Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Which do you prefer? To read the book before you see the movie? Or to see the movie first?
Currently, the movie buzz is about Notes on a Scandal starring Judith Dench & Cate Blanchett based on a 2003 novel, What Was She Thinking by Zoe Heller. Heller's book was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but she is "really really pleased" with Patrick Marber's screenplay. A proper older English school teacher befriends a younger, new teacher who becomes involved with one of her students. A story of the complexities of friendship with a jolting final twist.

Children of Men written by P.D. James in 1993 is the genesis of the movie thriller now playing. James, best-known for her Adam Dalgleisch & Cordelia Gray mysteries, applied her considerable writing skills to this tale of a bleak future where the glimmer of hope unites a group of dissidents.Clive Owen & Julianne Moore star.

Eragon, the fiery saga of dragons and magic written by the 17-year-old Christopher Paolini is on the screen with a cast including Jeremy Irons & John Malkovich. Part two of the trilogy, The Eldest continues the story on the page.

Coming soon is Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris who managed to write the novel and the screenplay simultaneously! Find out about the bloody doctor's origins in this prequel to Silence of the Lambs.

If reading the book before you see the movie is your preference, here are some tips for you.
In 2007, film adaptations are planned for The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice, I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson & World War Z by Max Brooks.