This one is pretty easy to answer for me. I’m not even sure if I talked about this book yet or not but I wouldn’t be surprised if I have. My favourite adaptation is The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. I saw the movie for this book first and had to read the book after to see how the characters were portrayed in written form. So I bought the book and read it on my trip to the Dominican Republic.
Synposis: Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him — the return of his estranged wife Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat’s now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he’s being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he’s being hunted by Kenny G!
This book was fantastic. The characters were somewhat difficult to follow and it was great because Pat and Tiffany were each dealing with their own mental issues so it gave you insight into what it was like to be inside the mind of someone suffering from mental illness. The book deals a lot with mental illness and addresses it in a way that is constructive. Pat had to work on himself and use the help of others to figure out that he needed to change his life and to stop wanting someone that wasn’t coming back. I really felt for Pat. Many times while reading this book, I would stop and think about my own life and how I had to change and struggled once I came out of a 3 year long relationship. In a way, this book was a form of therapy for me (reading generally is but this book especially).
I liked the ending of the book much better than the movie but it was still kept pretty accurate throughout the movie. All the actor/actress choices were phenomenal too. Tell me what your favourite book to movie adaptation is in the comments. Talk to you later bookworms!
Silver Linings sounds interesting. I haven’t heard of that one before. I’ll see if the library has copies.
The most recent fav book turned into a movie was The Martian (if only I could remember the person who first recommended that book to me…..:) ) The movie did skip some events that were in the book, but it kept the pace going, and was well done.
An old book I read several times was The Stand by Stephen King. They produced a three-episode tv series (6 hrs in total I think). Google tells me that was 1994. I’ll have to watch it again to see how it holds up, but I liked it. I remember the third episode has some great guitar music that I wanted to learn to play (not that I played guitar at all back then).
Haha yes! The Martian was very very good. They did keep close to the book! I forgot I told you about that one. I have heard The Stand is very good too, I should check it out because I love Stephen King.
Easy one: Erich Maria Remarque’s epic novel of a German soldier in WWI, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Became a great movie, also!
–Michael
Yes! Great movie.
It’s kind of creepy…I have read three of your posts and two times our answers are the same…:D Have you read Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick?
No I haven’t! But I should 😛 I honestly didn’t know this existed. What is it about?
It’s a YA novel about a boy who wants to shoot is former best friend and then himself. The entire book is basically him saying goodbye to the imortant people in his life. It wasn’t as good as Siler Linings but still quite a good book. 🙂
Oh wow. That sounds like a very intense read. And alas I am intrigued. Will be looking for this one on the local bookstore shelves 🙂
It’s been out for a while so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find. 🙂
I have to go with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Boring, I know, but I can’t help it. 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation of Silver Linings.
Anytime! And the Lord of the Rings trilogy is amazing ! I agree with you on that one 😛
I would have to say The Godfather, by Mario Puzo, or The Name of The Rose, by Umberto Eco. Both film adaptations captured the spirit of the books perfectly.
Thanks for following my blog, which is much appreciated.
And this post has given me an idea to do something similar on my own blog too!
Best wishes, Pete.
I’m glad I could give you an idea haha and yea no worries man! I still haven’t seen the godfather but its on my list of movies to watch!
Part 2 is as good as Part 1. Maybe not part 3 though…