Books that Should Be Movies

Here's a list of books that should be made into movies. Anyone got any others?

Long May She Reign

A while back in the midst of Harry Potter frenzy, Anstrat had a post about what other books are you anticipating and this was my selection. The first book in this series, The President's Daughter, was an earlier pick of mine, as it and its two sequels were among my friend Krista's favorite books in junior high and high school. Now, nearly twenty years after the last sequel, Meg Powers, daughter of the first woman president is back. The story picks up soon after the end of Long Live the Queen with Meg and her family still dealing with the immediate aftermath of Meg's kidnapping and injuries. Eventually Meg realizes she needs to be more independent and goes away to college at Williams. This book, like LLTQ, isn't easy to read-- Ellen Emerson White is almost too good at depicting Meg's mental and physical anguish. But for long time fans of the series, there is a lot to find satisfying, specifically Meg's deeper, more adult conversation with her parents, Trudy, the family's former housekeeper, and Preston, a white house staffer who is also one of the first family's closest friends. White brings in a character from some of her other novels which I found distracting, especially in the face of the updated time period for this book compared to the first three. While I enjoyed the book, I'm not sure how someone who hadn't read the prequels would react and I may have had unrealistically high expectations.

Brokeback Mountain

I read this story recently for class. It's actually the second time I've read it; I also read it before seeing the movie. I couldn't stand E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News, so I was completely surprised at how perfect this story is. It is stripped down so bare and compact. Twenty years pass by in twenty pages. I did really like the movie, also, but the story expressed even better the horrible dilemma these characters face and how much it weighs on them. It's sad and beautiful and there's not a word out of place.

Harry Potter Update

So, as you've no doubt heard, Albus Dumbledore is gay. What do you think of Rowling's decision to keep revealing more and more tidbits about her characters after the release of the final book?

A Thread of Grace

Since my last post was about The Wedding Officer I thought I would talk about this book, which is another look at World War II Italy. This book focuses on the last years of the war when Germany was no longer Italy's ally and Germans and Allied forces were both at the proverbial gate. The features several Jewish families on the run, as well as the people who helped shelter them and an SS doctor who when separated from his unit must come to terms with the blood on his hands for his role in the concentration camps. Reading this book, I learned the Italy had highest Jewish survival rate in Europe, which the author seems to partly attribute to the Italian suspicion of centralized orders and government as well as the greater integration of Jews into the culture as a whole. The book also shows how fascism grew in response the pressure the war put on Italian society.

Into The Wild

Hello folks. Sorry you didn't hear from me last Sunday; it was the end of a bachelor party weekend and well I was not in much of a literary mood. I shall spare you the details. But don't worry ladies, the celebration was not in my honor.
Today's selection has just been made into a major motion picture so I figure it is somewhat topical. "Into The Wild" is the true story of a young man who decides to ditch society and live alone in the Alaska wilderness. The ending is no big secret, let's say its similar to the end of "Grizzly Man", without the bear attack.
But the story poses big questions. What made Chris McCandless, a 24 year old young man of means and intelligence decide to spurn all human contact and association? Was he searching for something meaningful in his life; an honorable communion with nature? Or was a thrill seeker who got in way way over his head? Anyway, it is a really enjoyable read and I would certainly recommend it. See you next time.

The Intuitionist

I can honestly say, this is the best book about elevator inspectors I've ever read. This debut novel by Colson Whitehead follows Lila Mae Watson, the first African American female elevator inspector, in an unnamed time and place (probably 1950's or 1960's New York). Elevator inspection is very prestigious and Lila Mae takes her job seriously. She comes from the Intuitionist school of thought--she can "feel" what's wrong with the elevator. She's very good at it, too, until an elevator she recently inspected crashes in a total freefall. Lila Mae suspects sabotage and must figure out who did it. Along the way, she uncovers new information about her mentor and founder of the Intuitionists, Fulton. The whole novel is an allegory about race--the cover blurbs compare it to Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I liked the novel a lot, even if it tried to do too much in a couple of places. There's some dark humor and I really enjoyed Whitehead's writing style.