One Girl's Books

The Book's Always Better Than the Movie?

The received wisdom is that the book is always better than the movie.

I think, for the most part, that's accurate. There are, however, exceptions. One that comes to mind today is Being There.  Peter Sellers' performance as Chance the Gardener (later Chauncey Gardener) is one of my favorites of all time. The book by Jerzy Kosinski lacks some of the sparkle Sellers brings to the role of the simple gardener turned superstar political oracle and media fixture. The book , in my view, lacks the humor Sellers imbues in Chance.

Maybe I just love Peter Sellers, dunno.

The book here. The movie here.

The assignment : What are some other instances of the big screen version besting the original?

extra credit - If Catcher in the Rye were ever to become a movie, who would play Holden?

An Assignment...

Earlier this week I wrote about coming of age novels being a genre I am particularly attracted to. Without listing Catcher in the Rye, a book I adore, what are some of the best of the bildungsroman out there?

And is there a fancy German name for books that take place at a school?

An Assignment...

Adolescent fiction is one of my favorite genres.

I'm often found browsing the back of Borders, looking with head cocked at the rows of new fiction for teens. This is where I discovered Philip Pullman's amazing His Dark Materials series for the first time and where I rediscovered some sacred books from childhood like The Westing Game.

So, the assignment - What books either from childhood written for younger audiences have stayed with you?

Favorites?

Do people's favorite books say something about the type of person they are? Maybe on a grand thematic scale they do, but overall I think favorite books (and movies for that matter) are those that hit us at the right time in the right way.

I'm interested in what people's choices say or don't say about them.

My favorites (and I have already disclosed several) can wait for another day.

What are your favorite books and do you think they say anything about "who you are?"

The First Assignment!

Are there three books you could guarantee everyone would like?

That's the challenge I've set for myself and a few friends. I think it is actually more difficult than I first thought.

Here's my three. Let me know what you think. What are your three slam dunk recommendations?

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 by Sue Townsend.

Hilarious "diary" of an undiscovered intellectual teen living in the English Midlands in the 1980s. This is the first in a series of Mole diaries. There is nothing Adrian Mole doesn't know about the Norwegian leather industry. Buy it

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Guerrillas take over an embassy in an unknown South American country. A famous opera star, a young hostage taker and a Japanese translator find grace in the chaos. Hard to say what makes this one a winner, but each person I know who has read it, loves it.  Buy it

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Atticus and Scout and Jem and a hot summer of bigotry and a quest for justice. Yes, you read it in high school. Read it again. Buy