Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic.  Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by  The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here.  This week’s topic is:

Page to Screen Freebie 

I was going to do a straightforward book to movie adaptation list but I’ve decided instead to use all the prompts provided and give an example of each (if I can).  So, here goes and I’ll just mention that I’m going with a lot of obvious ones here:

Books that became movies

Harry Potter by JK Rowlings – this is one of those fine examples of a series of books that have been very well adapted and I adore the movies as much as the books – I know!  They’re books that a whole swathe of children grew up with, ageing along with the characters.  I loved the increasingly dark feeling of the books and the movies caught that very well and I think the lead characters were excellently chosen.

Books that became TV shows

Game of Thrones by GRRM – bit premature maybe because the series isn’t (quite) finished yet.  I have enjoyed this series and had some firm favourite characters – of course, nobody is safe with GRRM so it will be interesting to see the concluding episode!  Certainly much drama so far but no spoilers from me!

Movies that became books

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright & David Leslie Johnson.  This is a book that I read that was apparently based on the movie.  The release of the book was tied into the movie release date and the book was sold without an ending.  I remember this quite clearly because the ending was to be made available on the internet – I’m guessing to avoid movie spoilers.  As it happened, I didn’t enjoy the book and I didn’t watch the movie – or search out the ending.

Great adaptations

Lord of the Rings by JRRTolkien.  I loved these movies.  I thought they were really well adapted, the settings were fantastic, the tone was perfect particularly the way it changed as the film progressed.  I thought the actors were well chosen and just generally this is a series of films that I could watch over and over.

Bad adaptations

The Hobbit by JRRTolkien – okay, not a bad movie I suppose – in itself –  but for me a case of a movie that was changed too much.  This is a film that I was really looking forward to – I was surprised that there would be three films from such a relatively slim book – but, I could go for that, three times the fun? Plus, there is a lot of background to Tolkien’s worlds – however, ultimately – remember Bilbo saying that he felt like butter spread too thinly over bread – well, just saying!  What I found disappointing with the film was it felt too similar to Lord of the Rings and completely lost the tone and feel of the book itself and it felt like certain elements were changed completely.  What brought this into much sharper focus was that I reread the book not long before the movie and so the changes were much more apparent.  I’m sure lots of people loved the films, and I can see why, but they didn’t work for me, they didn’t capture the feeling of the Hobbit at all.

Books you need to read before watching the movie

The Goldfinich by Donna Tartt – I’ve read The Secret History and The Little Friend and I did rush out to buy a copy of Goldfinch but just never read it.  The thing is – I have to read the book first, otherwise, once I’ve seen the adaptation it’s very rare for me to go back and pick it up.

Books you need to read before watching their tv show

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill – the trailer for this looks great – and be warned, seriously creepy – and I’ve had the book for quite some time so I need to fit it in – otherwise I can never watch the series!!! Doh.

Movies you loved more than the book

It doesn’t happen often but occasionally I enjoy the film more than the book. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – this could be a case of watching the film first (which I did and which proves my point about needing to get to the book first) – well, the book didn’t work for me after seeing the film – I just couldn’t get on with it for some reason.  There it is – go figure.

Books you loved more than the movie

I am Legend by Richard Matheson.  Another example of a good movie that didn’t work for me because of the changes -particularly the end.  I won’t say more because their lie spoilers.

Books you wanted to read because you saw the movie

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.  I saw the movie first and it made me pick up the book – and in actual fact I enjoyed both – so happy endings all round.