I've Read the Book... Now I'm Looking Forward to the Film

Beowulf

Beowulf is in 3D format at the local theatre and I haven't managed to make my way there and I'm sure like all movies I long to see it will be gone before I do. Still I'm always excited to see a release of a film based on classic literature that might bring it to a new kind of awareness for young people.

The Golden Compass

The Golden Compass is a film I've been longing to see, so much so that I've recently reread the book. In the book I LOVE Serafina Pekkala, the witch (in the film she's played by Eva Green so that should be good). Mrs. Coulter is beautiful and very evil and though she has dark hair in the book and Nicole Kidman has blonde, I believe Kidman will be up to the task. One of my favorite characters is Iorek Byrnison, an armored bear. As with most treasured books, I'm afraid the film won't live up to the images in my mind. My most recent "reading" was by audio book and I LOVE the version I listened to.. it has a full cast and it's already like a movie in my mind as I hear the Texas twang of Lee Scoresby or the flippant childlike voice of Lyra or the brogue of John Faa.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

This book is one I read long ago. I thought it was beautifully written and the way it was written struck me as wondrous as well. A book communicated in blinks. For that is what it was. I look forward the film rendition and may need to revisit the text on which it is based.

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is a book that's made its mark on book clubs and best seller lists, for certain. Its been touted as a new American classic. Will the film capture what the book had to offer? Again, I remember reading it and really liking it, but how much so? I recall some of the edgy elements of the story... and I recall that it seemed to be a book about redemption. Wrongs, righted. It's a sad story of boyhood friends in Afghanistan.

Into the Wild

I loved this nonfiction work by Jon Krakauer when I first read it. It reminds me just a little of Timothy Treadwell of Grizzly Man. Into the Wild, however, is not a documentary and I worry that some of the wonder of the real story will be lost in the movie casting and dramatization.

--Kate