The Japanese Godmother of the Fifty Shades Segment

Though "Snakes and Earrings" by Hitomi Kanehara is a short book, very short really, it is one that leaves an impression. The first time I read it was a few years ago. I was on my way out to shop for dinner just as it started raining, so I decided to read for a few minutes to see if it would clear and picked up "Snakes and Earrings" and started on it. It did clear up relatively fast but by then I was deep in reading and I didn't stop reading until I had read the last page. Dinner was delayed by almost two hours.

It is a forceful book and though I rarely say this about any book, this one is not for the fainthearted or for the young. Though it was written by Hitomi Kanehara when she was only 21, I would not recommend it to anyone below the age of 18 as it contains some really explicit scenes of sex and violence.

Lui is a young Japanese woman who is emotionally fragile and depressed. Her boyfriend Ama is an emo, goth type who loves piercings and body modifications and while living with him, Lui starts shedding her pop girl image and exploring the darker fashions, eventually deciding that she wants to split her tongue. To do so she first needs to have her tongue pierced and then gradually make the hole larger and larger. Ama takes her to a friend of his who is specialised in tattoos and piercings and from the very first second there is a fierce sexual chemistry between the piercer and Lui. It is a not a healthy love-at-first sight we are talking about here but a dark, sadomasochistic sexual current. One where there is only a short distance between pleasure and pain, between living and dying.

Kanehara takes her protagonist to the very darkest of places, the deepest despair and a pain that is difficult to handle. It is a beautifully written story. Every word is just right. It is no surprise that it won several awards and has already been made into a film. Don't cheat yourself of this read though you might be repulsed by some of the topics or the actions of the characters - it will stay with you for a long time as it did with me.

Read it if: You want a painful but authentic story that will pierce you with its words. You want a book that deals with sex in a very different way to the 50 Shades type books.

Snow White and The Huntsman - a far cry from fairytale

This is a test. If I say Snow White, which image springs to mind? Let me guess... a young lady with black hair, a yellow, blue and red dress, large eyes, surrounded by squirrels and a birds and all kinds of cute animals. It is the Disney Snow White I am referring to... I have a feeling that for many of us, she is who springs to mind when we hear the words Snow White. 
The original Snow White, however, was the main character of a German fairy tale and as with most fairy tales, there are several versions but the most famous one is probably the one told by the Brothers Grimm in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Though the queen in the Disney version is quite grim, she is nowhere near as scary as the original queen in the Grimm version who, upon finding out that Snow White (at the tender age of seven) has grown more beautiful than herself, commands a huntsman to take Snow White into the forrest, kill her and bring back her organs... oh yes, pretty nasty stuff. 
Snow White is getting the big overhaul this year with Hollywood bringing out not just one but two versions of the fairy tale. "Mirror, Mirror" looks quite cute and pretty-ish whereas "Snow White and the Huntsman" is going for a darker version of the story. 
My boyfriend and I went to see "Snow White and the Huntsman" at a late screening recently. There was only seven people in the cinema and we settled in to enjoy what we expected to be an action-packed adventure but unfortunately left with a bit of a meh feeling. 


The good parts were: 

• Kristen Steward who adds character and steely courage to Snow White. She is pretty but she is also a really tough girl who takes on the queen and her beauty is more about what is on the inside than what is on the outside. 
• Charlize Theron as the evil queen. Magnificent. 
• The dwarfs are cool! They are not cute and they are not funny like the Disney versions, they are hardcore warriors fighting to survive.
• The costumes, especially the queens dresses, are spectacular and the scenery in the dark forrest is really well-made with a spooky atmosphere. 

The not so good parts: 

• The huntsman doesn't do it for me - it might be prosaic but I kept thinking that he could do with a shower and a shave... He just was a bit too much of a pretty boy made rough only by grime and beard, they should have gone for someone a bit more rugged. 
• The enchanted forrest. Dear me... they could have gone a bit lighter on the fairies, not to mention the deer. It was too much, next time stick closer to real nature which is amazing enough without the added sparkly and glitter. Did Twilight and sparkly vampires teach you nothing people? 
• The ending. Too fast and too little time and energy spent on tying up the lose ends. 

Watch it if: You have a thing for fairytales and loved Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. You want to see Kristen Steward in a role that is a bit more Joan of Arc and a bit less damsel in distress. 

The Descendants - loved the film, what about the book?

The other night I watched "The Descendants" - a wonderful, strange, bittersweet movie starring George Clooney and Shailene Woodsley. Personally, I think that Clooney is a wonderful actor  - he is so good at playing a little bit rough, confused and bruised. He does modern male incredibly well and "The Descendants" is no exception - it is Clooney at his finest portraying the tempest-tost land baron, husband and father Matt King. Matt was king in his own life, rich, privileged, married to a beautiful woman with two gorgeous daughters. At the opening of the film, however, this in the past because his beautiful wife is in a coma and he has not the faintest idea how to be a father to his two girls. The oldest girl is played by Shailene Woodsley, who complements Clooney perfectly and does a superb job of making a difficult, tormented teenage girl come to life on the big screen. She is definitely one to watch. 

It is a moving film about the loss of a wife and the loss of a parents but most of all it is about the loss of life as we know it. It is about what happen when what we thought was forever and took for granted can be taken from us in a second. I loved it, though it was bittersweet and a times sad and when the credits rolled I spotted some of my favourite words "Based on...". 
I love that! It is so fantastic to find out that a great movie is based on a book - a book that could be just as amazing. 


So "The Descendants" by Kaui Hart Hemmings is going straight on my TBR and here is what it says on amazon.com:
"Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors were financially and culturally progressive–one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowners. 
Now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control: Ten-year-old Scottie is a smart-ass with a desperate need for attention, and seventeen-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. Matt’s charismatic, thrill-seeking, high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident and will soon be taken off life support. The Kings can hardly picture life without her, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them–and spurs them into surprising actions.

Before honoring Joanie’s living will, Matt must gather her friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation made worse by the sudden discovery that there is one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair, quite possibly the one man she ever truly loved. Forced to examine what he owes not only to the living but to the dead, Matt takes to the road with his daughters to find his wife’s lover, a memorable journey that leads to both painful revelations and unforeseen humor and growth."

Youth In Revolt and a day in bed

I've been gone for a while, lost in a world of work and social engagements leaving very little room for books. I've missed blogging though so will be coming back, just have so much going on at the moment. Today was a hungover, partied-too-much day so spent it in bed watching movie and catching up on the news papers that I have been neglecting.


One of the movies was "Youth In Revolt" - having read the book and loved it (review on its way), I had to see the movie. It stars one of my favourite actors, Michael Cera, who does teenager troubles better than most actors. It was hilarious, really really fun but do read the book before you watch the film, it is the only way to do it with this one. As the book is quite long, the film only showed some of the scrapes that our anti-hero gets himself into but it was well edited and managed to convey the tone and spirit of the book really well!


Here is the official trailer - see you soon for the book review:

Quotes from a teenage revolution

I am in one of those moods where I can't stick to one book, it is almost physically impossible for me to keep attention on one book. However, last night I started reading "Youth in Revolt" by C. D. Payne and I having a really good time! It is absolutely hilarious, the story is full of twists and surprises and the dialogue is vivacious and fun!


So though I am still only half-way through the book, I will share a few quotes with you to give you a taste of the it and hopefully make you smile:


On moms and hairdressers (page 8): 
Mom gave me $20 this morning to get my hair cut. She likes me to get it professionally styled in a salon where they play loud music rock music. That way I can come out looking like a successful real estate agent, junior division. 


On having to cook a family dinner (page 170):
"This tastes like shit!" slurred Dad. 
"It's Thai food, Dad," I explained. "It's supposed to be spicy."
"Thai food!" he bellowed. "Who ever heard of Thai meat loaf!"
"It's a synthesis of Thai and American cuisines," I elaborated. 
"You're doing this deliberately! You're taking expensive groceries and deliberately sabotaging them. To get out of doing your work!"
Obviously the alcohol had not entirely impaired Dad's analytical faculties. 


Wondering what parents' worst nightmare is (page 260):
"That you will marry an American?" suggested Apurva. 
"That you will never leave home?" proposed Francois. 
"No," replied Vijay, "it is that you will ruin your life and bring disgrace and financial hardship upon the family." 
Wow, if that's true I may qualify as my parents' worst nightmare come true. 

Review: "Push" by Sapphire

Precious Jones is 12 years old when she goes to hospital. Her mother has beaten her up (with an iron skillet), punched and kick her. Because Precious was having contractions. In the hospital, the battered, obese pre-teen girl gives birth to a daughter and when the nurses ask the name of the father, she replies "Carl Kenwood Jones". The nurses flinch. Why? Because that is also the name of Precious' own father. This scene gives you a very good idea about Precious and the trouble she goes through. Growing up in poverty in 1980's Harlem, Precious' life revolves around being verbally abused by her mother and physically abused by her father. When she is 16, she is thrown out of school for being pregnant  - again, and again the father is man who also calls himself Precious' father.
Precious is a big girl. Not round or chubby but fat as in critically obese and this is how she hides the second pregnancy, knowing well that her mother will blame her for the circumstances. However, a teacher takes pity on Precious who is actually quite a devoted student and helps her get a place at Each One Teach One, a school for illiterate teens and adults. Because even though Precious loves her classes, she also cannot read to save her life. At Each One Teach One Precious for the first time in her life meets compassion, friendliness and care and she meets girls and women who have suffered through some of the same things as herself. In the classroom she learns not only how to read (Alice Walker's The Colour Purple) but she also learns about independence and ambition and about taking life in her own hands.

"Push" by Sapphire is a different book, a special book. It is written in Precious' own words and dialect making it rather difficult to read if you are not into Harlem street slang but I found it easy enough to get into actually. And it does give Precious her own voice, making the story more authentic than if it was written in perfect New England English.

I found the story very emotional to read because Precious is such a lovely, clever girl with such a low self-esteem. She continually wishes that she has been born as a skinny white girl with not a care in the world. Being a mother-of-two at sixteen as well as an incest and battery survivor with a reading disability and no place to live can't be easy - and it certainly isn't for Precious. And that is actually what makes it difficult to read because it is a lot of trouble to take in. I mean, nothing is really good in Precious' life. It is all very grim and even when it gets better, it is still pretty awful.

However, as much as it was over the top, it was also a good read because it engaged me on a very emotional level. It reminded me of "Lucky" by Alice Sebold because it is written with the same blunt honesty and deals with extremely difficult topics in a very matter-of-fact manner.

Ooh and by the way - it has been made into a movie "Precious" that I am definitely going to have to see! When it came out it got great reviews and I can't wait to see how it treats the story of Precious.

Read it if: You want to face the ugly sides of life. Want to motivate yourself to do more charity work.

We Need to Talk About... a really amazing film!

Right so it's been a long long time - or at least many days - since I've done any blogging. The reason for this absence is not that I no longer love blogging or reading but that I have moved to: another job in another industry, another city and another country. Quite a bit of change in one go. So at the moment focus is on settling in, getting to know my way around etc. etc.

Last weekend after a rather tough week in new position in a new department, my boyfriend took me to the cinema and even let me choose the film so we went for "We Need to Talk About Kevin". I read the book by Lionel Shriver a year or so ago and loved it so I was quite worried about the film actually. Would they be able to tell this horrible story without resorting to overdramatizing or focusing too much on Kevin and too little on the family. The book is so special. Even though it is all about Kevin, he is hardly in it. A minor character that the entire plot centers around. And the narrator, Eva, is unable to see outside of her own context at all which means that the reader has to do his/her bit to understand what is at play here. It is a difficult book to translate into a movie.

When we left the cinema, I was more or less stunned by the fact that the director had managed what I had in no way expected: to make the film a natural extension of the book. A lot of this is down to the incredible Tilda Swinton, who is probably the only actress on earth able to rightly portray Eva. Distressed, broken Eva whose life has been taken from her and left her with a shattered existence as an outcast. Much of story is not told outright but by her actions, her facial expressions and she takes this movie to another level - it is not sensational or cliche or over-emotional as one could have feared. It is silently strong, it made me physically uncomfortable in the best possible sense because it is so obvious that this is a family doomed to tragedy. Ezra Miller as Kevin is beyond amazing. A great career awaits this actor, I am sure, because he does a great job of portraying a range of emotions from sadness to a burning rage.

If you are wondering what to do next weekend, going to the cinema to watch "We Need to Talk About Kevin" would definitely be my suggestion.

But why?

Some books are just perfect for being made into epic films that add another dimension to the book. And some are just not... And it is a bit of a rule of thumb if you ask me that if a book doesn't work as a book then it probably won't work as a film. I know there are exceptions (not that I can think of any right now but I am sure they are there) but usually I would think that a good book has a better chance of a becoming a good movie than a bad one. Which is why I do not understand why on earth "Gods Behaving Badly" by Marie Phillips is now being made into a movie!

It has been a while since I read this one but when I read it, I absolutely disliked it. Really disliked it. The premise that it is a bunch of Greek gods and goddesses are living in a crumbling house in modern-day London is interested and though it is a bit tacky, I thought that it could probably be a fun read if executed elegantly. Turned out it was about as elegant as an elephant in a shop full of antique china. Not a pretty picture and not a good book. So why has somebody rounded up a cast including Alicia Silverstone, Christopher Walken and John Turturro and why is it being filmed?

If someone in the movie industry is reading this blog: there are many, many books out there that are so much more worthy of being filmed than this one (in my opinion at least). So why not pick up the rights for "Purge" by Sofi Oksanen (see last post), "The Pregnant Widow" by Martin Amis (review coming soon) or "The Darkangel" by Meredith Ann Pierce?

I wish it was a book!

Right so I've written a couple of posts about books that have been made into films - but there are also a bunch of films that I really really wish was based on books. And maybe they are and I just haven't noticed. Anyway. There are quite a few films that I would love to read:



Juno. Script written by the cool, clever, imaginative and brave Diablo Cody who is never afraid of tackling difficult issues (teenage pregnancy in Juno, mental illness in United States of Tara). Would love to have her over for dinner and talk to her about screenwriting.



Adventureland Starring a rather cute guy and Twilight-girl Kristen Stewart this is a far cry from sparkling, moody vampires. This is all about a rich kid whose parents go bankrupt forcing him to work at the local adventureland (read: freak show) during his summer vacation. It would work really well as a coming-of-age book, I think.



Easy Virtue with Colin Flirt and Jessica Biel. I've mentioned this one before. It is set in the thirties and full of bright young things and fantastic music. The story of an English aristocrat who marries an American nobody to the extreme displeasure of his mother. It would be a classic - reminds me of "The Edwardians" by Vita Sackville-West.

Willa wants to Read... The book behind the film

So I've seen the film (not knowing that there was a book behind it) and now I want to read the book because as we all know: usually the book is much better than the film :-)

Which books-made-into-films can you recommend?

"Whip It" by Shauna Cross
The film starring Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore (who is also the director) is full of great girlpower girls who rollerskates in derbys that are something of a rollerskating meets fight club thing. Full of cool clothes, great music and fun moments! I have already seen it twice and I absolutely have to read the book.
From amazon.com: Meet Bliss Cavendar, an indie-rock-loving misfit stuck in the tiny town of Bodeen, Texas. Her pageant-addicted mother expects her to compete for the coveted Miss Bluebonnet crown, but Bliss would rather feast on roaches than be subjected to such rhinestone tyranny. Bliss’s escape? Roller Derby. When she discovers a league in nearby Austin, Bliss embarks on an epic journey full of hilarious tattooed girls, delicious boys in bands, and a few not-so-awesome realities even the most hard-core derby chick has to learn.

"The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis
I know, I know... I really should have read this one before watching the movie. Sorry.
From amazon.com: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are evacuated to a house during the war wherein lives a vague professor. Left much to their own devices, they find a way into another world - Narnia - and discover Aslan, the lion king in hiding.

"Thank You for Smoking" by Christopher Buckley
Great movie - heard the book is fun. From amazon.com: "Nick Naylor had been called most things since becoming chief spokesman for the Academy of Tobacco Studies, but until now no one had actually compared him to Satan." So begins the adventures of this protagonist, a shamelessly slimy yuppie and PR flack par excellence for the tobacco industry. The story, such as it is, consists of Naylor's attempts to prop up his failing corporate star by expanding his defense of the evil weed. Working the airwaves, he engineers successful, hysterical appearances on Oprah and Larry King , after which he's kidnapped by anti-tobacco terrorists who attempt to murder him by plastering his body with nicotine patches.

Top Ten Tuesday: From book to film

How many great books out there have been ruined by being made into a film? It's like the stars, you can keep counting but you will never get to the final tally because there are so incredibly many. However, there are a few successes as well and I have to admit that I often get really excited when it is announced that a book I like will be made into a film. Today's Top Ten Tuesday topics is just that: books that I would like to see made into films!

10) The Eleniad series by David Eddings. An absolute favourite series of mine that features knights, stubborn horses, cool ladies and lots and lots of action.

9) The Book, The Film, The T-shirt by Matt Beaumont. Advertising agency filming a commercial with two divas, lots of crazy assistants, a boss with a major ego and PA who is doing more than her share of the work. And that is only the beginning. Would be a great comedy!

8) The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff The history of the mormon church and the mystery of a murder.

7) The Exception by Christian Jungersen Adult women in an office environment bullying each other... Could be made into a really thrilling, dark movie.

6) Anything steampunk. I am only just getting to know this genre but already I can see that there is huge potential for great films here!

5) The Fingersmith by Sarah Waters Who's fooling who? And why? Set in a dark England full of crooks, this could be a great costume drama.

4) The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce. When Ariel is abducted by a huge winged creatures and taken to his castle to serve as maid to his ghost wives, Ariel has to overcome to her own shyness and fear to help the ghosts become free of their captor. One of the best paranormal/fantasy romance/action books I have ever read.

3) The Sopranos by Alan Warner. A Catholic girl school choir on a crazy road trip - should make for a great movie!

2) Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Harry Potter for adults - what more can you want?

1) We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver The nature or nurture dilemma is at the heart of the scary novel about a child who becomes a high school killer and his mother who seeks to understand why.

Which books would you like to see made into films?

Review: "Never Let Me Go" - Hard to let it go

It was seriously hard to let go of "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro, when I had finished the last sentence. It almost clung to my hand and I re-read pages and paragraphs over again. It is strange because when I first started out reading the novel, I gave up a few pages in and thought that it would be one of those books that end up gathering dust without me ever getting them read. However, when I gave it a second try something clicked and I became absorbed in the story. I will try to write a brief review here with no spoilers because this is one of those novels that deserve to exist in a spoiler-free environment.

It is England as we know it and then not really. Kathy H., a women in her late twenties, is reminiscing about her idyllic childhood at the oh-so-English boarding school Hailsham. Her memories are full of afternoons playing rounders, doing arts and crafts projects and hanging out with the other children, especially Ruth and Tommy who becomes Kathy's two closest friends. However, as the plot evolves, it becomes apparent that something is going on. It is not all as perfect and peaceful as it seems on the surface, actually something rather sinister is looming just around the corner.

I won't tell you anymore but if you like a book to surprise you, to keep you on your toes, to engage you and leave you breathless, you simply need to read this book. Especially as it has been made into a film starring Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. I really want to see it now that I have read the book - and I hope that you will also feel the need to see it when you have read this incredible novel.

Top Ten Tuesday: The best movie adaptions ever!

If you don't know the Top Ten Tuesday concept you must visit The Broke and the Bookish at http://www.brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ It is a fantastic blog and they do this wonderful weekly meme called Top Ten Tuesday. This week we are counting down from tent to one of the best book-to-movie adaptions ever.
What a great theme!

10) Romeo + Juliet with Leonardo diCaprio and Clarie Danes. A fantastic modern adaption of the Shakespeare classic! It is adaptions such as this one that will make teenagers flock to read the masters.

9) Les Liasons Dangereuses/Dangerous Liaisons with Glenn Close, John Malkovitch and Michelle Pheiffer is an apation of the epistolary novel by Chloderlos de Laclos and it has the same sense of danger and flirtation as the book.

8) Shawshank Redemption is a classic – both the story by Stephen King and the movie is spectacular in their description of a man imprisoned on false charges.

7) The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Matt Damon is a bit of a feast. Not only is it visually delicious with beautiful scenes filmed in Italy but it also haves the same thrill and excitement as the book.

6) Sense and Sensibility won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and it was well-deserved! Emma Thompson and Kate Winslett make Elinor and Marianne come to life and the film does the book justice.

5) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire managed to convey the sense of magic and boarding school drama that made the book so special. My favourite parts of the movie are the Yule Ball (especially when Hermione comes down the stairs) and

4) Trainspotting. One of the coolest movies from the 90’s, an absolute classic! The language and tone of the film is very close to the book.

3) Fight Club starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. With a cast like that it could hardly go wrong and it is a spectacularly cool movie! It has the same hard edge as the book and gave me the same kind of chills!

2) Towelhead. This adaption perfectly captures the fragility and sensitivity of the main charater, teenage girl Jasira while dealing with a string of difficult topics with a sense of humour but in a respectful way very much like the novel by Alice Erian.

1) Pride and Prejudice, the BBC mini-series featuring man-of-my-teenage-dreams Colin Firth. The scene with the lake and the clinging shirt. The scene with Mr. Collins' proposals. The opening scene with Mrs. Bennett. Fantastic! I rest my case.

Which ones are your favourite book-to-film adaptions?

The good, the bad and the really tragic

My post yesterday about movie adaptions touched a subject that I think most of us feel really strongly about. Most often I like adaptions - if they are good. A good adaption makes me feel like really happy, like I am sharing an understanding with the director and producers. Often it makes me want to read the book again - I do love rereading - and I enjoy the visuals of a good book coming to life. However, a bad movie adaption really really annoys me. Sometimes it even makes me angry. I know many of you fell the same. So for the benefit of ranting here is a list of adaptions that I consider good, bad and seriously tragic.

Good movie adaptions
"Pride and Prejudice"
The BCC adaption. Not technically a movie but a mini series, I defy any Austenite not to love this adaption. Beautifully made with great actors and actresses. Apparently it is also quite historically correct - though I don't remember where I read that - but what seals the deal for me is the scene where Mr. Darcy swims in the lake. Ladies, do you agree?

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
Great book and great movie adaption. I have read and watched and reread and rewatched book and film so many time. The three little wizards are so cute and play really well and the settings at Hogwarts are magical!

"Fight Club"
Really cool book and really cool movie! Brad Pitt and Edward Norton do a great job and the fighting scenes are very well-made. The movie follows the book and keeps the narrator voice in a way that really works for me.

"Clueless"
A modern day (or at least it was modern in the 1990's) interpretation of Austen's Emma. This was my favourite film when I was 13 years old, I loved it!! It is actually a good adaption. It has the wit and the sassiness of the original book and the themes have translated well into the American high school setting - not least thanks to Reese Witherspoon. My favourite memory about this movie is remembering how awestruck my 13-year-old self was that the characters had their own mobile phones!

Bad movie adaptions
"Pride and Prejudice"
The Keira Knightley adaption. Though the acting is great and the actors are very very good at what they do, a lot of things just don't work for me in this film. The settings and visuals are too pretty, too much. As a movie it is beautiful but as an adaption it just doesn't work for me. My personal peeve about this adaption is that while all of the other characters got to wear beautiful dresses, Lizzie/Keira was stuck in grim, brown dresses - I mean, this is not cinderella and just because Lizzie is clever and bright, she doesn't have to wear dowdy dresses!

"Eclipse"
So Twi-hards, as much as I loved the "New Moon" adaption, the adaption of "Eclipse" is just bad. Bad bad bad. Most of the time, the scenes set outside looks like they were filmed in front of a blue screen and the white make-up on the vampires have been taken a bit too far... Too bad as it could have been great.

"Stardust"
This is one of those where I watched the movie - twice - before I read the book. And good thing I did, because I really liked the movie but when I read the book I understood how much better the movie could have been. Definitely a case of movie magic fading compared to the wonderful magic of books!

Seriously tragic adaptions
"Angels and Demons".
Tom Hanks where was your sense when you agreed to do this film? Come on! The book was bad, the adaption of "The DaVinci Code" was horrific but this one beats it all. The adaption of an unbelievable but somewhat thrilling book has been made into a ridiculous film - tedious and at times even painful.

"Cruel Intentions"
This adaption of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" by Laclos was very popular when I was a teenager. Instead of honouring this classic tale of cruelty and making a costume drama (like Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont), they set the film among a bunch of rich Manhatten teenagers. Bad premise and a rather bad movie - but as an adaption it is seriously tragic.

"Vanity Fair"
All I can say is that I loved Thackeray's book but I couldn't make it all the way through film, it was too tedious.

"Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason"
I really liked the adaption of "Bridget Jones's Diary" and I looked forward to the sequel. The book was tolerable but the movie adaption was awful. Worse than awful. Not even Colin Firth could save this shipwreck and that tells you something!

These are my opinions - now please tell me yours!

Make a Mov(i)e!

So a lot of your are taking part in the Waiting on Wednesday meme but I have to admit there there are not a lot of books that I am impatiently waiting for to be published. However, there are a lot of books that I would very much like to see being adapted for the big screen! I love watching a good movie - last night my sister, my boyfriend and I had official "Eclipse" night, watching the vampires and werewolves alternating between fighting and taking off their shirts. Do I need to add that my boyfriend was less than impressed? My sister and I did enjoy it though.
There are a lot of books out there that I think could make great movies - if treated right that is. Here are some of books that I would like to buy a ticket to the theater to see - a fantasy, a romcom and a historical drama!

Jonathan Stranger and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - the fantasy movie
New Line Cinema has bought the rights for making this fantastic novel into a film but so far not a lot has happened. Get your skates on New Line!!
The story is set in England around the Napoleonic Wars - a time where magic is returned to England at the hands to two magicians. The gentleman Mr. Norrell and his apprentice rebel Jonathan Stranger. Lots of drama and magic. A Harry Potter for adults.

Got You Back by Jane Fallon - the romcom
Jane Fallon's first novel Getting Rid of Matthew is apparently on the way to the big screen - but I would prefer to watch her second novel, Got You Back - come to life. This is the story of two women who share a man... One is married to him, living a jet-setty life in London, one is his girlfriend living in a small village in rural England. They don't know about each other but when they find out, he is in trouble. Big trouble. Perfect for Jennifer Aniston and Drew Barrymore, if you ask me.

The Life Mask by Emma Donoghue - the historical drama
This drama is based on real historical characters and they sure come to life in this dramatic tale of love, riches, plays and a touch of lesbianism. If you like Sarah Waters, you will love this book about the acclaimed actress Elizabeth Farren (in the picture) who becomes close friends with a famed sculptress while being pursued by a rich earl. The fact that this all builds on historical facts only makes it better! Please please please cast Keira Knightley!

Which books would you like to have adapted to films?

The Graduate" - tough lessons in the school of life

Mrs. Robinson is a bit of a cultural legend and as I have never managed to see the film "The Graduate", I thought I would give the book a go and get to meet the famous lady. That was how I ended up reading "The Graduate" by Charles Webb.
The book and the drama all start at Mr. and Mrs. Braddock's party to celebrate the graduation of their pride and joy, their only son Benjamin. Only Benjamin does not want to take part in the party and be a good boy and polite to his parents friends. Inside him a psychological drama of epic proportions are taking place and he is fighting to figure out what to do with his life.
Devoid of a solution to this questions, he spends the the following weeks sleeping, drinking and embarking on an affair with his parents' friend Mrs. Robinson.
Needless to say, this is the road to even more mental struggles and Benjamin becomes even more pressured by his own mind, when he is forced into going on a date with Elaine Robinson, the teenager daugther of the Robinsons.

The book is quite short and I would have preferred it more detailed. I never really got to like Benjamin, found him a bit annoying actually and I didn't understand his emotional swings from confusion to quick, spontaneous decision. Also Mrs. Robinson and her daughter remained half-hidden to me, never really coming to life.
The story line is interesting though, it is very much about rebelling against conventional society and refusing to fit in. A great theme that is not explored deeply enough. However, it has a historical authencity. It was written in 1963 and I felt like this historical period of time was very apparent in the book and I really enjoyed that.

All in all a good read - and apparently there is a sequel called "Home School".

An Education - What Lynn Learnt

"An Education" is a short little book with a lot to tell. It is the memoirs of British journalist Lynn Barber and it was recently made into an acclaimed film by Danish director Lone Scherfig.

Barber tells about growing up in the suburbs of London with parents that did not make life easier for her - and it cannot have been easy for said parents to read their daughter's description of a dull childhood in Twickenham. Maybe it is boredom or the search for adventure that lead the 16-year old Lynn to fall for a much older man. A man to introduces her to the wrong sort of people, takes her away for weekends and all with her parents acceptance. They even urge her to say yes when he proposes. She doesn't, however, instead she goes to university at Oxford determined to learn more about men and this stand her in good stead when she goes on to work for Penthouse in the magazine's early days. This jobs leads to many more job in journalism and Barber describes the world of writing well, however, the really impressive part of the book is her description of her husband's fatal ilness. I was unable to stop reading and almost cried at her honest description of tragedy.

Personally I would like more detail - especially in chapter 2 where she describes her relationship with the con-man. Maybe some more reflection as well - especially on her relatioship with her parents as this is describes as complicated but she never tries to see the situation from their point of view or tie this in with the way she handles parenting. The chapters about losing the love of her life, however, are so emotional and wonderfully written that I will read them again some day. It almost hurt to read about her pain, yet it is so beautiful in is loving descriptions that it is impossible not to be impressed by it.