His last bow; and the case-book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
This in response to Zac’s blog post Should books really be made into movies. I know I could have commented in the comments but the more I thought about it, the more I had to say so bear with me. Now Lisa has swung into the debate with her blog Shutter Island : Good; Leo : Not so Good, now here is my two cents or is the going rate 10 cents?
I too saw some movies over summer including Sherlock Holmes and The Lovely Bones - yes, both books. One of the things I noticed was that over half of the movies that were being advertised were based on books.
A lot of people are of the school that movies based on books aren’t as good as the real thing. In many cases this is true but look what it does to the reserve lists at the library. Because of the movie Sherlock Holmes, my husband and I have discovered the joys of Sherlock Holmes – the novels. Holmes was as Guy Ritchie portrayed him – a brilliantly analytical, drug-taking, street fighter who was more than likely manic depressive. Who would have thought! They’re a really good read.
And then there is the True Blood series. I couldn’t get Prime when it first came out so I tried the books to see if they were worth giving a go. Sadly they were – great pulp reading. I say sadly because now my reading is centring around Sookie Stackhouse, closely chased by Sherlock Holmes with the odd novel thrown in to break it up a little. So are any movies that inspired you to read? Or any movies that are better than the book?
25 February 2010 at 4:37 pm
Books into movies… perhaps it is a good idea not to completely relate a book story to the movie story, based on that book. After all, film directors, producers, actors, and screenwriters – all having their own life experiences and life ambitions – inevitably contribute to producing their own version of a story, told in a book, by a writer, don’t you think?
In my view, it’s a great combination of both, reading a book and watching a movie later, that shapes our perception of a book/movie and their characters.
26 February 2010 at 3:04 pm
I love the movie of American Psycho – I couldn’t get very far into the book but the movie is very funny and Christian Bale is excellent in it. I also quite liked the film of another of Dennis Lehane’s books, Mystic River.
2 March 2010 at 12:13 pm
I loved the movie, An education – Lynn Barber’s early teenage life – and saw it before I read the book which I found rather disappointing in comparison. Perhaps it was the wonderful depiction of 60′s life (and Nick Hornby’s script) that made it so appealing – it was just so right.