# Are novels ever remade? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253 "2017-04-11T17:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/1 "2017-04-11T17:51:40Z")
TV shows and movies are remade. Songs get cover versions. I believe some plays and symphonies get… not new versions, but… interpretations…? What about novels? If I had an idea for updating The Godfather, but set it in the Russian mob, could I do that? I suppose it all depends on rights holders. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/2 "2017-04-11T17:53:42Z")
Interesting question. I’d be interested in the answer as well. Seems reasonable. IMHO, I think you could make it different enough that the rights holders may not have a say. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/3 "2017-04-11T17:54:05Z")
Would THE WIND DONE GONE count? ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/4 "2017-04-11T17:58:32Z")
“The Wind Done Gone” is an alternate account of the events in “Gone With The Wind”. There was a legal fight over whether it was copyright infringement or parody. > **[The Wind Done Gone](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_Done_Gone)** > > The Wind Done Gone (2001) is the first novel written by Alice Randall. It is a bestselling historical novel that tells an alternative account of the story in the American novel Gone with the Wind (1936) by Margaret Mitchell. While the story of Gone with the Wind focuses on the life of the daughter of a wealthy slave owner, Scarlett O'Hara, The Wind Done Gone tells the story of the life of one of her slaves, Cynara, during the same time period and events. > The title is an African American Vernac... ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/5 "2017-04-11T18:07:11Z")
Damn. Ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/6 "2017-04-11T18:07:47Z")
John Barth famously rewrote _Giles Goat-Boy_. …or so I distinctly remember from the mid-1980s, but the wiki makes no real mention of it. I might have the wrong author. (ETA: No, in 1967 he issued revised editions of his first three novels, then wrote GGB. I think I’m recalling a debate article about whether he should rewrite GGB, as he was then being rumored to do.) David Gerrold has rewritten several of his books, most notably _When HARLIE Was One_. (I have a great story about that book, me and The David.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/7 "2017-04-11T18:08:18Z")
There are plenty of cases of novels written from another character’s point of view. I’m not sure if that’s the same thing. It often happens that an author will rewrite his own work, sometimes with drastic changes. The examples I know best, for some reason, are from science fiction. Isaac Asimov wrote the novelization of **Fantastic Voyage** (which sold forever, it seems, and with the same cover). But it wasn’t his story. Near the end of his life, he decided to “remake” it. The result was **Fantastic Voyage II** which, despite the title, was a re-imagining rather than a sequel. Arthur C, Clarke’s story **Against the Fall of Night** (1948, 1951, 1953) was rewritten as **The City and the Stars** in 1956. Robert Sheckley rewrote his short story “The Humours” as the novel **Crompton Divided** ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/8 "2017-04-11T18:08:30Z")
There’s[Fuzzy Nation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuzzy_Nation). Originally Little Fuzzy by H. Beam Piper, written in 1962. Rebooted with permission in 2011 by John Scalzi. Same plot and characters, but many differences. Haven’t read both, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/9 "2017-04-11T18:12:26Z")
Do novellas count? Two of the Hugo nominees for 2017 are retellings of Lovecraft stories from another character’s point of view. The Ballad of Black Tom, by Victor LaValle The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, by Kij Johnson [missed **CalMecham’s** comment - feel free to disqualify] ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/10 "2017-04-11T18:12:51Z")
John Fowles rewrote his 1965 novel **The Magus** under the same title in 1977 In addition, as we’ve remarked before, there is a class of books that have been rewritten as movie tie-ins, despite the fact that there are perfectly good original novels or short stories. This we have **The Island of Dr. Moreau** by Alan Dean Foster vs. H. G. wells’ original **The Thing** by Foster vs. John W. Campbell’s **Who Goes There?** **Total Recall** by Piers Anthony vs. Philip K. Dick’s **We Can Remember it for you Wholesale** **James Bond and Moonraker** by Christopher Wood vs. Ian Fleming’s **Moonraker** **The Spy Who Loved Me** by Christopher Wood vs. Ian Fleming’s **The Spy Who Loved Me** ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/11 "2017-04-11T18:16:27Z")
**Wicked** , maybe, does that fit what you’re looking for? After all, **The Wizard of Oz** was a book first. Not sure if he had to get permission from Baum’s estate, though. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/12 "2017-04-11T18:16:30Z")
Would Ender’s Shadow fit? It is a sort of reboot of Ender’s Game. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/13 "2017-04-11T18:17:01Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > TV shows and movies are remade. Songs get cover versions. I believe some plays and symphonies get… not new versions, but… interpretations…? What about novels? If I had an idea for updating The Godfather, but set it in the Russian mob, could I do that? I suppose it all depends on rights holders. The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels were repeatedly updated, each time to address changes in the surrounding culture, so a version of Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock from 1930, will be different than the 1959 version. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/14 "2017-04-11T18:21:05Z")
I was thinking I’d wait about five years before resurrecting the thread to mention “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/15 "2017-04-11T18:25:01Z")
Robin McKinley has written two novels of the “Beauty and the Beast” fairytale. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/16 "2017-04-11T18:28:24Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Would Ender’s Shadow fit? It is a sort of reboot of Ender’s Game. That one’s more of a “companion novel”, I think. However, _Ender’s Game_ itself was an expansion of a short story OSC had published several years earlier. There was also a 2nd edition of Ender’s Game written several years later, which added and expanded many scenes, as well as updating events that hadn’t happened when the novel was first published (such as the fall of the Soviet Union.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/17 "2017-04-11T18:29:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > John Fowles rewrote his 1965 novel **The Magus** under the same title in 1977 THAT’S who I was thinking of… wrong lit’rary John. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/18 "2017-04-11T18:30:05Z")
David Gerrold rewrote “When Harlie Was One” into “When Harlie was One, 2.0” and also made significant changes to “A Matter for Men” when the book was republished. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/19 "2017-04-11T18:31:56Z")
There have been many novels retold from the point of view of a different character (_Mary Reilly [Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde], Grendel [Beowulf], Wicked, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs_), etc. Theodore Dreiser’s _Sister Carrie_ was originally published in an edited version; the unabridged version came out many years later. _The Lord of the Rings_ was redone a bit to reestablish copyright in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253/20 "2017-04-11T18:36:58Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > David Gerrold rewrote “When Harlie Was One” into “When Harlie was One, 2.0” and also made significant changes to “A Matter for Men” when the book was republished. Already got those. 🙂 He also updates a lot of his books when self-/small-republishing them. I bought a copy of _The Man Who Folded Himself_ from him in 2007, discussed it with him for a while, then was irritated upon reading it on the flight home that he’d updated a number of dates and details. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-novels-ever-remade/784253.md?page=2)