Movies. Are they better than books? Or is the book always superior? And should you read the story before you watch its big-screen adaptation? A definitive answer to these biggies evades us. But, for literary purists, here are 17 novels to get under your bookish belt before the opening titles on those film adaptations start rolling.
Directed by and starring Ewan McGregor, ‘American Pastoral’ is an adaptation of Philip Roth’s seminal 1997 novel – and tells the story of Seymour Irving Levov, a Jewish American crafting what he believes to be the perfect American life in a post-war world. His seemingly happy existence is ripped apart by political turmoil and his daughter’s explosive part in it. Read before November 11
Brace yourselves. Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle return to the big screen 20 years after ‘Trainspotting’. Loosely based on ‘Porno’, Irvine Welsh’s follow-up novel, and directed by Danny Boyle, ‘Trainspotting 2’ will catch up with the gang as their paths cross once more. Read before January 27 2017.
Everyone’s favourite mini-celebrity Jacob Tremblay (Brie Larson’s son in ‘Room’) stars in ‘Wonder’ as Auggie, a 10-year-old boy with a rare facial deformity. Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson also appear in this adaptation of R J Palacio’s novel, which sees Auggie enrol at a school for the first time. Read before April 7 2017.
Ian McEwan’s touching and elegant short novel about a young couple’s honeymoon in the early ’60s is getting the big screen treatment. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle as newlyweds Florence and Edward holiday on the Dorset coast. The movie doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet, but read before the end of 2017.
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