                                                 Rita

 

 

   

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