Don’t you just hate that phrase “the book was better than the movie” when it falls, spit-ridden and nasally, from the mouth of a pretentious, coffee-sipping hipster with a carefully crafted combover writing in a Moleskine notebook? I do. I love books, and I love movies. Here are some that were a success in both forms.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Huck Finn is the first movie I ever remember watching as a kid because I have older sisters that controlled the VCR and they didn’t like Winnie the Pooh. The book would eventually become one of my favorites, as it was one of the only ones that I actually read when it was assigned in high school.
The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
Sofia Coppola provides the perfect visual representation of the virginal beauty that Jeffrey Eugenides portrays in the novel. If Lux Lisbon isn’t your favorite rebel of all time when you read the book, you’ll fall in love from the first cigarette drag that Kirsten Dunst takes when she plays her character in the movie. Nicholas Sparks movies never convinced me that true love exists, but one look at Trip Fontaine in this scene and my heart swooned.
Based on Shakespeare‘s Taming of the Shrew, this movie brings a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt to the screen, clad in perfect ’90s attire and luscious locks parted right down the middle. “I burn, I pine, I perish.” As if that isn’t enough of a reason to watch it NOW, Heath Ledger‘s role as bad-boy Patrick Verona should be. “I BURN, I PINE, I PERISH.” The movie does wonders to bring Shakespeare into the 20th century, and I don’t know a single English class that didn’t look forward to reading Taming of the Shrew, if only to watch this movie afterward.
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
If you like the song “Singing in the Rain,” DON’T watch this movie. It will ruin the song for you forever. Otherwise, it’s a Stanley Kubrick film… and who doesn’t love Stanley Kubrick films? What makes the book so unique is that, told from the first person point-of-view of the protagonist, Alex, it is written in a slang that Burgess actually made up himself. I must have re-read the first chapter at least three times just to get a mild grip on anything that was going on (the whole time, my thought process was something along the lines of: “wtf is a ptitsa??? ugh!!!!!!!!!”). Just give it a couple chapters and I guarantee you could govoreet real horrorshow with Alex and all his droogs, no problem.
When I read the book in elementary school, I got so into it that whatever it was that my dad was cooking – cough, burning, cough – was filling the entire kitchen and adjacent living room with a thick layer of smoke and I didn’t even notice. If that isn’t a sign that a book is good, I don’t know what is. As far as the movie is concerned, I could watch it just for the nicknames. I wish I was that creative. I also wish Shia LaBeouf never changed his hairstyle from the way it was in this movie. I can dream. (Good news – as of recently, this movie is available on Netflix!)
For all of you who forgot Rob Lowe was in anything before Parks and Rec, rewatch this movie. Did you know that S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders while she was still in high school? As if my writing career wasn’t already falling hopelessly into the mysterious depths of the DC sewage system. One of the greatest books for young adults, which would eventually become one of the greatest movies, was written about teenagers, for teenagers, by a teenager. That “old library book smell” is actually the smell of hormones and angst. Lovely.
The Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowling
Photo Credits:
http://princeoftheuniverse.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/books-vs-movies.jpg
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http://www.the-teen-spirit.dk/films/10thingsihate/10things_01.jpg
http://thenewdirectionoftime.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/clockwork_orang…
http://www.covershut.com/cd_covers/Holes-2003-Cd-Cover-45188.jpg
http://media.heavy.com/media/2011/01/the_outsiders.jpg
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-11/241153480-30235112.jpg