5. Warm Bodies
Novel by: Isaac Marion
Opening: February 2013
I've been following writer Isaac Marion for years, first through his blog and later his Twitter account. Embarrassing story: I first learned about him through a note posted by band Relient K (a high-school favorite) on MySpace, back when it was cool to have a profile there. Don't worry, I've moved on from the band and the site, but I still loves Marion's work. I've read his short stories and a novel called The Inside about a young man who escaped reality by going to sleep and meeting a girl in his dreams - I loved it and hoped it would become a movie (this was way before Inception). Then in 2011 he published Warm Bodies, a zombie love story, which is being made into a movie with stars including John Malkovich and Rob Corddry. I own the book but haven't read it yet, and I'm already excited!
4. Anna Kerenina
Novel by: Leo Tolstoy
Opening: November 2012
This is a classic novel, telling a love story about a passionate young woman who abandons her stifling marriage for an affair with a count. I tried to read it once, my freshman year of college, and while I enjoyed the storylines surrounding Anna there was also a secondary tale about a young man writing a book about his experiences as a Russian potato farmer that I just couldn't get through. Maybe I've matured enough in the past seven years to be able to enjoy it now. The film stars Keira Knightly in yet another period piece (she is so good at those!) along with heartthrobs Jude Law and Matthew Macfadyen (her beloved Darcy in Pride and Prejudice). And the screenplay is by renown playwrite Tom Stoppard (Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead). I'm thinking this is one I'll want on DVD.
3. Life of Pi
Novel by: Yann Martel
Opening: November 2012
I read this book one summer in high school and loved it. It's about a boy, the son of a zookeeper, who travels with his family on a boat from India and after a tragedy ends up alone in a lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger. Pi spends over 200 days lost at sea, and when he finally turns up on shore, tells fantastic tales of his trip, full of hallucinations, adventure, and survival. The once passage I can remember is where Pi ends up on a mysterious island with a foreboding tree that he belives to be carnivorous, with a particular hunger for humans. It was fantastically weird - very Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez - and should make for an interesting film. The only star I recognize in the IMDb writeup is Tobey Maguire, who plays the author.
2. The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Novel by: Stephen Chbosky
Opening: September 2012
I read this title in high school, also - probably the same year as Life of Pi. There was one summer that I didn't have an assigned reading list from my English teacher so I created my own list, and this was one that I chose. It's a small but challenging novel about a boy in high school who is taken under the wing of a couple of upperclassmen. I found that it had a lot of parallels to another book about a troubled young boy, The Catcher in the Rye. Both were told from the boy's point of view and revealed and interesting and devestating twist at the end. I've always wanted to write a paper comparing the two books. The movie adaptation stars Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Mae Witman (from Parenthood) and Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson and a young Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect).
1. The Great Gatsby
Novel by: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Opening: Christmas 2012
Oh, The Great Gatsby! What sounds like a better premise for a movie than love, gin, and the jazz age in 1920s Long Island? It's been since high school that I read the novel, and I need to take the time to revisit the classic featuring Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. The Amazon.com description calls it "Spare, elegantly plotted, and written in crystalline prose," which sounds poetic in and of itself, and I know the book really was that wonderful. I am already anticipating delicious art deco sets and the glamorous fashions of the bobs, flapper dresses, and dapper suits. Title roles go to Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan (Pride and Prejudice, Drive, An Education), and Tobey Macguire.
