lou's library

Is there anything more satisfying than a great book getting a great adaptation? I don’t think so. Granted, I almost never think the movie/show/play is better than the book, but that does not mean I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the adaptation. So, without further ado, here are some books that have been made into incredible movies.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

This is one of the first instances I can remember where I was convinced the movie could not possibly get even close to the perfect piece of art that The Fault In Our Stars was for me during my teenage years (and actually still is, to this day). My expectations going into the cinema were impossibly high but somehow, they were met. I think the movie captures the tenderness of the book perfectly, the chemistry between the characters is through the roof and to me it seemed as though the makers of the movie were aware of how much the book meant to lots of people. The only part of the movie I disliked was the casting of Laura Dern as Hazel’s Mum, and even that is just personal preference. Other than that, this movie is perfect to me and I one of those rare ones that still hold up today.

Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman

This movie has to be on the list because of Timothée Chalamet. It’s like he read Call Me By Your Name and somehow became Elio. I still don’t understand how he did not win an Oscar for this performance and I would like the Academy to explain to me precisely how his performance could have been improved. He carries that damn whole movie and turns it into a stunning exploration of love, hope and loss. Yes, Luca Guadagnino’s cinematography also helps, I always wanna get in the car and drive to Italy immediately after having watched Call Me By Your Name. I just think it’s such an astonishing feat to turn a book with a sensitive subject matter into a movie that works so beautifully. Someone give Timmy that Oscar right now!!!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Emma Stone is a revelation in The Help, as is Viola Davies. To tell the story of the civil rights movement in the US with a white person as a if not the protagonist of the film cannot have been an easy feat, but somehow The Help makes it work. And so beautifully, too. There are so many tender, so many empowering, so many enraging moments in this movie that I always feel like the audience hardly gets a moment to breathe. And at the same time, it’s a quiet, domestic movie. I do think the book is absolutely incredible, but I think the movie is as good as it could ever be. It also feels like an old movie, if that makes any sense at all? I mean that as a compliment, there is just something about its cinematography that completely made me believe this was made decades ago, even though it looked highly finished at the same time.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

In my opinion, To Kill A Mockingbird is a flawless book. It makes me deeply sad and deeply happy at the same time whenever I read it. It’s one of my favourite books, so when my Dad introduced me to the movie adaptation starring Gregory Peck I was highly sceptical. As I was 15 years old, the fact the movie is from the 1960s didn’t exactly help, either. But my God, do I love this movie. It’s perfect and I do think it does justice to the book. It’s slightly eerie in the same sense that the book is as well and you do get Scout’s childish (in a good way) perspective and you just can’t help but feel a lot the entire time. I sincerely hope this will never get a remake because they achieved the impossible with this movie and created something that can hold its own against one of the best books I’ve ever read.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

I am a basic girl, which is why Romeo and Juliet is my favourite Shakespearean tragedy. I love that play with every fibre of my being, so you best believe I have high standards when it comes to adaptations. As its written as a play, it was always meant to be performed, which sort of raises the bar even more for any attempts to adapt it, in my opinion. But Baz Luhrmann absolutely blew it out of the water with Romeo + Juliet. The first time I watched the movie I had to try hard not to get distracted by Leonardo Di Caprio’s beautiful face and so couldn’t quite tell if he was the main reason I loved the movie. But I’ve watched it since and can confirm I think this movie is amazing not just because of young Leo, although him looking like an actual angel certainly doesn’t hurt. But I just love how they decided to keep the original language of the play and set it in modern times. It shouldn’t work, but totally does. It’s bold and full of mayhem, but it took me about 0.2 seconds to completely believe Romeo and Juliet were hopelessly in love and totally had to ruin themselves because of it. Such fun!!

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

It took me two watches of the movie adaptation of Where The Crawdads Sing to decide whether I liked it or not. I do feel weirdly protective of the book because I think it is so unique and captivating and just flawless. When I first saw the movie, I thought they had managed to capture the atmosphere of the marches beautifully, but wasn’t sure about Daisy Edgar-Jones’ performance as Kya. As I loved Daisy in Normal People (just like any other person under the sun did), nobody was more shocked about this than me. But then I watched it again about a year later and something clicked. Maybe it was that I had reread the book and felt like I had gained a slightly different understanding of Kya’s character since, but suddenly I found Daisy entirely believable as Kya. Bonus points to Taylor Swift for writing the perfect song to accompany the movie, that stuff just hits different.

Do let me know your favourite book adaptations and if you agree with me on my choices! If you’d like more book recommendations, I have a post about my favourite book settings and one all about books to get you out of a reading slump. Happy reading!