I’ve Been Thinking About Book-to-Film Adaptations
I’ve been thinking about book-to-film adaptations a lot lately. In 2023, I read more books than I have in any previous year. The books I've mentioned below won’t be found on any “Top 100 Book to Movie Adaptations,” list. In fact, they’re from a list I wrote in my notes app called “Book to Movie: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” Enjoy!
A book I hope they never make into a movie: My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
The entire idea of this piece stemmed from seeing Eileen (2023) in theaters in November. For the first time in my life, I was finishing up a book at the same time it was being released as a film. I was unemployed at the time, so my free time was infinite. As soon as I finished my book, I bought a ticket at my local AMC to see a 4:05 pm viewing of Eileen. With the text so fresh in my memory, I had a really great opportunity to see how the two compared and I was disappointed to find that the film did not live up to the book as I had hoped. What threw me off was the lack of Eileen’s internal monologue. All of Moshfegh’s books are told in first person through the protagonist's point of view and that’s what makes her stories so enveloping. Eileen’s daydreams and rich, inner life weren’t captured in the film the way I had hoped. I was envisioning a strong narration track and without it I think the adaptation suffered. Because Moshfegh’s style of writing is so dependent on the complex internal dialogue of her characters, I don’t think on-screen adaptations (at least without some form of narration) do her books justice.
A book I hope they do make into a movie: The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
This is the third book of Ferrante’s I have read and I think it might be my favorite (the other two being The Lost Daughter and the first book of The Neapolitan Quartet). I think it would make such a fantastic screenplay, to be able to see the protagonist, Olga, lose her grip on reality play out on screen. I just finished watching The Crown and thus Claire Foy is on the mind and I think she would play Olga, so well!!! I’m literally smiling writing this because I just know she would absorb the character and express it uniquely on screen.
Book and their movie counterpart that are equally lovely: Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman
I honestly don’t think the world will ever get a better pair than the film adaptation and book of Call Me by Your Name. They both stand on their own two feet beautifully but also are an incredible duo. You can watch before reading or, do what some people believe is the only right way, which is to read before you watch. But either way you cannot go wrong. I’ll reread the book over and over again, in the same way I will rewatch the film over and over again.
Dare I say this movie is more enjoyable than the book: Normal People by Sally Rooney
This is a series, not a movie, I know, but a screen adaptation nonetheless. I read Conversation with Friends the summer after it was released and it’s one of my favorite books of all time. When I saw that Sally Rooney was coming out with another book I was ecstatic, but that changed quickly. I didn’t find Marianne and Connell nearly as fascinating to read about as the interconnected relationships of Frances, Bobbi, Nick, and Melissa. I found Marianne and Connell to be absolutely infuriating on paper. Rooney’s characters aren't perfect by any means and they aren’t meant to be super likable, but reading the internal monologues of two people who are incapable of being honest with one another was hard to do. However, on-screen, the way Daisy Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal portray these feelings in micro-movements and glances was breathtaking. It was what I wanted from the reading experience, but couldn't get without those two actors. The adapted screenplay and direction made me want to watch Marianne and Connell’s story over and over again. (Added note: Conversation with Friends screen adaptation is trash. You win some, you lose some, ya know.)
Gabbie Veseli is a jack of all trades, master of none. She writes a newsletter on Substack called “Wanna Gab?” where she shares dispatches on what she’s consuming ie. books, recipes, eBay likes, etc. She can also be found on Instagram: @wanna.gab and on TikTok at @let1sgab
