I make an honest attempt to read the book before seeing the movie, but sometimes I see a movie (or watch a show) that I had NO IDEA was based on a book. From the ‘book to film adaptation’ genre, which I made up solely for today’s list, I’ve somehow missed reading these staples:
10. A History of Violence // John Wagner. I love this movie. If I’d known it had a literary counterpart, I would’ve been all over it a long time ago.
09. Schindler’s List // Thomas Keneally. I feel like the only one who didn’t really know this was based on a book.
08. Friday Night Lights // H. G. Bissinger. I knew the movie was based on the book, I did not know the show was as well. It’s quite possible I live under a rock.
07. I Know What You Did Last Summer // Lois Duncan. A classic. Truly. Or at least a staple of my teenage years.
06. Pitch Perfect // Mickey Rapkin. I cannot tell you how much I love Pitch Perfect the movie. Who knew it was a book first?!
05. The Graduate // Charles Webb. Intriguing, right?
04. The Birds //Daphne DuMaurier. Hitchcock loosely based his movie (of the same name, of course) off of this short story.
03. Weird Science // (A comic). John Hughes’ Weird Science was based on a comic.
02. Prince of Thieves // Chuck Hogan. The Town was based on this book, which Stephen King considered one of the best books of 2004. A must read, obvs.
01. Road to Perdition // Max Allan Collins. A brilliant (terribly sad) movie, but is the inspiration just as good?
For more lists, visit The Broke and The Bookish. Do you always read the book first? Or are you like me and sometimes not even know that a movie is based on a literary counterpart?