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Which book would you like to see on the Big Screen?
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Angela
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Nov 03, 2014 12:45PM

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The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
Sugar & This Bitter Earth
The New Moon's Arms
A Fine Balance
Neverwhere
The Golem and the Jinni



[bookcover:Gathering of Wate..."
I am actually surprised that this hasn't been made into a movie yet.
I'd like to see Child of God by Lolita Files and Tryin' to Sleep in the Bed You Made by Virginia DeBerry

1) The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami

2) The City of Strangers by Michael Russell

3) OK, Joe by Louis Guilloux

Captures a slice of life faced by African American GIs in Europe during the Second World War - a story too often ignored or overlooked
4) Burr by the great Gore Vidal

5) Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood

6) Wolf Among Wolves by Hans Fallada

7) I Am Livia by Phyllis T. Smith

8) Prey by Thomas Emson

A novel of the horror genre set in today's world in which FEMALE werewolves figure prominently.

While I think Gathering of Waters is a good book, I think it might not play out well on the screen. There are so many spiritual forces at play that it might end up like Beloved. The general public just didn't 'get it'.
Great questions Angela!

not necessarily. The Princess Bride and J.R.R. Tolkien 4-Book Boxed Set: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings made much better movies than books.

The Dragonriders of Pern: Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey
The Century Cycle
Elephant & Piggie Bundle
Dragon and Thief
Lazarus: The First Collection
The Fifth Season
Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes
Santa Olivia
Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft (even though it would be too scary for me to watch.)
Lady Killer
Copperhead, Vol. 1
Bitch Planet, Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine
Black Magick, Vol. 1: Awakening, Part One
Books i'd like to see as a movie or mini series
Wench
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal
Black Widow, Volume 1: The Finely Woven Thread
The Underground Railroad
Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him
All American Boys
Red Hats (really wish he had wrote another this was a cool novel.)
Pinned
The Crossover
Superheroes Anonymous
Small Great Things
Monster
Bel Canto

1) The Wangs vs. the World

2) The Sympathizer

3) The Hand I Fan With

An otherworldly love story between an African American Woman and a ghost from 1895 Georgia.
4) Standing at the Scratch Line

5) Tuesday's War


I agree with Kay, very occasionally a good director gets to the heart of the tension and drama, while the author gets lost in the words. My two top votes for movie-is-better:
- Power of One: an absolutely phenomenal movie, albeit violent, a good but not great book.
- African Queen: a great movie, a great book with a crappy ending. The movie got it right.
I love this topic - it should have its own thread:-)


(This post is going to get cut, isn’t it? LOL :-) )

And when people do rediscover movies, four hundred years in the future, let them look forward, not back.

That will never happen. So long as the artistic and creative impulse is strong in the heart and mind, cinema will continue to flourish across the world.


I admire your optimism. I had it once. The potential of cinema is eternal and independent of our crudity and decadence, but I'm afraid the artistic impulses are not strong in heart and mind today, at least with regards to cinema and its current practitioners. Most of the artists I admired ended up despairing that the end of their art was approaching or had arrived. Some struggle to carry on even past the end days. Hollywood's rule is nearly ironclad: no art permitted. The one exception is the literal grandfather clause: you must actually be a grandfather and then you can do something different, so long as it's familiarly different... you know, do something like what you were doing in the last century if you can convince us there's still a market, but don't try to surprise us with new directions.
I know I'm being unfair in my hyperbole, and there are some hopefuls out there trying to keep the dream alive. I expect most of them to be crushed or assimilated, but who knows.
One reason I'm so harsh is because we can't move towards any kind of revolution, including an artistic one, until we recognize the need for a revolution, which necessarily means to be discontent.
Then, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai offers us this hope: "With changing times and the waning of men's capacities, one would be of suitable worth even if he put forth only slight effort." (Forgive the gendered nature of that statement, but dude was a samurai!)
More directly contrary to my own position is this quote from samurai Oukubo Douko: "...But people become imbued with the idea that the world has come to an end and no longer put forth any effort. This is a shame. There is no fault in the times."
And finally, "No matter what it is, there is nothing that cannot be done." This, of course, coming from a guy who at least half-believed he could keep fighting with his head cut off.
So, okay, let's have an arts renaissance, but personally I think it's more likely to happen in books than movies, where industry has so far vanquished art.



Books mentioned in this topic
We Are Immeasurable (other topics)Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai (other topics)
Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 (other topics)
Miss You (other topics)
Where the River Bends (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Anne McCaffrey (other topics)Ralph Ellison (other topics)
Richard Wright (other topics)
Laila Lalami (other topics)
Louis Guilloux (other topics)
More...