To Kill A Mockingbird.
And thus ends the discussion we never had because this is the definitive answer. There is no other, greater book that also has a just-as-or-even-greater screen adaptation.
And if you have not read the book and seen the movie, you are culturally deprived and need to correct that straightaway.
(My personal runner-up is Sophie’s Choice, but that’s more debatable.)
Interesting question. I don’t think there’s any overlap in my top 15 favorite books and top 15 favorite movies. I’m going to go with Get Shorty, even though I don’t really remember the book. Good Elmore Leonard is a treat and the film is probably one of my 30 favorites.
There will probably be a strong showing for LOTR, for The Shining, maybe Shawshank (altho it isn’t a whole “book”). I’ve never read Princess Bride.
The Big Sleep
Well, they’re both incomprehensibly plotted, so in that way, the movie is a fairly faithful adaptation.
Philip Marlowe in the book is supposed to be about 6’4" and blond, but that’s a minor quibble, I guess.
My initial nominees were going to be some of the Dickens films from the 30’s and 40’s, such as David Copperfield (1935 MGM) or Great Expectations (1946) or Oliver Twist (1948) both the latter directed by David Lean. I realize Dickens is not everyone’s cup of tea as great literature, but these films managed to take his sometimes rambling stories and transform them into good entertainment while preserving the plots pretty much intact.
But it’s hard to argue with the OP’s choice. I confess I’ve never read the book, so I can remedy that forthwith.
I like Lord of the Rings more (in both media), but that’s largely because it’s a genre that appeals to me. I think I’d still agree that Mockingbird is overall the better work.
I wouldn’t call it the best book in all of history, nor would I call it the best movie, but I’m hard-pressed to think of any work that beats it in both media.
I’d go with Shawshank at least second.
Lord knows it’s not Godfather. As much of a page-turner the book is…I really don’t need entire chapters dedicated to Lucy’s large vagina.
This may be the most correct OP I have ever seen on this message board.
Nope. The Worlds According to Garp.
Day of the Jackal was amazingly true to the book.
The Maltese Falcon.
1941 version, obviously.
Much better book and movie than Mockingbird.
'Nuff said.
“The Silence of the Lambs” is up there.
It’s kind of a victim of its own success, having been watered down with all the variants and the TV show.
Winnie the Pooh
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest has to be in the running.
Assumed this was the steered-towards answer. It almost has the weight of conventional wisdom, like starting a discussion of best bball players with Michael Jordan.
I love both; the book has held Favorite Novel position for me at various points in my life.
Question: given how the world is evolving, non-white-straight-male voices are gaining share in mainstream culture. As an old white straight guy, I applaud this general direction. Does this movement impact how we will view To Kill a Mockingbird? It could be described as illustrative of the white savior approach. The best example ever, but still positioned from that perspective, relegating black characters and voices to small, but critical roles like Tom and Calpurnia.
Probably should be in another thread. Again, I love the book and movie.
Good one!
No, for a few reasons:
The television adaptations of John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People, starring Alec Guiness as George Smiley.
Happy to accept that To kill a mockingbird is much, much worthier in its themes than the tawdry world of cold war spycraft, but television seldom comes to this level of intense perfection while remaining true to such good books both in their text and tone.
Rosemary’s Baby has to be in the top five. Stephen King dubbed it the most faithful adaptation of a book to a movie, or as he put it “If you’ve read the book you don’t have to see the movie, and vice versa.”
And speaking of Stephen, what about The Green Mile? Shawshank was a novella, and the title character was a middle-aged red haired Irish guy. Hardly a description of Morgan Freeman!
I’d like to nominate the book & series, Lonesome Dove…