Re: List of books

AntiUtopia@aol.com
Mon, 13 Dec 1999 19:39:50 -0500 (EST) 

Course once you throw something out EVERYONE can find exceptions :)

My experience has been that successful book to movie transitions are rare.  It's not just putting "everything" in -- that would be silly.  But the problem does relate to what's left out.  It's understanding the nuances of what is put in, giving what's there time to develop.

A good example of a real botch job was Simon Birch -- adapted from the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany.  The movie standing by itself was good enough, especially if you're just considering entertainment value and not what's being communicated by the book.

But the most significant facet of the book -- Owen as a Christ figure and the playing out of that symbolism in the everyday experience of John (the narrator), and how that led him to faith -- was almost tangential to the movie.  What the movie did was adapt the first chapter of the book to movie fairly successfully and throw in a similar ending.  

Irving's comment (along the lines that "it's not my book" but a good enough story on its own) probably sums up my feelings too.  I saw the same thing happen to Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities or the animated version of Lord of the Rings.  All the film gave us was a crossection of a good story powerfully told, and little of the depth of the literature.     

I'm not saying film can't be literature.  Just when it takes it's cues from literature it often isn't.  

Jim

In a message dated Mon, 13 Dec 1999  6:24:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gene Woo <pariah1980@yahoo.com> writes:

> good movie/book adaptations? Of course a film can't
> convey every little thing from the original book or
> you'd be sitting in the theatre for 6 or more hours!
> lol "Of Mice and Men" with Gary Sinise and John
> Malkovich was a pretty good one I thought. I read the
> book after seeing the film and loved both. Jurassic
> Park was a pretty horrible adaptation of the book.
> "Trainspotting" was an excellent adaptation of the
> book. When reading the book, it's more like reading
> Mark Renton's diary with random pages full of events.
> I thought the movie took this junky manuscript and
> created a masterpiece. Other adaptations? The TV
> version of "Animal Farm" was pretty good. I love John
> Singleton, but I've only seen Poetic Justice and
> Higher Learning. I know he did Boyz in the Hood, but
> what else has he done? Anyone know what he's been up
> to these days? Also, I can't wait for the Bryan
> Singer(apt pupil, usual suspects) version of The
> X-men. I think this'll be the best movie adaptation of
> a comic book since the crow, batman, and superman. I
> got faith in that boy!
> 
> --- Tim O'Connor <oconnort@nyu.edu> wrote:
> > On Mon, Dec 13, 1999 at 11:37:33AM -0500,
> > AntiUtopia@aol.com wrote:
> > 
> > > << The Godfather
> > >  The Shining
> > >  The Dead (a short story)
> > >  
> > >  Just off the top of my head....
> > >  
> > >  --tim >>
> > > 
> > > yeah, but did you read the book first as was
> > satisfied with the movie?  
> > 
> > In all these cases, yes, I read the books and story
> > first, and then saw
> > the movies, and was satisfied with each adaptation. 
> > I liked the books
> > (Puzo: a workmanship text; King: an entertaining
> > escape; Joyce a 
> > masterpiece).
> > 
> > --tim
> > I 
> > > know some people feel differently about the movies
> > without having read the 
> > > book, while people who read the books HATED the
> > movie (common experience).
> > > 
> > > Course, with the Godfather it's hard to go wrong. 
> > I'm ambivalent about The 
> > > Shining, but the acting was good (and the kid was
> > great).  I've seen The 
> > > Dead, though...I think it was a pretty good
> > adaptation now that I think of 
> > > it.  Course, it just about put me to sleep too :)
> > > 
> > > Jim
> > 
> 
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