The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut JrThis is my favorite book of all time. I have read it probably 20 times with always coming away from it with something new. However, if you have read any other books by Vonnegut you know how his writing doesn’t led it self the media of film. Its hard to make it into a movie and still retain even a little of its beauty and complicated nature.
The book centers around a millionaire who becomes part of the Martian army, stuck on an alien planet, poor, living in a palace on the moon of Titan, and finally a religious figure of caution and ridicule by the masses.
Why won’t it be made into a film? This book is all about the interweaving a world you know, a world that can be, and a world that is completely foreign to us. The moon, Titan, the alien race the Tralfamadorians, and a Martian army bent on taking over Earth in a war they know they will lose. These concepts and what they mean to the reader changes on when you read it, how you read it, and what it means to you afterward. Without spoiling the message of the book for any new readers, this book is just geniously written.
Now I love this book with all my heart, and as much as I totally wish it could be a movie, I don’t think it ever will. While a screenplay has been adapted it has been so long since it was approved it seems like it never will be made. And if it does …. I have doubts it will live up to the book.
“I was a victim of a series of accidents, as are we all.”
Till We Have Faces – C.S. Lewis
Why does that name sound so familiar…. Oh wait he wrote only one of the most beloved book series in all of the world, The Chronicles of Narnia! Lewis is a great writer and can make almost any kid love reading if you give them that series, but he actually wrote more advanced and thought provoking novels. Till We Have Faces is a retelling of the love story Cupid and Psyche from Greek mythology.
Why won’t it become a film? Don’t get me wrong, I love period films, especially films based on Greek mythology for some reason, however, this book actually begins quite boring. It initially took me two tries to get past the first 50 pages. Because of this many people wont stick around long enough to get to the good part. Once I made it through I loved it. I have since read it about 4 times. The book haunted me. Nonetheless, because it takes SO long to get into, I doubt it will ever garner enough attention to become a film. If it does, there would have to be a lot of changes made in order to make the film work.
“Nothing beautiful hides it face.”
Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey – Chuck Palahniuk
Admittedly, There are very few things that I love more than a Chuck Palahniuk novel, and out of all of them, Rant is my absolute favorite. Not only did it terrify me for months that I might have dormant rabies but I spent weeks contemplating it and its crazy-ass confusing linear prowess. The book is about time travel which is my favorite sci-fi story line ever anyway and its presented as an “Oral Biography”. Its thought provoking and amazing and just may be the answer to the worlds overcrowding problem (once you read it you’ll understand why I say that).
It follows the main character, Buster “Rant” Casey who grows up in the country, living a simple life. But he moves to the city and gets involved in a world he never knew existed. In a world where the day and night are segregated and people crash cars for fun. It also put the fear of rabies into my mind for weeks!
Why don’t I think it will become a movie? Well mainly because is written as if it’s a ton of people giving interviews, aka an oral biography. While there are obviously long interviews that explain the story, I can’t picture how they could film it. Each portion of the novel is told by many people who experienced the same event in different ways. It would be a massive up taking by any studio to film this movie. But damn if it wouldn’t be one of the best movies made if they could do it successfully. However, at the moment I don’t think any studio is willing to take that challenge.
“You’re a different human being to everyone you meet.”
House of Leaves – Mark Danielewski
I don’t know if you have read this book or even heard of it but there is one thing I can say. IT IS FREAKING CRAZY! From it’s confusing laid out pages to its switching viewpoints and rambling ranting prose, this book is amazing. Frankly, it is one of the most AMAZING, thought provoking, and actually challenging novels I have ever read.
This novel is about a guy who finds the manuscript of a “story” (its not really clear if this is just a story written by old man Zampano, or if it is al true and a documentary put together by the old man) of a house that is bigger on the inside than the outside. From here it switches back and forth between the young guy, to the old guy, to the people who live in the house. After the inhabitants of the house find a strange corridor that pops up over night, they find a labyrinth of rooms and hallways and eventually a grand staircase. None of these visible from the outside.
Why it won’t be a movie? Re-read top paragraph. Seriously, this novel not only has multiple narrators employing multiple fonts and points of views, but it also has upside down pages, incoherent, rambling prose that lends it self to giving the reader a sense of confusion along with the confusion felt by the narrators. But also, this book is as much as a horror story, as it is a love story, and a story of psychological descent into madness. It doesn’t just land on one topic, genre or emotion. It flawlessly traverses between many different genres while at the same time making the reader feel the same emotions that the characters feel. (And I don’t mean symbolically).
This book would be extremely hard to shoot and extremely hard to film. So many characters, with so many narrators, it’s hard to tell who or what the story is about. However, you’ll realize that the main character is actually bigger than the story. It would be incredibly hard to create the main character: the house. Not only is the house bigger on the inside with winding changing corridors that is not visible on the outside, bit it is also almost pitch black inside the corridors. I know that a house doesn’t seem like a traditional main character, but this book isn’t laid out like any novel I have ever seen, and when/if you read it, you’ll know what I mean.
“No one ever really gets used to nightmares.”
Forever – Pete Hamill
I heard a few years back about a TV show that was going to come out that was almost exactly the same as the book. The author sued because, he didn’t authorize it but the TV show claimed that it was a coincidence. Long story short, the TV show never happened. Other than that this novel has not yet been optioned to become a movie or anything else. I was sent this novel for Christmas like ten years ago, and I read it cover to cover in like two days and have re-read it since then.
The book centers around a kid in 1700ish Ireland, after witnessing his parent’s murder, he travels to America to get revenge against the aristocrat who committed the atrocity. There he meets a sorcerer type character that grants him the gift of everlasting life… as long as he never leaves the island of Manhattan. Crazy right? Well he lives and loves in every period of our history up until present day. It is such an original take on a common story, that it makes it incredibly interesting. I don’t want to give too much away because this book is one that you have to experience, I mean really experience.
There is two very good reasons why this novel will never be made into a movie, at least for now. The first thing is that the novel ends with the World Trade Center attack. One of the characters in the novel works there and almost dies in the tragedy. While she doesn’t, the media tends to not like when people sensationalize any terror attack and I think that it is still to fresh in people’s minds to be viewed as entertainment. While the novel DOES NOT make light of the situation, it is also not the main point of the novel. The second reason is because; the story takes place over like 300 years. It would be incredibly hard to tell the whole story. It would be a super long movie, with so many costume changes and set changes that it would cost a fortune.
Because of this, it is doubtful that any time soon this book could become a movie. It might become a television show again one day but only if the author can be apart of it.
“The details were always different, in the lives of other people. The stories were always the same.”