So Good They Made a Film...

Our last post highlighted a couple of award-winning books in the Little Library... one of which was Yann Martel's "Life of Pi", which has recently been made into a film.

That started us thinking - are there other books in the Little Library that people might have seen as films, and would now like to read the book that inspired it..? The answer, of course, is "yes"! (And if you didn't much like the film - try the book, it will be better!)

First up we have "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger - the brilliantly crafted tale of a relationship built around one partner's advance knowledge of its entire trajectory; it's a touching meditation on the way relationships are reshaped through the understanding that time brings.

Next we have "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo", part 1 of Stieg Larsson's 'Milennium Trilogy' and a very smart, modern crime thriller which pitches an 'odd-couple' journalist and computer-hacker against a dark and disturbed family with the XL Skeleton Closet from Ikea.

Our third choice is "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. A novel narrated by a murdered 14 year old sounds like it might be a touch depressing, but this is a beautifully told tale of family and individual redemption which manages never to become mawkish or sentimental. It doesn't shy away from the brutal and harsh realities of the crime and its aftermath, but its carefully traced plot does, ultimately, leave the reader feeling uplifted.

And finally, who remembers John Irving's "The World According to Garp"..? A great rollercoaster of a novel that tells the life story of (fictional) writer T.S. Garp, son of a remarkable mother, and skillfully balances the crazy with the tragic and hilarious, producing one of the finest evocations of late 19th Century American life when it still promised change and social liberation.

The Time Traveler's Wife:
Book Review on Amazon (4.3 out of 5)
Book Review on Goodreads (3.9 out of 5)
Film Review on IMDB (7.1 out of 10)
Film Review on Rotten Tomatoes (3.0 out of 5)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:
Book Review on Amazon (4.1 out of 5)
Book Review on Goodreads (4.1 out of 5)
Film Review on IMDB (7.9 out of 10)
Film Review on Rotten Tomatoes (4.1 out of 5)

The Lovely Bones:
Book Review on Amazon (4.0 out of 5)
Book Review on Goodreads (3.7 out of 5)
Film Review on IMDB (6.7 out of 10)
Film Review on Rotten Tomatoes (3.2 out of 5)

The World According to Garp:
Book Review on Amazon (4.4 out of 5)
Book Review on Goodreads (4.0 out of 5)
Film Review on IMDB (7.1 out of 10)
Film Review on Rotten Tomatoes (6.3 out of 10)