The Book Somehow, this book had passed me by – I’d actually thought I’d read it for years, but turns out I had mixed it up with Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived In The Castle! But I love British fiction set in rural England, in castles and with large (mad) families, so I Capture…
Continue ReadingBook Versus Film
BOOK VERSUS FILM: John Le Carre’s The Night Manager
The Night Manager is John Le Carre’s 14th book, published in 1993. The story of ex-soldier-turned-hotelier-turned-spy Jonathan Pine was turned into a massively successful and lavish TV series in 2016, starring a veritable embarrassment of acting riches and exotic locations. But which did it better – the book or the show? The Book Jonathan Pine…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: The Snowman
Warning: expect heavy snows. And spoilers! Audiences of a certain age, with little knowledge of Nordic Noir, will be forgiven for expecting this film to be from the book by Raymond Briggs. Even sounding less Walking in the Air and more Do You Want to Build a Snowman? won’t really help the recognition factor. It’s…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: Which Murder On The Orient Express is on the Right Track?
The Book When Murder on the Orient Express was published in 1934, Agatha Christie is already the Queen of Crime. She was a literary phenomenon that has created one of the most enduring sleuths of all times, pedantic, vain Belgian Hercule Poirot, famous for his outsized moustache and his unparalleled use of the little grey…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: The Handmaid’s Tale, For Better Or Worse?
The Book The novel is a modern classic and rightly so. Atwood’s rich prose and complex characterisation lifts off every page, bringing a story to life that feels both modern and medieval at the same time. Offred’s sense of isolation in the novel is striking: the book concentrates almost solely on her reaction to what…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: The Shining – Which Is Better?
There must be something about the initials S and K. Not only do they stand for one of the world’s greatest authors, they also apply to one of our finest directors. But those two letters aren’t the only thing Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick share. They have both told the same scary story, about an…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: Stephen King’s IT
The Book I think it’s fair to say Stephen King’s IT is a modern classic. So many people cite it as a major influence on their own creative endeavours, plus its impact on popular culture has been epic. Whilst Coulrophobia (that’s fear of clowns to the uninitiated) has always been ‘a thing’, King basically brought…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: Notes On A Scandal
The Book Notes On A Scandal tells the story from Barbara’s point of view when she becomes entangled with Sheba, a middle class housewife teaching for the first time in Barbara’s inner city school. Shockingly, Sheba has an affair with a fifteen year old boy which proves her downfall. This is not because she ends…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM (And Beyond!): War Of The Worlds
War of the Worlds by HG Wells was one of my favourite books as a child. Like many popular novels, there have been many, many adaptations of it … Now stretching across the mediums, too! With this in mind then, I’m going to take a look at a book which captured the imagination of the…
Continue ReadingBOOK VERSUS FILM: The Silence Of The Lambs
WARNING: Do not touch the glass. Do not approach the glass. And do not under any circumstances read this if you don’t already know the story … CS: Hello, Dr Lecter. May I talk with you? HL: Good evening, Clarice. What do you have for me this time? CS: A comparison study, concerning the book…
Continue Reading