“Books On Film” A Book Group

Back in 2001, right after I came back from Latin America, I started a book group.  The idea was to find like-minded people again, to find readers.  I had been away much, gotten divorced and had lost connections with many friends.

The concept was:

1. Read book
2. Get together to watch film
3. Discuss both
4. Contrast/Compare

• Which was better? Why?
• Does film enhance or detract from the book, etc.

The books I used then (2001) were:

The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Lolita by Nabokov (I showed the newer Adrian Lyne version of movie.)

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (I love this one because the novel is actually an updated telling of King Lear. Two for price of one.)

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Damage by Josephine Hart

Short Cuts By Raymond Carver  (The film is the first of the pastiche overlapping stories style of moviemaking that is now very popular.  One of my favorites like that is Amores Perros and then came Crash and others that copied it, but Robert Altman’s Short Cuts was the first.)

The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (Great film always leaves me breathless and with new insights. Starring Debra Winger, John Malkovich and the desert.)

In The Cut by Susannah Moore is made into a movie by Jane Campion.  An English lit professor named Franny takes a walk on the wild side.

Trainspotting is Irvine Welsh novel come to life via director Danny Boyle who would later do Slumdog Millionaire. With Ewan McGregor, thick Edinburgh accents and lots of drugs. Unbelievable soundtrack.