Waiting On Wednesday No. 173: Harry Potter: Cinematic Guide Collection

This is a weekly event hosted by

Jill @ Breaking the Spine!!

It showcases future releases which

we book bloggers

are eagerly anticipating!!

Here's my choice for this week!

 Harry Potter: Cinematic Guide

Collection    

Scholastic

Hardcover, Box Edition

Scholastic Inc.

October 11, 2016

Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction

This Cinematic Guide Boxed Set is the essential companion for fans of the Harry Potter films! This hardcover boxed set features your favorite characters, scenes, and quotes from all eight movies! Featuring the Cinematic Guides for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Albus Dumbledore.

Why I'm waiting on this one!

Readers of this blog must know by now what a CRAZY Harry Potter fan I am!! (Please see my previous post if you're not convinced of this.) So OF COURSE I would want this book sitting on my shelves!!! I will never EVER get tired of anything related to Harry Potter!!! So now I want October to get here at WARP SPEED!!!!
 

What do you think of my choice?

Leave your link below, so I can
come check out your pick(s)!

Feature & Follow Friday #2: Convincing Hollywood to make your favorite book into a movie.

Welcome to Feature & Follow Friday!!

This weekly hop is hosted by  

Rachel @ Parajunkee's View, and 

Alison @ Alison Can Read!!

You can find the rules at the links above.

Join in the fun and make new blogging friends!

Every week, 1 or 2 new blogs 
are featured!

This week's featured blog is:

Here is this week's question:
 

How would you pitch to the biz
to make your favorite book
into a movie?

Contributed by
Girl of 1000 Wonders

This question, for me, really is: which of all of my numerous "favorite" books would I like to see made into a movie?

The first one that comes to mind is My Name Is Asher Lev, by the great American Jewish writer, Chaim Potok. This novel is an absolutely moving, beautiful story of a young Hasidic Jew who is an artistic genius. It depicts the conflict he feels between following his inner calling to paint, and betraying his own Jewish beliefs.

One of my selling points would be that another Potok novel, The Chosen, has already been filmed. As for My Name Is Asher Lev, it has been adapted into a play by Aaron Posner, and has garnered rave reviews. I would argue that a film version would make Asher's inner (and outer) conflicts more intimately and powerfully available to the audience, thanks to modern film technology.

Another favorite book is Tryst, by Elswyth Thane. She was a British historical fiction writer; I believe Tryst is her only paranormal romance novel. To me, this book is 'a hidden classic'. I think it should be better-known, because of the very beautiful, tender romance in the story.

Hilary Shenstone, a spy for the British government, dies in India, and feels an inexplicable pull to return to "Nuns Farthing" (the name of this house reminds me of the Bronte sisters), his country home in England. His spirit travels there, and  meets 17-year-old Sabrina Archer, whose family (her father and aunt) have rented the house for the summer, bringing Sabrina with them. Sabrina and Hilary fall madly in love with each other....

While this story might seem dated, it's one not to be missed. Thane skillfully develops the plot, and her characterizations -- but especially those of Sabrina and Hilary -- are just spot on. Her descriptions of the English countryside are exquisite, too. They would lend themselves well to being put on film. In fact, I can already see breathtaking landscapes in my mind....

Another positive angle is that Tryst is also Young Adult Fiction, written well before this literary genre even existed. I would really emphasize that; I'm sure this story would easily attract the YA crowd. Besides, there's no "insta-love" involved, nor is there a love triangle. 

Yet another aspect of this novel I would mention is that it contains elements of mystery and suspense. The movie version could come across like a modern Alfred Hitchcock film, one with very 'film noir' visual effects, but without the crime drama.

Unfortunately, there are already two movies with the title "Tryst"; one released in 1994, and the other in 2005. Neither one has any connection to the Thane novel. I would then suggest to the powers-that-be in Hollywood that the film version of Thane's book should either get a completely new title, or one that incorporates the word "Tryst", but with other words added to it.

I need to re-read both of these novels, so I can review them for this blog.

There are two other novels I'd love to see made into movies, and they're both by one of my favorite writers, the YA author Claudia Gray. 

The first one is Spellcaster, and is the first of a series. It's about a young girl who is a white witch, fighting a terrible evil in a small town. I would emphasize the great characters, the moody, oppressive atmosphere of the town, which would be great in a movie, and the unique spells, which are composed of memories. The love story develops gradually, too. You can read my review of this novel HERE.

The other Claudia Gray novel I love is the much-praised A Thousand Pieces of You, which is also the beginning of a series. The characters in this one are also amazing, and the intricacies of the fantasy/science fiction plot are totally fascinating! Gray is a very imaginative writer, and both of these books are page-turners. Besides, the special effects for each of these novels would turn them into blockbuster hits.

You can access my review of A Thousand Pieces of You HERE.

So these are the novels I wish would be made into movies. You can check them out on Goodreads by clicking on the Goodreads buttons below.  

     

Next Week's Question

If you could step into one
character's shoes (in a book),
and be that person for 
a day, who would it be, and why?
Also, if you want to be 
creative, what scene would 
you pick?

Suggested by:

These are my follow preferences.
The links are in my sidebar.

 Be sure to visit the rest of
the participating blogs!!

 

The Book Lover's Den #12: Jane Eyre - The Famous Proposal Scene

Welcome to my Friday feature!

In each weekly post, I explore 

my thoughts on several 

book-related topics.

The Jane Eyre Read-Along, hosted by Brian @ Babbling Books, and myself, has now officially ended, and I must confess to feeling lost and forlorn..... This might seem a bit melodramatic on my part, but there it is. That's just how I feel. I suppose that could be because I haven't read a great classic in a long time, but I suspect it's more than that. After all, Jane Eyre is my absolutely favorite classic, bar none! However, I had not analyzed this novel in such depth before. True, it was one of my high school English Lit. assignments, but I don't remember much about the analysis I did back then. This time around, I somehow saw more things, especially about Mr. Rochester's character, that I had not seen before.

Jane, too, seemed even more fiery and spirited than I remember her being, when I first read the novel. It was wonderful to read! I especially liked the dialogues between her and Rochester when they were first getting acquainted. It was obvious that they were meant for each other, for they were evenly matched in nearly every way, except spiritually. However, even that was overcome by the end of the novel.

I was feeling so downcast about leaving the world of Jane Eyre, that I decided I just had to enter it again. Last night, I took out and watched, for the first time, part of the 1983 BBC miniseries, which I had bought about a month ago. Timothy Dalton, the actor who played Rochester, was truly magnificent! His interpretation of Rochester is, I think, the one closest to the author's vision. He was a true Byronic romantic hero! His voice was mesmerizing,  his delivery and diction impeccable, his very gestures stamped him as Edward Fairfax Rochester in the flesh. I felt as if  I were encountering the character for the very first time, and it was exhilarating!

Sadly, I did not experience the same thing with Jane. Zelah Clarke, the actress who portrayed her, did not match Dalton's superb performance. Her interpretation left a lot to be desired, as her Jane was much too passive. I kept hoping she would show as much fire and spirit as the novel clearly demonstrated Jane to possess. It just wasn't there. I think, however, that part of the fault lies with two other people -- Alexander Baron, who wrote the TV adaptation, and the director, Julian Amyes. They apparently felt that Jane, as written by Charlotte Bronte, was just too passionately a feminist, even for 1983 audiences. So what they apparently did was to "tone her down" to a mere shadow of herself. She was no longer a  worthy match for Rochester, but a more quiescent heroine, perhaps more typical of those prevalent in fiction at the time this novel was written.

Below, I have included the famous proposal scene from the  novel, as seen in the 1983 miniseries. This is where Jane delivers a passionate speech to Rochester, declaring her true feelings for him. This was the most disappointing part of the 1983 miniseries. It should have been the most thrilling, romantic, and electrifying. I loved Dalton's performance, but Clarke's left me totally cold.....I am firmly convinced that Dalton was purposely emphasized in this version, to the detriment of Clarke, who was either not given a chance to shine, or simply did not know how to play her character effectively.

I then decided to go to YouTube in order to find other adaptations for comparison -- specifically of the proposal scene. I searched in vain for the same scene from the 1970 adaptation, starring George C. Scott and Susannah York. I saw this one years ago, but don't remember it well. I also looked for the Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine version, and found it. I wasn't quite satisfied with this one, either, mainly because Welles and Fontaine were speaking in their regular American accents. Besides, it was very obvious that Fontaine was closer in age to Welles than Jane Eyre is supposed to be. Furthermore, she, too, fails to embody the character as originally written. Again, Jane is a revolutionary person, so she was also toned down in this version; unsurprisingly, since this film was released in 1943.

The director was Robert Stevenson, and the screenplay was written by three people: John Houseman, Aldous Huxley (of Brave New World fame), and Stevenson himself.

Well, perhaps now no film adaptation can quite compare to the book, for me.... However, I did find a much more spirited Jane, in the proposal scene for the 2006 miniseries, also done by the BBC. The actress who portrayed Jane, Ruth Wilson, did a much better job of being the character, at least, in this particular scene. I would have to watch the entire series to see whether Jane is just as spirited throughout. As for the actor who portrayed Rochester, Toby Stephens, his style is totally different from Dalton's; it struck me as a bit unusual for this character. Still, I enjoyed the performance of these two actors much more. I especially liked how they got rained on, and excitedly went back to the house, where he was very reluctant to let her go.

The director of this version was Susanna White, and the screenplay was written by Sandy Welch. I wonder if this is the reason I find this portrayal of Jane to be more satisfactory. The previous directors and screenplay writers were all men.

I also watched this same scene from the 2011 movie, starring Michael Fassbender as Rochester, and Mia Wasikowska as Jane. Here, again, I found the performances uneven. I liked Wasikowska's portrayal of Jane, but found Fassbender's Rochester lacking. He should have been much more forceful. Instead, he came off as a bit weak, although the montage of images certainly helped this particular scene.

The director of this film adaptation was Cary Joji Fukunaga, and the author of the screenplay was Moira Buffini.

So now I don't know what to think.... I am left with a restless feeling, or perhaps more of a feeling of incompleteness. I do need to watch the entire 2006 miniseries, to see how I like it. All the episodes are available free on YouTube. If it turns out that I like it, I will eventually attempt to acquire it, although it's out of print, and therefore, a bit pricey.

I also believe we're long overdue for a new version of this immortal novel -- one in which both Rochester and Jane are portrayed with equal passion,  equal firmness of character. Unfortunately, I am left with the nagging impression that just maybe, that will never be possible....

I really need to re-read this novel again soon. I don't think I'll ever get enough of it!!

Online Links

Jane Eyre, 1943 film

Jane Eyre, 1983 miniseries

Jane Eyre, 2006 miniseries

Jane Eyre, 2011 film

Have you seen any of these

film adaptations?

If so, which is your favorite?

Or do you have another

favorite I have not discussed here?

"Breaking Dawn, Part I" Opens Today!!!!!!!

THE WAIT IS OVER!!!!!

"Breaking Dawn, Part I"

opens today,

November 18, 2011!!!!!

And here are some stills

from the movie!!

I absolutely can't wait

to finally see

the wedding of Edward and Bella!!!!!

Be still, my vampire heart.....