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Friday, December 6, 2019

A Bookish Blog Hop: Winter Hop 2019! Day 6--A Book They Made Into A Film



Danielle - Snatched Words www.snatchedwords.com

I like both the book and film versions of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I loved the novel part of Les Miserables, which tells the intertwining stories of Jean Valjean and a host of other characters in the lead up to the Paris Rebellion. It’s heartbreaking, romantic and epic. About a quarter of the book reads more like essays though and I found these hard going. Partly I like the film because it misses out the essay parts of the book. So the film is more of a loose re-interpretation of the story, rather than an attempt to re-tell the same story in a film version. It also has great songs. The only analogy that springs to mind is Frozen and The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, which probably says a lot about the type of films I’ve watched recently!

Leslie Conzatti (Me!)
I’m going to skip over the obvious answers like Hunger Games and Divergent and The Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, since of course those titles were adapted--that was the whole reason they were going to be popular!

Instead, I’m going to list some books that became films that I’ve both read and watched.

There is The Book Thief, which was a book that enthralled me and taught me to love prose as an art form as much as a medium of communication. The film was so brilliantly crafted, I remember watching it with a friend and we got so into it we were holding each other and bawling by the end! Also a classic favorite that I know practically by heart, The Princess Bride--the only way an adaptation can top it is if the person who writes the original book also happens to be in the filmmaking business and writes the screenplay as well. There’s The Girl on The Train which I picked up expressly because there was the film adaptation coming out and I was intrigued by the idea--my first experience with the “unreliable narrator” style and I definitely got taken for a ride, right up to the very end!

I feel like I want to mention a book for which I’m looking forward to the film adaptation: Artemis Fowl. I don’t even mind that it’s Kenneth Brannaugh at the helm. I enjoyed that series quite a lot and I am eager to see it brought to life!

Kaili www.entertaininglynerdy.com
I always love it when books are turned into films. I like to see if the characters and scenes are how I imagined them. Unfortunately, most movies that are based off books I usually don’t like as well as the book. I’m pretty sure most book bloggers are that way though.

The book and movie If I Stay is one adaptation that I really like. The movie stars Chloe Grace Moretz. Honestly, I like a lot of movies that she’s in. Another book to movie adaptation I really liked is The Maze Runner. A few of the monsters are hard for me to imagine so I’m glad I’m able to see what they look like on the big screen. Those are the few that I can think of. The only reason I usually don’t like book to movie adaptations is because things aren’t how I imagined them. Not only that, I feel like really important things get left out of the adaptation.

Eline - LovelyAudiobooks.info

I’m very curious about trying Passionflix. They turn bestselling (indie) Romance novels into movies. They haven’t been around for all that long so there aren’t that many movies yet. But it seems like such a great project and I think after their next release, I’ll sign up.

Jo Linsdell www.JoLinsdell.com
I’m going with Chocolat by Joanne Harris for this one. I’ve had a copy of this book my bookshelf for years and recently it keeps catching my eye. It was made into a film in 2001 starring Juliette Binoche, and Johnny Depp. I’ve also yet to watch the film version. I’m moving it up on my list though, and honestly can’t believe I’m benched it for so long.

In tiny Lansquenet, where nothing much has changed in a hundred years, beautiful newcomer Vianne Rocher and her exquisite chocolate shop arrive and instantly begin to play havoc with Lenten vows. Each box of luscious bonbons comes with a free gift: Vianne's uncanny perception of its buyer's private discontents and a clever, caring cure for them. Is she a witch? Soon the parish no longer cares, as it abandons itself to temptation, happiness, and a dramatic face-off between Easter solemnity and the pagan gaiety of a chocolate festival. Chocolat's every page offers a description of chocolate to melt in the mouths of chocoholics, francophiles, armchair gourmets, cookbook readers, and lovers of passion everywhere. It's a must for anyone who craves an escapist read, and is a bewitching gift for any holiday.

Becki - A Book Lover’s Adventures
I have several books that were made into movies that I really enjoy, but I’ll share my favorite two with you today.
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, both books and series, are extremely well done! These are still a family favorite. We watch the series whenever they come on TV, and we have all the DVDs, lol.
My other favorite is Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I thought the movie with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant was lovely and I enjoy splurging once a year or so and watching the movie!

Tania Richardson - www.thebookwormmummy.com
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love The Princess Bride by William Goldman, both the book and the film. So it’s no surprise it would be my pick for today! What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Revenge. Giants. Pirates. Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, and Miracles. The film is my automatic go-to whenever I’m feeling under the weather… And of course, it’s not my birthday without a cake filled viewing! In terms of film v book, The Princess Bride film adaptation may be one of the very few out there that just about beats the book, but that is just testament to the talents of William Goldman and Rob Reiner.


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How about you? What are some film adaptations you've seen, that you'd recommend? Comment below and join the discussion! Stay tuned--Tomorrow you can find out where to find our BOOK REVIEWS!

4 comments:

  1. The Princess Bride is one of my absolute favorites! These are all great answers (and some new books/movies for me to get my hands on!)

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  2. I love this!! The Princess Bride is one of my favorites as well!! Another of my favorite adaptations are A Monster Calls, and the original Pet Semetary. <3

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    1. Oh golly!! I forgot about A Monster Calls!! I cried SO HARD at that movie! And then I got the book because I wanted to see how it was expressed in text... I flipped through until the big climactic scene that had me SOBBING when I watched it...

      Started choking up in under 30 seconds. YEP.

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  3. I agree with Kaili. I feel like really important things often get left out of the adaptation, or changed completely. Percy Jackson is a perfect example of how different the book and film can be.

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