I can’t say I have ever classed myself as an avid reader, I tend to only have the time to immerse myself in literature when I am on holiday. I have tried several times to read while I am at home and it always starts well but after a week or two the time I spend with my book of choice will dwindle and before you know it there is a half read book on the floor by my bed that is starting to gather dust. I have been known to get through 2 or 3 books while on Holiday and always come home with renewed excitement and promise myself that I WILL read more but that cycle of dwindling attention resulting in dust covered, discarded books is inevitable.
When I do get the chance to read it is generally something by Bill Bryson, Dan Brown or my personal favourite, Stephen King. Over the years I have managed to get through several of his books and I have to admit that even though I do enjoy his work the results do tend to vary greatly. There are books of his that I have read more than once and will most likely go through again but there are others that have been nothing more than a huge waste of time. The same can be said for the movie adaptations of his books. Realistically you would expect to enjoy the film as much as the book but this all depends on the film makers interpretation of the text. As it happens, some of the books I have really enjoyed have turned out to spawn a truly dreadful movie.
Stephen Kings writing style does not always translate to film, he likes to build his characters and give the reader a lot of background to make them realise why a person acts in the way they do. The story generally builds at a slow pace so that there is a great deal of anticipation before any major events occur, we know it is coming but instead of being thrown into the middle of the action we are taken by the hand a guided through it step by step. This pace tends to hinder the film maker who needs to get the story told in a couple of hours and it is possibly the reason for some of the turkeys that have appeared at the cinema. “The Shining” is a typical example of this. I loved the book but I have tried several times to watch the film but it all seems to happen too quickly. In the novel you hear the hotel talking to Jack, you hear what it is saying and how it is twisting his mind. In the movie he turns up at the hotel and seemingly within minutes he has lost his mind. Another example of this is “Dream catcher” This is one of the books I have read more than once. I love the interaction between the 4 main characters and the story that unfolds during the book that shows how they became friends.
The film actually started off really well and seemed to be an accurate interpretation of the book but as soon as the military became involved and the story started to hot up it all fell apart. There are sections of the book that I was really concerned about as I could not even imagine how these parts could be created anywhere else but in your mind. Unfortunately, after watching these parts, I am still of the same opinion.
Some of the best adaptations have been spawned from the Stephen King short stories, it seems that the shorter stories still have enough detail to
produce feature length material and they can follow the natural writing pace from the original without having to rewrite sections or simply omit key points. The best examples of this are “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Stand by me”. Both are excellent films that remain as true to the novella as possible. Stand by Me was a short story called “The Body” and appeared in a collection of King’s short stories along with “Apt Pupil” and “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”.
So, I think we need a top 5.
These are my favourite movie adaptations of the Stephen King books that I have actually read but to be honest I don’t think the list would change too much if I were to include books that I had not read.
1 The Shawshank Redemption
2 The Dead Zone
3 Stand By Me (The Body)
4 Misery
5 Christine
My top 5 books however, that would be very different. The Green Mile failed to make my top 5 movie adaptations. This is one of the rare occasions where I saw the film before I read the book and I really enjoyed it. After I had read the book I tried to watch the film again. Unfortunately the second viewing did not have the same impact as the book or the first viewing.
1 The Stand
2 Dreamcatcher
3 The Shining
4 Different Seasons (Featuring Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body)
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