I know a lot of people usually complain when their favourite book is made into a movie. ‘It’s not the same!’ is the common mantra. Of course, books and movies are different animals, so some changes should be expected, but there have certainly been numerous times when I too, have cried foul about a favourite book being mangled by a movie.
However, I’m always still happy to see the movie version of a book. There’s something incredibly exciting about seeing the characters I loved on the page being brought to life on the big (or small) screen. And it’s always interesting to speculate about what they’ll leave out and what they’ll include or change. It’s great when I’m right, although it’s sometimes bemusing when I’m wrong!
One of my favourite book-to-screen adaptations would have to be the mini-series of Anne of Green Gables made in the late eighties. Yes, they changed a few things, but the cast was so carefully chosen and portrayed their book counterparts so well I loved it and have watched it many times. One of the most disappointing book-to-screen adaptations I’ve seen so far would have to be the movie version of The Host, Stephenie Meyer’s sci-fi book. Ms Meyer’s books are always huge and usually pose a lot of challenges in the translation from book to screen, and I think this was the hardest one of all, given that an alien is living inside another human’s body and they both talk to each other. It’s hard to get that kind of thing right. But everything else seemed wrong with this one too. It was such a shame because I really enjoyed the book.
There are some other books I’ve read that I’d be interested to see made into movies. I think Veronica Rossi’s Under the Never Sky trilogy would work wonderfully on the big screen. I have heard that it has been optioned by a production company and I hope that’s true.
How about you? Do you have a favourite book-to-screen adaptation? Is there one you think really didn’t work? Is there another book you’d love to see made into a movie? Let me know in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Oh yes, Lynne, I totally agree about the Anne series. I also like We Of The Never Never. And A Town Like Alice. Not forgetting Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters.I can’t remember some other titles but do recall feeling they’d got the lead character wrong. I guess it’d be hard to please everybody!
Yes, I remember watching We of the Never Never, although I never read the book.