# Best book and movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194 "2001-08-31T20:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/1 "2001-08-31T20:38:05Z")
The mention of **To Kill A Mockingbird** elsewhere (Great book, BTW!) got me thinking, I loved the book, and loved the movie as well. What other book/movie combinations can you think of where you really enjoyed both? Note, this does not require that whichever came second was entirely faithful to its predecessor. Somewhat related question, what book/movie combinations can you think of where both received the critical, public, and (I assume) commercial success of **TKaM**. Maybe **Gone With the Wind** , I guess. _Still haven’t been ablle to convince any of my kidds to dress up for Halloween as a ham. Darn!_ ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/2 "2001-08-31T20:42:29Z")
Clockwork Orange Terrific book by Anthony Burgess. Very faithfully and stunningly adapted by Stanley Kubrick. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/3 "2001-08-31T20:44:40Z")
_Fried Green Tomatoes_ (the book by Fannie Flagg adds _at the Whistle Stop Cafe_ onto the title. As usual, the book is much richer, but the movie was a fine piece of work. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/4 "2001-08-31T21:06:30Z")
“Rosemary’s Baby”, a nice, taut little thriller written by Ira Levin turned into a nice, taut little thriller by director Roman Polanski. Very faithful adaptation, too. To expand on the definition of “movie”, I’ll add the extremely faithful BBC mini-series adaptaion of “Pride & Prejudice” starring Colin Firth. Loved the book, loved the mini-series. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/5 "2001-08-31T21:11:15Z")
Golding’s _Lord of the Flies_ and the short film that my buddy and I made as a book report for it back in high school in 1983 – and the 1961 movie wasn’t bad either. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/6 "2001-08-31T21:13:24Z")
Jurassic Park Bladerunner DaLovin’Dj ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/7 "2001-08-31T21:17:13Z")
**Dinsdale** , I will dress up like a ham if I can go trick or treating with your kids. This is always on my list of possible costumes, and for one reason or another, it always gets passed over. Now, I know some people hate the movie, but I am always very impressed by the animated film _Watership Down._. It takes the book seriously – the rabbits are not too cute or dressed up in little pants or anything. The happy parts are happy, and the violent and sad parts are violent and sad. It is fairly faithful to the book, given that long parts of the novel are about the internal life philosophies of rabbits. It is mildly amusing that the parts about the mythical rabbit are done in a sort of trippy 70s style, but I think it was a noble attempt to show a difference between the “real” events and the folklore of the rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/8 "2001-08-31T21:23:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by delphica \* > \*\ ***Dinsdale** , I will dress up like a ham if I can go trick or treating with your kids. This is always on my list of possible costumes, and for one reason or another, it always gets passed over. > > \*\* uh, possibly cause it renders you susceptible to knife wielding white trash? Stop by. In our neighborhood, they hand out candy to the kiddies, and alcohol to the parents. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/9 "2001-08-31T21:34:23Z")
**Fight Club** by Chuck Palahniuk was a great book made into an outstanding movie starring Ed Norton and Brad Pitt. The adaptation is extremely faithful. Whole sections of narration and dialogue are transferred verbatim into the screenplay. **The Hunt for Red October** was also a good book, and the movie adaptation of it was a reasonably good transfer, given the complexity and density of the source material. If we can include TV miniseries, I would have to say that the adaptation of **Gulliver’s Travels** starring Ted Danson was just terrific. And yes, I own and have read the unabridged original novel and like it. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/10 "2001-08-31T21:40:11Z")
**Misery** **Silence of the Lambs**. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/11 "2001-08-31T21:44:53Z")
Huh? Nobody mentioned Puzo’s and Coppola’s _The Godfather_? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/12 "2001-08-31T21:56:58Z")
_Moby Dick_ (the 1956 movie with Ray Bradbury screenplay) ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/13 "2001-08-31T22:31:01Z")
THE MALTESE FALCON (the John Huston version–it was filmed twice before.) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/14 "2001-08-31T22:41:28Z")
Oh yeah, seeing as I mentioned it in the other thread: The Big Sleep The Humphrey Bogart version, not the Robert Mitchum version (moving Philip Marlowe out of LA would be odd. Moving him to England is just plain bizarre). On the other hand, Robert Mitchum’s version of “Farewell My Lovely” is good. He may actually be a better Philip Marlowe than Bogart - it’s close. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/15 "2001-08-31T23:02:03Z")
**The Princess Bride.** I didn’t think it was possible to capture the fun of the movie in the novelization, but I was happily proven wrong. Both funny in their own ways, and both play to the strengths of their respective media. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/16 "2001-08-31T23:16:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\ ***The Princess Bride.** I didn’t think it was possible to capture the fun of the movie in the novelization, but I was happily proven wrong. Both funny in their own ways, and both play to the strengths of their respective media. \*\* Just a note - the book came first. The William Goldman novel was published in 1973. Goldman also scripted the 1987 movie. I agree that both are great. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/17 "2001-09-01T00:08:08Z")
I read the book and seen the movie in every case listed. **Field of Dreams** captured the spirit of the book _Shoeless Joe_. Wholesale changes to the plot were made, events rearranged, and a major character dropped. It didn’t matter. **Shindler’s List** actually improves opon the very good book of the same name on which it is based. The power of the music, stark photography, and the outstanding performances brought the somewhat dry semi-biography to life. **Matilda** perfectly captures the flavor of the Roald Dahl book of the same name. Children’s books seldom get the treatment they deserve when adapted; witness the truly dreadful **Harriet the Spy** movie taken from the wonderful book. **The Silence of the Lambs** : A sublimely beautiful adaptation. **The Shawshank Redemption** is based on a Stephen King novella, and almost perfectly replicates the events and moods in the story. Morgan Freeman’s voiceover work is flawless. The book _Psycho_ has inspired **Psycho** , **The Texas Chainsaw Massacre** , and Buffalo Bill in **The Silence of the Lambs**. The triple crown. _I Am Legend_ was made into one good movie, **The Last Man on Earth** with Vincent Price. It was later remade as **Omega Man** , but not nearly as well. It was highly influential on (read: it was ripped off) **Night of the Living Dead**. _Who Goes There?_ was the source for both versions of **The Thing** of which the John Carpenter version is far better, and all three versions of **Invasion of the Body Snatchers** all of which are good. _Where the Heart Is_ is one of those quirky, small town stories that made for a good book and a very good movie. **Get Shorty** and **Out of Sight** are by far the best adaptations of Elmore Leodard’s work. They actually lifted sections of the dialog directly from the book for Shorty, and adapted it well in Sight. ---
**Author:** ![BingoBurringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@BingoBurringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BingoBurringo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/18 "2001-09-01T00:10:35Z")
For some reason, the cinema has been very kind to George Orwell. 1984, Animal Farm, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying have all been turned into excellent and faithful feature films. ---
**Author:** ![beegirl13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/848f3c/32.png) [@beegirl13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beegirl13)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/19 "2001-09-01T00:12:37Z")
Another mention of Ray Bradbury: his _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ is a great book, made into a really good movie (by Disney, IIRC). I don’t know if Bradbury had any input on the movie or not. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194/20 "2001-09-01T00:31:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BingoBurringo \* > \*\*For some reason, the cinema has been very kind to George Orwell. > > 1984, Animal Farm, and Keep the Aspidistra Flying have all been turned into excellent and faithful feature films. \*\* Animal Farm - I HOPE you don’t mean the recent TV adaptation. \*\*\*\*\* spoilers follow \*\*\*\*\*\* They did do a pretty good job up to a point, and the digital effects to make the animals “speak” were interesting. HOWEVER, they tacked on an utter travesty of an alternate ending which completely destroyed Orwell’s original intent. The Orwell novel ends with the animals peering in the window watching the pigs and the owners of the nearby farms, and realizing that the pigs had become as bad as the original humans (or worse). The TV adaptation added some new human owners coming back to take the place over, promising new hope and evrything. Downright Disneyesque. The Orwell original is a comment on the utter futility of revolution, and reminds you of The Who’s observation: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-book-and-movie/79194.md?page=2)