First
They Were Books: Books Into Movies
Before
they hit the big screen, many movies began delighting
readers as great novels. Here are just a few titles
that are in current release as movies, check out
the book and see how true to the story the filmmakers
were and decide for yourself if you like the book
or the film.
Harry
Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K.
Rowling
On
orphaned Harry Potter's eleventh birthday, mysterious
missives begin arriving for him, culminating eventually
in the arrival of a giant named Hagrid. Harry
learns that his parents died saving him from an
evil sorcerer and that he himself is destined
to be a wizard of great power. This is a charming
and readable romp with a most sympathetic hero
and filled with delightful magic details.
Hart’s
War by John Katzenbach
Second
Lt. Tommy Hart’s daily routine in the tightly
guarded Stalag Luft 13 in World War II is about
to change with the arrival of a new prisoner.
First Lt. Lincoln Scott, an African American Tuskegee
airman, is instantly the target of the prisoners’
aggression and when another prisoner is murdered,
all evidence points to him. Hart is sent in to
defend Scott in what appears to be an open-and-shut
case and quickly learns all is not as it seems.
Red
Dragon by Thomas Harris
This
is the novel that introduced Dr. Hannibal Lecter,
undeniably the scariest physician in the world.
This irresistible tale of a fascinating and terrifying
psychopath is guaranteed to keep you up at night
or give you nightmares. Fans of Hannibal Lecter,
so brilliantly brought to life on the screen by
Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, won’t
want to miss this exciting debut to the series.
Time
Machine by H. G. Wells
A
nameless Time Traveller is hurtled into the year
802,701 by his elaborate ivory, crystal, and brass
contraption. Two races people the world he finds:
the decadent Eloi, fluttery and useless, are dependent
for food, clothing, and shelter on the simian
subterranean Morlocks, who prey on them. The two
races--whose names are borrowed from the Biblical
Eli and Moloch--symbolize Wells's vision of the
eventual result of unchecked capitalism: a neurasthenic
upper class that would eventually be devoured
by a proletariat driven to the depths.
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