Turner Classic Movies presents an endlessly fascinating collection of essays for films buffs and literature lovers alike, celebrating 52 great reads and the cinema classics they inspired.
"I love that movie!"
"But have you read the book?"
Classic novels served as the source of cinematic inspiration since the dawn of filmmaking. Books that transported us to different worlds and taught us about people different from ourselves came to vivid, new life on the silver screen.
This charming compendium charts the similarities and differences of fantastic literary works and their equally amazing film counterparts. "The book is always better" or "It's easier to watch the movie" arguments can be put to rest. Instead, this series of essays highlights the elements that make both mediums special, as well as the way a film can allow for a book to take on a new and contemporary relevance.
From Wuthering Heights to Crazy Rich Asians and In Cold Blood to If Beale Street Could Talk, a wide and diverse assortment of authors, eras, genres, and methods of adaptation are represented throughout. Some works, like Amy Heckerling's Clueless, an adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, diverge wildly from the original source material to illustrate how Austen's genteel heroine is the modern day high-school queen bee. Others, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, shift the point of view to reveal a different experience within the same story. But Have You Read the Book? appeals to film lovers and bibliophiles in equal measure as it reveals treasures of both the page and screen. Just be prepared to update your TBR and watch lists.
Other featured works include:
Children of Men · The Color Purple · Dr. No · Dune · Gentlemen Prefer Blondes · Kiss Me Deadly · The Last Picture Show · Little Women · Passing · The Princess Bride · The Shining · The Thin Man · True Grit · Valley of the Dolls · The Virgin Suicides
