BOOKS BEGGING TO BE MOVIES
From the Page to the Screen
Think for a second about your favorite great movie and how it gets your motor running. Even though we see them on the big screen, all the great movies start as words leaping off the page and into our eyes, minds, and hearts. Let’s explore some of the books that would be truly EPIC films, but haven’t made the jump just yet.
The Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.”
So begins Holden Caulfield, the funny, wise-beyond-his-years teenage protagonist of Salinger’s iconic novel. Roaming boldly from his boarding school, Pencey Prep, and into the wilds of New York City, Holden would make a pitch-perfect vintage leading man for our jaded modern times.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Told from the perspective of a young autistic boy, Haddon’s contemporary classic puts a new spin on neuroatypical storytelling as young Christopher John Francis Boone embarks upon a doggie murder mystery and unspools a bizarre adventure even he wouldn’t have imagined.
Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
With literary phenom Sally Rooney’s Normal People adapted as a series for Hulu, Conversations with Friends is a natural next pick for the big screen treatment. Following two female friends as they collide with a notorious semi-famous couple, it’s an unexpected peek into the thorny ways we come of age.
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler
Stretching from the antebellum South to a more contemporary California, this harrowing novel introduces us to Dana, a young Black woman who is repeatedly pulled back and forth, from her present to a dangerous past, in a trying journey that looks deeply into the evils of racism and sexism.
The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach
Braiding together the unlikely lives of five individuals along with a healthy dose of baseball, Harbach’s modern classic novel is a surefire winner for the screen. From secrecy to sex to mentorship and starting anew, The Art of Fielding has it all.
The Falconer, Dana Czapnik
Mix up basketball and ‘90s NYC and you’ve got one irresistible novel just aching to shoot its shot on the big screen. Tracking basketball whiz Lucy and her on-and-off court best friend Percy, The Falconer is a heady, electrified coming-of-age.
The Animators, Kayla Rae Whitaker
This lively novel traces two best friends and artistic collaborators as they scrap, struggle, and eventually stand on the cusp of success in a field traditionally dominated by male artists and animators. But with that success, what costs might follow? Bursting with boldness and life, The Animators would be a fantastic big screen addition (whether animated or not!)
