Blog Posts by Subject: Books made into movies

In the month of April, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's Catalog.

In the month of March, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's Catalog.

In the month of February, many great DVD movies are coming to the Library. Reserve titles now using the Library's Catalog.

This is the last week of our book discussion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. In my first post, I mentioned that it is a post-9/11 novel, published in 2005, but during the past month of discussion, I haven't focused on that aspect of the work. The book talks about Oskar's reaction to the 9/11 tragedy and his father's death at the World Trade Center as well as the reactions of his mother, the people Oskar interviews while trying to find the lock for his key, and various other characters. Foer's intent is to describe the aftermath of 9/11, rather than the event itself, although he uses some details of the event in his story.

Now that you have read more of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (if not all of it), you may have noticed some of its quirky phrases (such as “heavy boots” and “feeling like a hundred dollars”). Part of my interest in reading new (for me) authors is noticing how they use language: what kind of sentence structure — long or short, simple or complex; what kind of words — familiar or out of the ordinary or a combination; lots of descriptive language or spare simplicity; how the individual characters express themselves and what that reveals about them; lots of dialogue between characters or lots of interior monologues.

Now that you have had a chance to meet Oskar, what do you think of him? Many readers have compared him to Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger. Others think he’s far too precocious for a nine-year-old and have suggested the author used his own inner child as the narrator.

Oskar Schell, a precocious nine-year-old who lives in New York City, is the protagonist In Jonathan Safran Foer’s popular post-9/11 novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Oskar's active mind keeps endlessly creating new inventions, most of them somehow related to saving lives and making connections with other people. In other words, he's trying to find a way to prevent “the worst day” from ever happening and thus regain the human connection he lost when his father was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. As Oskar says, he is "wearing heavy boots." 

Okay, you're probably busy putting the finishing touches on your wizard's robe and/or brushing the hair on your furry hobbit's feet so that you will be as stylish as possible when you arrive at the movie theater to catch a midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey later this month.

The Hunger Games

Some of the best books that I have ever read were ultimately made into movies. However, as you might already know, the books are always better than the movie. Jaws by Peter Benchley was so much scarier when I read it than when I viewed it on the big screen. Carrie by Stephen King gave me nightmares, and even though the movie lived up to my expectations, the book was better.

Have you ever been so excited when you found out one of your favorite books was to be made into a movie only to be highly disappointed or even disgusted by the movie? You would leave the theater or turn off your DVD player wondering, “What in the world were they thinking?"

The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, The Wolfman) was released in theatres late last month and was #1 at the box office on its opening weekend. It has since received mixed reviews but did you know that this film is actually based on a book written by Matt Baglio in 2009?

The name of the book is The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist and it tells the true story of a California priest and his astonishingly scary experiences in 2005 while studying exorcisms in Rome.

For Colored Girls, Tyler Perry's latest film, was released in early November and has since received some mixed reviews. Tyler Perry as a director is known for addressing what can be very sensitive topics: for example, drug abuse in Daddy's Little Girls and unhappy marriages in Why Did I Get Married? The casts of his films are usually made up of actors and actresses who are well-known especially amongst the black community. However, it is his ability to capture basic human emotion on camera that has led to his success among of a diverse audience. Did you know that the film For Colored Girls is actually based on a choreopoem book 

The Social Network, starring Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland), arrived in theaters on October 1st. You knew it was based on the true story of the Facebook founders, but did you know that it was based on a book? The book is called The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal written by Ben Mezrich (the author of another "Reel Book," Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, made into the film 21 starring Kevin Spacey).

You may have seen the trailers or heard about a new movie that is out called The American, starring Academy Award winner George Clooney.

However, did you know the film is actually based on a novel, A Very Private Gentleman, written in 2004 by Martin Booth?

The film Eat, Pray, Love starring Julia Roberts alongside great actors such as Viola Davis (Doubt) and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), is causing quite a bit of excitement as it is scheduled to be released in August. But did you know this movie is actually based on a book? It is a memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert called Eat, Pray, Love: A Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia.

The next book in the Twilight series to be made into a movie... your predictions, please!