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Posts Tagged ‘Oscars’

Oscar Continues to Smile on Literary Adaptations

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

The book is always better than the movie. It’s a mantra avid readers have been living by for decades. So, what if the movie is Oscar nominated? Does that mean the book is that much better? You tell us. The books below spawned four of this year’s Academy Award nominees for Best Picture.

The King's Speech

The King’s Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi

127 Hours

127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

True Grit

True Grit by Charles Portis

Winter's Bone

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell

While the movies are being measured against the best in cinema, you can share your opinion on how well the books behind them held up. If you’ve read the book, click the image to visit the listing on our site. Click “More Options”, then select “Write Review” to post your take on the book and let the movie-goers in on what they’re missing! Writing a review lets you get a little taste of the spotlight: After you submit your review, it will appear on the PBS Home page, in “The Latest Book Reviews” section. You can also check out these past Academy Award winners, available for swapping now, for more Oscar-themed reading as you await the big night on February 27th.

The Blind Side
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis
Million Dollar Baby: Stories From The Corner by F. X. Toole
The Hours
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Sideways
Sideways by Rex Pickett
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Godfather
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
Terms of Endearment
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry
The Silence of the Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings, Bk 3) by J. R. R. Tolkien
Slumdog Millionaire by Vikas Swarup
Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen
Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake
Forrest Gump by Winston Groom
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Kramer vs. Kramer by Avery Corman
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

Obviously, there seems to be a pattern here: Adapt a best-selling novel for the silver screen, win an Oscar (or eleven). While many stories translate well to the screen, some are better left in text. Are there any books you would like to see on the big screen? How about books you wish Hollywood had left untouched? We look forward to your comments!