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Adaptions of books

edited March 2007 in - Reading

Comments

  • Article by Jed Mercurio in the Guardian on adaptions of books, the highs and lows.

    http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2035022,00.html
  • Don't tell Madonna or Angelina Jolie, they'll end up adopting a little book from Africa.
  • SilentTony, this is a serious thread, unlike some others, please note the difference, and respond appropriately.
  • 'Brokeback Mountain - Story to Screenplay' seems to be selling well.
  • Oh come on Carol,

    Virtually every thread has the odd quip of lighthearted teasing.
  • Hold on. I "wrote" a quip reply that is all. Writing is about using, subverting, manipulating etc, words to create a new idea. I have seen worse on far more serious threads. It was in jest if I did offend anybody then I’m sorry.
    I was adapting your thread; the words, the idea, the reference. I thought that would be an obvious joke for writers .Also thank you Jan.
  • Sorry Jan, the odd quip isn't a problem, it was just that ST was obviously in a very light-hearted mode- from reading his other contributions on threads at that time- and it's very easy for a serious subject to go totally offline and be lost.
    Perhaps we've just been too whimsical lately.Either that or I'm going through a grumpy old woman patch.
    You only have to look at tv and cinema at trhe moment and you can see that companies who make and finance films are reluctant to take a chance with new stuff, and are going for tried and tested.
    This effects all writers one way or another.
  • Carol that was my point. I was using the similarity between adaptation/adoption which are both from the same root to make a joke.The point is there. I read the article so the thread served well. Are we
    not being slightly twitchy about this? A word is only a liquid waiting to be formed, not a concrete  monolith set in eternity.
  • You're going through a grumpy old woman patch Carol.

    Not that you are such a person but I do not believe any of us can possibly assess another's mood (or mode?) merely by reading their words.

    We cannot force others to view a topic in the same manner as we percieve it. Many a time my attempts to start serious topics have gained few responses, even been ignored. My interjection here may stump debate (I apologise if such happens) that often seems the case but we continue to enjoy each others company.

    Please, let us avoid developing cliquism and bickering so prevalent on many forums.
  • Hear, hear, Jan.
  • Jan applause and apple sauce all around. That is such a great point. Since being on here I have noticed such a clique mentality that has stopped me from posting in case I was ambushed (which I was in a way) let the word be community. We are all out to achieve the same objective. Let’s all pull together on that objective.
  • As said Jan we don't always take the words in the way they're meant.
    I'm sorry if I misinterpretted your response  SilentTony.
    And thanks Jan for your contribution.
  • Ooh good,

    That means we can all clamber into "The armchair" for a....
    Pillow Fight everybody!
  • Carol, thanks, of course I never meant offense. I am here to learn. Jan where are those pillows, I LOVE that Idea.
  • Oh, goody, a pillow fight!
  • owghyuiop ohweeehy obeerrr. Sorry spitting feathers.
  • Getting back to the subject, I saw on TV 'The Ruby in the Smoke' starring Billie Piper and then read the book. I enjoyed both. There was a gap between seeing the programme and reading the book, but it seemed to me that the TV adaptation kept pretty close to the book. A great story. I now want to read the sequel.
  • Billie Piper is soooo beautiful. But my point is this, should we not all be writing (fiction) which is calling to be adapted? My novel is being written in a cinematic style, although set mainly in the past, it is a film in novel form. This I feel is the future of novels. We can all complain about the short attention span of kids, the detrimental qualities of Playstations etc, but what are WE doing? Writers didn't sit on their hands through history, they did R and R and adapted. Time to wake up kids, I have.
  • Well, actually, it's time for me to hit the pillow and go to bed.
  • Goodnight Stan
  • Thanks, Carol, it's an interesting article. I do worry that the novel will lose its independence of form because writers (and publishers) are bearing television and cinema in mind, hoping to earn big money down the line. However, I've noticed in my own writing that I tend to imagine scenes as if through a lens. I have also had to resist giving my characters cliched gestures which originate in (mainly American) films. On the other hand, the book I'm working on at the moment is written in short scenes, not because I want it to be cinematograhic, but because I only have time to write in short bursts!
  • So true Howard. Obviously any writer would like their book optioned, but it seems very unlikely for the majority.
    Production companies will not take the risk on something new- so are missing lots of opportunities-as basically they have to have stuff that will guarantee an income.
    The main tv companies( who use independent companies to make these adaptions) also look at the finances.
    Those books that have been adapted are the obvious classics, and other work by very well known writers who have long track records and sold lots and lots of books.
    For writers who have books that would be ideal for this process, they will have almost no chance of this happening.
  • I read Jed Mercurio's novel 'Bodies' long before it appeared on TV and enjoyed the book far more. By the way, Carol, the word is adaptation, not adaption.
  • Never noticed that before Neil. I still think adaption is equally relevent, but there's no point in arguing about it.
  • Carol is right - adaption is, according to our dictionary, another form of adaptation.

    What a brilliant language English is - always ready to catch someone out!
  • Orient and orientate. Preventive and preventative. And all those words ending in 'al' where the letters could be dropped.
  • I've thought about this before, and in momets of vanity I dream of how my novel would translate into film; but in the real world I don't think I would want it to.  I've tried writing screenplays before I don't like being confined to dialogue, and my sister says she loves the fact that my writing style allows you to get into head of my characters, and I don't see how you can translate complex thought processes of 100,000 words onto the screen without losing something. 

    Even if I did sell the tv/film rights I would want so much control over the project (especially the script and casting) before I would sell it.  In reality I couldn't imagine selling it to anyone who wouldn't stay true to it's northern heart.

    Re the bickering: after the last week, can we have at least one discussion without being ticked off by webbo?.
  • The book, if it was written first, is better than the film 90% of the time.  However, I bought a DVD the other day of Dai Sijie's 'Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress' (in Chinese with French subs), and because it was adapted and directed by Dai Sijie himself, it stayed very true to the book and, if anything, actually confirmed the pictures I had in my head from when I read it.  That just goes to show what a good writer he is.

    It doesn't often happen, though.  I once watched Stephen King's 'Needful Things' after having read the book, and I thought the film was sh**.
  • A film lasts about two hours, but it usually takes several days - at least - to read a book. If someone was adapting one of my works, I'd hope that I'd get a mention!
  • Claudia, I knew Neil wasn't having a dig with his comment. Obviously I used the wrong comment to follow on, if it came over that way.
  • Calm down girls!
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