Booking Through Thursday - But Late!

I've spent most of today sitting at home with "Spots" - the child who has hives. She's finally asleep after a movie marathon and I was intrigued by this meme. So I thought I'd give it a try

1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?

There are a couple that come to mind but I was very impressed with the film version of The Shipping News probably because it exceeded my expectations. My picture of Quoyle was not Kevin Spacey, but I came away with a new appreciation for the power of E. Annie Proulx's writing. A close second, but probably because it was the first time I'd really thought about the power of literature as film would be Gone with the Wind (1939). That was the movie that taught me how to read with the "movie in my head." And that's how I teach students to read to this day!

2. The worst?

There have been so many ... I tend to be very disappointed when the actual movies don't match my mental images. But the worst for me .... 1. The Da Vinci Code (2006) because Tom Hanks was not who I fell in love with during the book and 2. The House of the Spirits (1993) because Allende's book was so mystical which the movie ignored!

3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.) And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I’m notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING. So, feel free to list as many “good” or “bad” movie-from-books as you like. (Heaven knows that’s what I’ll be doing….)

I almost always read a book before seeing a movie, because I read way more books than go to movies. I also tend to hate children's books that are made into movies with Bridge to Terabithia (2007) being a notable exception.

It's a little late but I'm celebrating Thursday on Saturday this week.