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/lit/ - Literature

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2438477 No.2438477 [Reply] [Original]

"Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes" -John le Carré

Has there ever been a good film adaptation of a book?

>> No.2438483
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2438483

Some people say it has nothing to do with the original novel, but it's good in it's own ways.

>> No.2438485

Holes
About a Boy
High Fidelity

>> No.2438486

R.I.P On the Road

>> No.2438493

I can't think of any GREAT films that surpass GREAT literary source material, but you can turn a lame book into a great book easy peasy lemon squeezy: see The Godfather. And you can even turn a pretty-good book into a film that's better than the book: Election, Wonder Boys, The Virgin Suicides, High Fidelity, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, etc.

>> No.2438494

Blade Runner and Minority Report were both better than the books they were adapted/loosely based on. But PKD can't write well so that isn't too impressive.

>> No.2438497

Trainspotting

>> No.2438500

LOTR

inb4 mouth of sauron

>> No.2438506

Bourne identity

>> No.2438510

Drive

>> No.2438515

Clockwork Orange

>> No.2438516
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2438516

This thread AGAIN

Jurassic Park

There needs to be more tries imo.

>> No.2438538

the godfather, seriously. not too hot on the movies but compared to the book there's no contest

>> No.2438539
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2438539

Harry Potter, represent.

The Millenium Trilogy
Starter for Ten
True Grit
Let the Right One In


ITT: OP is sat down

>> No.2438540

fight club
blade runner
a clockwork orange
no country for old men
maltese falcon
some of the raymond chandler adaptations were pretty good

>> No.2438910

The Coens' True Grit is destined to be one of those things that I watch every single time it's on TV once it hits basic cable. So delightful.

>> No.2438995

The Shining
The Shawshank Redemption

>> No.2439009

>>2438910
Yeah, but the ending was such a let down, don't you think?

I guess, they were trying to stay true to the book but I didn't particularly like the book's ending.

>> No.2439026

>>2438497
yeah Trainspotting the movie was actually way better than the book imo.

>> No.2439031

Has anyone ever seen the movie of Joyce's The Dead?
I know there's one out there, and I'm curious about it.

>> No.2439042
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2439042

here's how i view it: i see why holliwood does what it does to books. so i can't watch one without realizing this. its like trying to compare Captain Kirk and Captain Picard. you can't.

>> No.2439361

>>2438494
Go to hell you fucking cock sucker.

>> No.2439469

Fight Club
the writing style in the book was kind of a turnoff for me. the snarkiness seemed shallow on paper.

>> No.2439501

The Shinning
The Godfather
The Silence of the Lambs
The Lord of the Rings (suck it fags, the books are overrated and the movies were shorter)

>> No.2439503
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2439503

>mfw John Le Carre is a huge fucking dick.

dude you're writing spy shit. what the fuck, it's not like you have a huge fucking cultural legacy to protect from the oh-so-horrible film medium

>> No.2439515

Reminds me of that Mark Twain quote:

"Those who love sausage and the law should watch neither being made."

>> No.2439520

lots of steven king stuff
mary poppins because the book sucks balls and chim chimeny chim chimny chim chim cheroooo
barry lyndon
oh brother where art thou because the odyssey sucks big hairy balls

>> No.2439530
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2439530

>American Psycho
>Naked Lunch
>Slaughterhouse-Five

>> No.2439547

indian in the cupboard

/thread

>> No.2439551

I think Apocalypse Now is a great adaption.

>> No.2439560

>>2439530
Naked Lunch had nothing to do with the book. It was a completely made up story about how the book was written using inspiration from the poems.

>> No.2439563

The Wizard of Oz.

Much better than the book.

>> No.2439578

Many Stephen King books. Usually because they cut about 500 pages of bullshit.
And because no matter what he writes, someone will make it a movie

>> No.2439598

>>2439560
this is the kind of adaptations that actually work.
Also, Brazil.

>> No.2439605
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2439605

>>2438540
>blade runner

>> No.2439627
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2439627

>>2439560
Everything in it was ripped directly from all of Burroughs' work/life and nails all of the recurring themes and atmospheres from them perfectly.

Also
>poems

>> No.2439639

No Country For Old Men was better than the book.

>> No.2439646

Ironically, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was fucking brilliant, disregarding that the story probably was boiled down quite a bit.

>> No.2439658

>>2439627
The movie did not capture the essence of "Naked Lunch" in any way, shape, or form. At least in my mind... To be honest, I didn't even really like the Naked Lunch movie; I did however, love the book. I am also not the guy you were disputing, but a mere bystander.

>> No.2439659

>>2439639
Between No Country, True Grit, and O Brother the Coen brothers are three for three on good movies based on good /lit/. They were supposed to do an adaptation of The Yiddish Policemen's Union which, man, I don't know if it's ever going to happen but if it does I will be at the 12:01 showing because that sounds perfect.

>> No.2439664

>>2439662
lol too bad Dr. James Franco got his paws on that shit first

>> No.2439662

>>2439659
Coen brothers were gonna do To the White Sea with Brad Pitt. God DAMN that would have been good, Pitt playing a silent serial killer lost behind enemy lines in WW2 Japan.

I'd really like to see them attempt Blood Meridian.

>> No.2439669 [DELETED] 

>>2438540
>blade runner

>> No.2439673
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2439673

>>2438540
>blade runner

>> No.2439682

I actually thought that Tinker Tailor was adapted well.
I'm looking forward to Smiley's People.

>> No.2439689

>>2439664
Franco isn't even on the project anymore. He hasn't been for like, a year.

Jesus, /lit/, try to stay current.

>> No.2439710

Adaptation.
based on the book 'The Orchid Thief'

>> No.2439775

>>2439659

Fuuuuuck. I hope that Yiddish Policeman's Union happens.

>> No.2439784

>>2439689
He's doing Child of God though. If he casts himself as Lester fucking Ballard I will murder him and put him in my cave.

>> No.2439881

>>2439031

I've seen a movie adaption and it was pretty true to the story. "The Dead" and Dubliners in general is such straight forward writing that translation to the screen isn't too hard.

>> No.2439897

>>2438477
A lot of screenwriters could say the same thing. your essentially handing over your baby.

>yfw when you spend 5 years writing a script and the director does whatever the fuck he wants turning it into a shitfest.

There are plenty of great adaptations, just don't consider them related to the source material. They're different mediums.

>> No.2439904
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2439904

>>2439881
>"The Dead" [...] is such straight forward writing that translation to the screen isn't too hard.

are

you

fucking

kidding me

>> No.2439933

Hellraiser is a pretty good adaptation of The Hellbound Heart. I prefer the book better but as a film that wanted to fit in 80's horror, the book could have been butchered.
Does it count if the author of the book directly participates in the making of the film though?

>> No.2439936

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Godfather
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
2001: A Space Odyssey
Blade Runner
A Clockwork Orange
The Shinning
Maltese Falcon
The Grapes of Wrath
East of Eden
The Thin Man
Solaris (Old version)
Great Expectations
Doctor Zhivago
The 39 Steps
All Quite on the Western Front
Apocalypse Now
Brighton Rock
Jaws
Watership Down

>> No.2439950

>>2438494
>But PKD can't write well
Fuck off.

Also, I know most people will say "dude hat", but I think the first Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Junior was a pretty good adaptation of the entire Sherlock Holmes canon. As an action movie, it had to fit into certain criteria, which it did while still retaining all of Holmes' characteristics, only updating them and making them stand out more. In one of the stories a guy mentions how Holmes is a good boxer and that he knows it from first hand experience. In the movie, that incident turns into the scene where he beats up that guy in underground boxing. A lot of specific events that happened in stories show up in the movie, a lot of expressions used by Holmes also show up. In general, it's a good adaptation not because it follows a particular story meticulously, it's a good adaptation because it succeeds in analyzing the Holmes persona, updating it for the present day and a specific genre, and then applying it.

>> No.2439953

I think Breakfast at Tiffany's is a way better movie than a book.
The book lacks any consequence, the narrator doesn't seem to care about what Holly does due to being a faggot, and nothing Holly does seems to have any affect on her life, she doesn't do anything when her husband comes, she gets over her brother dying pretty easily and when she gets arrested she's out almost a page later.
The movie takes the interesting and good parts of the story and makes it into a romance which I can actually get behind.

I don't think it's necessary for a screen adaptation to have the same plot as a book, because their industries are world's apart and people get different pleasures out of them, people read a book for thought-provoking themes and wonderful prose, people watch movies for a compelling plot and good acting.

Also, I'd let Audrey Hepburn Golightly on my dick.

>> No.2439961

>>2439904

I mean compared to, say, Ulysses or some Thomas Pynchon shit.

>> No.2440505

Nobody mentioned Through a Scanner Darkly?
Well it's done now ^^

>> No.2440515
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2440515

trainspotting

>> No.2440520

Rosemary's Baby
The Exorcist
The Shining

All far far superior to the books.

>> No.2440530

>>2438477

What a stupid fucking question. Considering the amount of film adaptations that have been made, the likelihood that there has 'ever' been one that is any good is going to be almost certain.

>> No.2440543

I Am Legend

>> No.2440555

>>2440505
It's too bad Keanu cannot act but I agree with you; it was a decent screen adaptation.

>> No.2441723

Constantine was a terrible adaptation of Hellblazer, speaking of Keanu.
But what is this about Keanu always playing characters who become Gods? From Bill & Ted's to The Matrix!

>> No.2441814

>>2439361
>>2439950

There are two people in this thread who apparently think Philip K. Dick is actually a good writer- let's explore this, shall we?

Here's a passage from what is in my opinion his best novel, The Man in the High Caste:

>Life is short, he thought. Art, or something not life, is long, stretching out endless, like a concrete worm. Flat, white, unsmoothed by passage over or across it. Here I stand. But no longer. Taking the small box, he put the Edfrank jewelry piece away in his coat pocket.

If you think that's a good piece of writing, well, you're wrong. PKD was an idea man, prose was not his strong suit.

>> No.2441817

>>2441814
>PKD was an idea man, prose was not his strong suit.
I love these Harold Bloom wannabies. Okay, you think you're subjective tastes are objectively better, it's not that you're unable to appreciate a wider range of aesthetics.

>> No.2441847

>>2441817

I don't like the taste of shit, I guess that means I'm "unable to appreciate a wider range of flavors." Being able to notice variations in quality is pretty useful, life must be difficult for you not having that ability.

>> No.2441853

The Children of Men film was better than the book.

>> No.2441875

>>2441814
>if you think that's a good piece of writing then, well, you're wrong

o my god get over yrself pleez.

>> No.2441884

>>2441814
If you go back and listen and read a few interviews that he gave. He always gave great credit to his editors, that would work with him on a one on one basis. He really credits them with the books with being as good as they are.

>> No.2441888

Oh yeah? How about book adaptations of films? Any great literature pulled out of that?

>> No.2441906

>>2441847
>pkd
>shit

nice opinion you got there pal

>> No.2442024

Fight Club, even Palahniuk said it was superior

>> No.2442804
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2442804

Jurassic Park.
Bladerunner (better than the book, deal with it haters PKD is a rambling garbage scow of a writer)
One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest (yes I know that Nicholson isn't what the author intended, it worked out anyway because different mediums etc etc)