# Unfilmable Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501 "2012-11-09T18:19:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/61 "2012-11-11T11:12:33Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > Because She is having sex with the Eponymous Gerald when she becomes trapped. Like most people she is naked at the time. Hollywood is pretty good at not being like most people in that instance. And she could always be made kinkier and still be realistic. A silly example: she could be a furry! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/62 "2012-11-11T11:48:16Z")
Inner dialogue is perfectly filmable. Show the protagonist’s face for expression, show what they’re looking at, show flashbacks and imagined sequences for what they’re thinking about. Voiceover all of the above as necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/63 "2012-11-11T12:06:44Z")
> [@grude](#): > > H P Lovecraft’s stuff- So much of the “horror” in his stuff is based on the protagonists internal dialogue and mood I don’t think it can translate easily to film. _The Call of Cthulhu_ has been turned into (very good, IMHO) 1920s-style silent film. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/64 "2012-11-11T13:16:41Z")
Sophie’s World, I think, because of the twist. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/65 "2012-11-11T14:55:17Z")
Re: _Infinite Jest_. > [@The\_Universe\_Lashes\_Out](#): > > We did get [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJpfK7l404I) pretty cool music video out of it. (Although I can’t believe they didn’t have the computer crash down over Otis P. Lord’s head at the end, and other various fanboy quibbles.) I can’t stop watching that video (which is slightly ironic, considering the subject), and it has given me an interesting idea. Film the whole movie that way and turn it into an alternative rock opera. The book is rather episodic to begin with. Divide it up into ~30 vignettes, get different musician to submit songs (breaking from traditional opera practice, but gives a better chance for more kickass tunes), pick the best ones and start filming. I doubt this idea would ever get off the ground. I don’t know who would dream of putting up the money to fund such a project. But if it did happen, I would go see it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/66 "2012-11-11T16:14:58Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Sophie’s World, I think, because of the twist. _Sophie’s World_ actually has [already been adapted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie%27s_World#Adaptations) as a movie, and twice for television. Here’s a [trailer for the movie on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tyWveV-Gg0). ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/67 "2012-11-12T13:03:35Z")
How about _Snow Crash_? Also most, if not all, of Robert Rankin and Chuck Palahniuk’s novels are pretty unfilmable. They did make Fight Club but the rest are too bizarre and surrealistic and/or have weird plot elements or unconventional storytelling that I doubt you’d see in anything with a non-tiny budget. ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/68 "2012-11-12T18:29:33Z")
> [@Dr.Rieux](#): > > The Voynich Manuscript Hah. Good one. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/69 "2012-11-12T19:23:21Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > The Silmarillion would be a bigger one. You could film _The Silmarillion_. It would be about 32 hours long, but you could film it. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/70 "2012-11-12T19:48:59Z")
> [@XT](#): > > The Silmarillion…gods, can you imagine trying? You’d lose the general public in the first, oh, 15 hours just trying to keep track of some of the names… > > 😛 > > (I think a lot of books, probably every book I’ve ever read COULD be adapted to the screen…but most would lose a lot, or everything in the translation) Filming the Silmarillion would be like trying to make a movie of the Bible… the _whole_ Bible, since it is essentially the Bible of Middle-Earth. That being said, there are some fantastic stories inside it. It could possibly work for a HBO-series sort of treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/71 "2012-11-12T20:10:21Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > _House of Leaves_ would be borderline unfilmable. This is somewhat ironic, since the bulk of the text is a scene-by-scene description of watching a movie. > > You COULD just film that movie and release it as a “found footage” horror, but it’s a completely different work at that point. Paranormal Activity 1 through 4 proves it wouldn’t work. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/72 "2012-11-12T20:19:01Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > _The Call of Cthulhu_ has been turned into (very good, IMHO) 1920s-style silent film. The same folks also did a 1940s-style version of **the Whisperer in Darkness** > **[The Whisperer in Darkness (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whisperer_in_Darkness_(film))** > > The Whisperer in Darkness is a 2011 independent horror film directed and produced by Sean Branney, Andrew Leman, and David Robertson and distributed by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. Based on the H. P. Lovecraft short story of the same name, it was shot using Mythoscope, a blend of vintage and modern filming techniques intended to produce the look of a 1930s-era film. According to the film's website, the filmmakers intended to capture the look of "classic horror films of the 1930s like Dr... ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/73 "2012-11-13T04:53:07Z")
After my disappointment with the filmed version of _Even Cowgirls Get the Blues_, I concluded that all of Tom Robbins’s novels are unfilmable. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/74 "2012-11-13T11:01:35Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > _Sophie’s World_ actually has [already been adapted](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie%27s_World#Adaptations) as a movie, and twice for television. Here’s a [trailer for the movie on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tyWveV-Gg0). It has? I should watch it. Wonder how they managed it. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/75 "2012-11-13T11:38:47Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > \*The Illuminati Trilogy. \* > > An unfilmable book because it’s basically an unreadable book. You don’t read it; you experience it. It was made into a _play_. Actually, [a cycle of plays](http://rawilsonfans.com/illuminatus-play-interview/). Note that the OP uses the word “unfilmable.” Others have noted that works not suited for feature films might make film series–or TV miniseries. Or maxiseries… Didn’t GRRM, who had written for TV, write _Game of Thrones_ with a ridiculous budget in mind? Of course, other factors can make books challenging to film. (Do they still use “film” nowadays?) From [a story](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23164/23164-h/23164-h.htm) I referenced in anther recent thread: > [@](#): > > “Don’t let Fay give you apoplexy—he’s not worth it,” Daisy said, sticking her trim head in from the kitchen, while Fay inquired anxiously, “Gussy, what’s the matter?” > > “Nothing, you worm!” Gusterson roared, “Except that an hour ago I forgot to tune in on the only TV program I’ve wanted to hear this year—\*Finnegans Wake \*scored for English, Gaelic and brogue. Oh, damn-damn-DAMN!” > > “Too bad,” Fay said lightly. “I didn’t know they were releasing it on flat TV too.” ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/76 "2012-11-13T11:51:35Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > There’s a movie made from _Tristram Shandy_ whose whole theme is based around the unfilmability of the novel. Indeed… [A Cock and Bull Story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cock_and_Bull_Story) with Steve Coogan. I quite like it as a film, but as noted it’s not really a film \*of \*the book, more a film _about_ the book. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/77 "2012-11-13T12:07:36Z")
Anything that has a story, a narrative, is filmable. Full stop. Whether it captures what many readers consider the essential element of the book is up for debate, but not whether it is filmable. That is why “Dune” is filmable, that is simply not up for debate. What is up for debate is whether it is good enough to satisfy fans of the novel. The same with Watchmen, of course it was bloody filmable. It was just a superhero story. What the film missed is many of the interesting touches, playing with panels etc. But the essential story was still there. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/78 "2012-11-13T14:17:41Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > Indeed… [A Cock and Bull Story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Cock_and_Bull_Story) with Steve Coogan. > > I quite like it as a film, but as noted it’s not really a film \*of \*the book, more a film _about_ the book. Concur on all points. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501/79 "2012-11-17T03:53:53Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Okay, I’ll bite. I have no idea how they are going to do this 50 Shades of Grey movie. It’s unlikely a major movie studio would commit to an X rating for a movie this hyped - it needs to be an R rating to grapple in the housewives too embarrassed to go to an X rated movie, the women who haven’t read the book but want to see what all the hype is all about and the teens who couldn’t get in otherwise. So how do you stay faithful to the book and make it any good without the explicit sex? It’s a really generic romance novel without the kink aspect. > > So, uh, I guess it’s filmable, but in the same way many people say A Scanner Darkly and Dune were. Or, perhaps, _[Exit to Eden?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_to_Eden_(film))_ I totally could have done without the Dan Akroyd/Rosie O’Donnell diamond-smuggling subplot. That was invented totally as a device to avoid telling the _real_ story of the plot, which is the relationship between Elliot and Mistress Lisa. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unfilmable-books/640501.md?page=3)