# Greatest book AND screen adaptation of all time is.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984 "2015-05-13T23:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/1 "2015-05-13T23:37:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/2 "2015-05-13T23:39:19Z")
(My personal runner-up is Sophie’s Choice, but that’s more debatable.) ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/3 "2015-05-14T00:08:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/4 "2015-05-14T01:17:18Z")
The Big Sleep ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/5 "2015-05-14T01:38:34Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/6 "2015-05-14T01:55:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/7 "2015-05-14T01:56:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/8 "2015-05-14T02:04:46Z")
This may be the most correct OP I have ever seen on this message board. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/9 "2015-05-14T02:12:05Z")
Nope. The Worlds According to Garp. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/10 "2015-05-14T02:39:10Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > This may be the most correct OP I have ever seen on this message board. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/11 "2015-05-14T06:10:46Z")
Day of the Jackal was amazingly true to the book. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/12 "2015-05-14T09:16:10Z")
The Maltese Falcon. 1941 version, obviously. Much better book and movie than Mockingbird. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/13 "2015-05-14T09:50:58Z")
“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. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/14 "2015-05-14T10:05:50Z")
Winnie the Pooh ---
**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:** [May 14, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/15 "2015-05-14T12:40:07Z")
_One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest_ has to be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/16 "2015-05-14T13:08:55Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/17 "2015-05-14T13:18:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > _One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest_ has to be in the running. Good one! > [@WordMan](#): > > 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. No, for a few reasons: 1. The story isn’t about Tom Robinson, or even Atticus, it’s about Scout, and her experiences and perceptions of a particular period of her childhood that featured a rather large event in the form of the trial. 2. Atticus (the Greatest Father Ever) didn’t save Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/18 "2015-05-14T13:21:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/19 "2015-05-14T13:54:11Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984/20 "2015-05-14T14:03:18Z")
I’d like to nominate the book & series, _Lonesome Dove_… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-book-and-screen-adaptation-of-all-time-is/719984.md?page=2)