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Need names of books made into movies

18 years ago

Can anyone recommend the names of a few books that are also made into movies that one can rent at Blockbuster? I have just joined a book club and thought that I would post this request.

Maybe someone has a book made into a movie that they especially enjoyed.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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Comments (17)

dynomutt
18 years ago
Here's a few :

The Count of Monte Cristo (there's at least 3-4 versions of this)
The Three Musketeers (again, multiple versions)
Wuthering Heights
Pride and Prejudice
Bonfire of the Vanities
Moby Dick
The Outsiders
The Name of the Rose

There are HUNDREDS of books made into movies. Some were done well while others were done badly.
biwako_of_abi
18 years ago
Watership Down
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It's rarely that movie is as good as a book but sometimes good adaptations happen-and I tend to remember them all since happens not often For example "Girl With a Dragon Tatoo" i liked more as a movie..the non-American version. But I started with a movie, that probably influences things. "The Joy Luck Club" managed to be a great adaptation of the book-and I actually read the book several yeas before watching the movie Mini series of "Pride and Predjudice" are nice adaptation while the movie with Keira Knightly was something I kinda dismissed because to me that wasn't a good adaptation at all. Still, I prefer the book of course. The former Soviet Union movies based on "Sherlock Holmes" are considered the best in all the adaptations of Sherlck Holmes ever made, and won the prize as such-and I totally agree. Of course they filmed just several stories but did it very well. "Alias Grace" did a very fine job; but let me tell you the book is finer...reading it now. Now some books are probably too much of a challenge to ever be interpreted on the screen..I haven't seen one good "Wuthering Heights"..and I really tried. I haven't seen a "Lolita" that comes even close to the book itself. I don't think one can adapt Nabokov successfully. Too many things will go missing. His language is too good and too elusive for that. No Dostoevsky or Tolstoy either,,of course I didn't watch all of these..but whatever I started I just turned off. Very fast. As I was totally obsessed with "Les Miserables" since age 8 (to the point I tried to steal a little bun from a bakery-and succedeed-but that was my first and last attempt of stealing lol..more than I can handle..it was a tiny 3 kopeiks bun but nevertheless)-I tried to watch as many adaptations as possible. Some I enjoyed; but no they don't measure to the book. I couldn't appreciate long passages about monasteries, sewer, Parisian jargon, the battle of Waterloo etc when I was a little girl..but now I find these much more interesting. As it was when I read Fowles "The Magus"..at twenty I was so much into story..and the stories within the story I went through too quick..wars and all.. But now I understand these are actually the best ones there..or maybe they are to me now, since I became older. Generally I think the more complex and well written the book is the harder it will be to translate it I do look forward to adaptations that don't exist yet, or exist but I haven't seen them yet like Löwensköld trilogy by Selma Lagerlöf'..I think there can be a huge potential of making a great movie out of it.. Steven King is an example of an author whose books can be translated very well into visuals. PS remembered one more adatation that was good .."The Name of the Rose". They cut a lot out of it obviously..still, a good movie
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granjan
18 years ago
So many books have been made into movies it almost doesn't make sense to list them!

The question should be what movies actually did a decent job of interpreting the book. Sometimes you really need some distance from when you read the book, since a film is not going to be able to have all the depth of the novel.

Some of my favorites:
To Kill a Mockingbird
Rebecca
The Princess Bride
The Yearling
Old Yeller
The Last Picture Show
Grapes of Wrath
The Cider House Rules (This is one of my all time favorite novels and I was amazed at how good the movie is. However they only included about 1/3 of the story.)

I could spend all night trying to think of these! So I'll let it go with these few.
anyanka
18 years ago
The English Patient
bookmom41
18 years ago
The Hours
Seabiscuit
Running With Scissors
Cold Mountain
A Beautiful Mind
The Good Earth
The Orchid Thief--inspired the movie Adaptation

My bookclub has read all of the above books and gone on "outings" to see most of the movies. I'm one of those who always think the book was far better than the movie.. except for the movie Adaptation which I enjoyed far more than its inspiration.
mariannese
18 years ago
I watched The Devil Wears Prada last Monday and enjoyed it but I couldn't finish the book. The film adaption of E.M. Forster's Room with a View was nearly as good as the book.
martin_z
18 years ago
Notes on a Scandal
The Remains of the Day (excellent film and book)
Last Orders
Empire of the Sun
Waterland
Schindler's Ark (filmed as Schindler's List)
Heat and Dust
Hotel du Lac
Possession

All of those were Booker winners or short-listed.
ccrdmrbks
18 years ago
I agree with Jan-the quality of the adaptation is critical. As is, or course, the original book-they are filming Little Children, but the book was so awful I can't imagine wasting time watching it all over again!

Little Women with Winona Ryder was well-done
In Her Shoes was charming, though I found the book a little cloying
Pride and Prejudice has been done twice recently-the 6 hour BBC version is the best, the newer 2 hour theatrical version is good as well. On the other hand, Gwyneth Paltrow's Emma took too many liberites.
martin_z
18 years ago
But Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant et al was marvellous.

You know, it might be easier to list good books that haven't been turned into movies....
cindydavid4
18 years ago
Are you looking for recent movies? If not, many silent movies were adapted from books, making them the first adaptation you'll see. Its fun to compare the original Wizard of Oz, Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, Scarlett Letter and Jekyll and Hyde with the other versions that came out.
woodnymph2_gw
18 years ago
Out of Africa (from the writings of Isak Dinesen)
In My Country
Breakfast at Tiffany's
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Phantom of the Opera
Romeo & Juliet (see the Zeffirelli version)
Howard's End
The Secret Garden
The Quiet American
Angela's Ashes
Under the Tuscan Sun
The Painted Veil
Anna Karenina
Gone With the Wind
War and Peace
georgia_peach
18 years ago
Fight Club (loved the movie; haven't read the book by Chuck Palahniuk)
veer
18 years ago
Here is a list of books that have been made into films. It should keep you going for several years. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Based on the Book
shelende
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks to all for your help. This book club is very small, and in hopes of attracting more members, has encouraged people to join who have not read the book but have seen the movie.
I am very lucky to know about this forum which gives me so much information.
barly
18 years ago
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep -- Made into Bladerunner
anyanka
18 years ago
Groan. I loathe it when people think that having seen the movie means they can discuss the book. There are very very few cases when the two are actually interchangeable. The only one I can think of is The Graduate. The novel by Charles Webb actually reads like a film script.
martin_z
18 years ago
Though discussing the different emphasis that the film and book have is certainly a valid thing to do....but it does mean that a majority of the people there should have done both!

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