Old Books, New Readers discussion

Hello OBNR community!

The popularity of Netflix, or rather, its ability to create original content, has given television a literary facelift. Its episodic framework allows for longer timelines, which helps develop a character arc. For our February 2023 read, let’s think about books that could be adapted into a Netflix series. When considering your options, please avoid titles that have already been adapted on other streaming platforms (i.e., Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO, ext). Above all, be creative and think deeply about these nominations. Someone from that industry could be reading and taking notes.


Again, for those not familiar with the criteria, these selections should be over 50 years old, have literary merit, and most importantly, have relevance to the theme. Please list your suggestions on the thread below. Once we have six, I will make a poll.

I am honored to be your moderator again!



-Daniel

Hi All,

I will get the ball rolling on this. I'd like to nominate The Fortune of the Rougons by Émile Zola (Published in 1871). It is the first book in a 20 book series that follows a the branches of the Rougon-Macquart family throughout the late 1800's in France.

I don't think this has already been adapted to any streaming service yet, but I cant remember the last time i logged in to a profile other than the kids profile playing Cocomelon...

I have been wanting to read this for many years and I think that I may have nominated it for another BOTM five years ago.

Cheers,
Ian

Thank you, Ian!

I nominate “Nightfall” by Isaac Asimov

The short story is really better than the novel, but I would love to see it brought to screen.

Thank you, JazzyJake!

I nominate Flashman (1969 novel) by George MacDonald Fraser.

I nominate "Long Summer Day" by R.F. Delderfield, which was originally published in 1966.



This is the first in a series of novels in the 'A Horseman Riding By' series, whose focus is on the Craddock family in the UK, spanning from the Boer War to the Second World War.

The Octopus: A Story of California

This is a good one about the conflict between California wheat farmers and the railroad.

I have never been able to understand why no one picked this book up for filming.

Smith (1967) - Leon Garfield

This brilliant, picaresque novel follows the adventures of an illiterate young ragamuffin known only as Smith. Smith picks the pocket of a stranger, only to immediately witness the stranger's murder. Smiths finds he has obtained some sort of document which he is unable to read, but needs to be able to decipher to find out why someone would kill for it.

I would like to see an adaptation of The Foreign Legion. It opens with thirteen stories and the second part of the book presents her newspaper crônicas. Clarice LispectorLispector addresses life's big questions with dazzling taxonomies, that paragraphs hardly seem to be a unit of organization any longer. Novel thought inversions, and almost brutal honesties delivered with elegance and grace.

Thank you everyone for nominating these titles. I will take the first six and make a poll.

Also, for those who responded to me from broadcast message, I sincerely apologize for not providing a link to the thread.

I nominate The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks!