A GOOD READ by Joseph Onodi

Some people may be surprised by the number of movies based on books that they can find at their public library. In the early 1930s, the advent of "talkies" made it easier to convey exposition and dialogue, so movie studios began mining literature for their stories, a trend that has continued to the present day.

The book-inspired movies produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood were just as complex and intricate as the ones being made today, except perhaps in the realm of special effects, where computer animation has opened the door for modern adaptations of mind-bending fare, including picture books such as Shrek (by William Steig) and Horton Hears a Who (by Doctor Seuss). Couple these with adult classics now available on DVD such as Ben Hur, From Here to Eternity and Gone With the Wind, and you can find dramatic, literate entertainment for almost anyone.

Though you can find many great movies at the library, I will share my top three.

In third place is The Shining. Starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, this Stanley Kubrick film is a classic rendering of the Stephen King thriller. It is hard to believe the movie was released almost 30 years ago. Kubrick trains his microscope on creepy occurrences at a mountaintop hotel. Nicholson plays a struggling novelist who moves his family into the historic Overlook Hotel while acting as its caretaker during a winter closure. Watch the movie alone, if you dare. The movie has no computer animation but features plenty of gory make-up effects and axe wound exsanguinations, showing how movie production has progressed in such a short time.

Number two on the list is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Based on the 1971 book by gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, the movie follows a writer living a life of debauchery and chemical excess in America’s sin city. As Raoul Duke (a thinly veiled version of Thompson) says, “The possibility of physical and mental collapse is now very real. No sympathy for the Devil, keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride.” Believe me, the ride is worth taking. In his hyper-stylized film, director Terry Gilliam and actors Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and Tobey Maguire bring to life Thompson’s flair for the bizarre. Fans of the book must have wondered how Gilliam would depict the psychedelic episodes involving bats and lizard people. Watch the movie to see, and discover what computer animation has done for the film industry.

My top pick? It’s a three-in-one choice: The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson. I read all three novels, plus The Hobbit, years ago and I must say Jackson and the cats at Wingnut Films hit it right on the mark by creating a brilliant adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic. Without modern special effects, however, the task may have been too daunting to attempt.

Those are my personal favourites but you can find plenty of books-into-movies to suit your own preferences. So while on your next stroll, consider dropping in to your local library to pick out a book and the film to match.

Some other excellent movie-from-book suggestions:

The Accidental Tourist

White Oleander

A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on alternating Wednesdays during the summer and weekly the rest of the year. Joseph Onodi works at Coquitlam Public Library.