Book meme, day 6

[litlover12]

16. Adaptation: What book would you most like to see made into a film? Do you like to read the book first or see the film? Any books you have read after seeing the film version?



I'd like to see an adaptation of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. With John Schneider as Jeremiah Land, the noble miracle-working janitor. He was born for the role. Even though (spoiler text in white up ahead) . . . I'm not sure I could bear to watch him die again.

I generally like to read the book first; I think most of us do. But I've read a few books after seeing the films. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro was one of them. That was one of those rare cases where the movie was very close to and every bit as good as the book! Also, I skimmed Now, Voyager by Olive Higgins Prouty after seeing the Bette Davis film (my best friend had picked up a copy of the book at a thrift shop). That was one of those rare cases where the movie was better than the book. The movie is justly considered a classic -- and besides, it has Claude Rains. :-) The book is mediocre at best.

17. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?

Depends on how we're defining difficult. If it's "hardest to read," that would probably be Les Misérables. I read the abridged version when I was a teenager, and then, because I hate abridgments, I just had to read the unabridged version. Big mistake. It added virtually nothing to the story, but I now know more about the Paris sewer system and the Battle of Waterloo than anyone needs to know. That was one case where the abridged version would have done just fine.

Honorable mention goes to Crime and Punishment, not so much because the book was long or difficult, but because of the way I read it: cramming for a college class the next day. If you've never tried to read 300 pages of Dostoevsky at one in the morning, here's a piece of advice: Don't.

Now, if "difficult" means "difficult subject matter," that would be Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita. I had to read that for a film and literature course. I'll grant that my professor had good reason to assign it, because the book and movie are both considered classics. They just happen to be classics about a pedophile, that's all. Can you say ICK? I raced through that thing, I was so eager to be done with it.

18. Your favourite book series & your favourite book out of that series?

("Favourite"? This meme must have been put together by a Brit! :-) )

Ooh, that's a hard one. I'm going to have to declare another tie: the Anne of Green Gables series (but don't ask me to pick a favorite book from it, because I can't!), and the Lord Peter Wimsey series, with Gaudy Night as the favorite book.

Comments

[sonneta.livejournal.com]

but I now know more about the Paris sewer system and the Battle of Waterloo than anyone needs to know.

Yeah, I started skimming those parts pretty quickly. Oh, Victor Hugo.

[jobey-in-error.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see an adaptation of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

They haven't done this yet?!

[litlover12.livejournal.com]

Not yet. I heard some time ago that Brad Pitt's production company had acquired the rights, but then the project appeared to stall. Too much else on Mr. Pitt's producing plate, perhaps.

(Holy alliteration, Batman! I didn't even do that on purpose! :-) )

[goldvermilion87.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of those books that were made into 40s movies are sort of mediocre paperback types. I don't think I'd ever read the book to one unless I was told it was REALLY REALLY worth reading...

[ibmiller.livejournal.com]

Hee. I've found that watching a Dickens adaptation first (I know, I'm horrible) can really help keeping all the plotlines straight when I read it, since I always get called away for a few days or weeks before I finish it in the white heat of inspiration during a late-night reading session. Ditto George Eliot. But in general, yes, I do think reading the book first is better. However, since I've watched so many adaptations, I no longer have the fear that a film will "alter" my perception of the book in ways I can't control.

I, for one, want to see a good, 3 or 4 part adaptation of Mansfield Park that doesn't hate Fanny and has good production values. But I don't think that's going to happen. There just aren't enough people in the world who love Fanny. Which is so unfair, given how many great Dickens adaptations there are that have very similar heroines.

Anne of Green Gables and Lord Peter are both wonderful - and I love Gaudy Night best as well. For Anne, I have to say Anne of Windy Poplars, since it combines Anne being happily in love with a huge dollop of great humor. But I love them all (with the sadness of Anne ceasing to be a main character in the last three). I hear there's a final book that some scholar released a few years back that I've not gotten a hold of yet. Must remember to do that.