Top Ten Books to Movies Adaptation (Part 1)

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins’ dystopian novel for young adults opened in local theaters last 21 March to the delight of many fans. I tried my best to collect titles representative of the different genres though most of the books in the list carry the same themes found in the The Hunger Games. Dystopian literature is the trend in reading and in publishing but If you have your own list, share it with us!

Let’s create a ripple effect!

Let’s READ!

1. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje

The identity of a mysteriously burned man affected three people who were picking up pieces of their lives at the end of World War II. A nurse, a sapper and a thief form constructs of the English Patient. By doing so, it enabled them to fill in the gaps of their own emptiness.

2. Never Let You Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Three friends, cloned to be organ donors, grapple with the roles designed for them by science and society. If dystopian literature is your kind of reading material, include this book in your reading list this year!

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A lawyer defends a black man charged with rape. It’s a storyline that’s been used before but Harper Lee’s narrative style is a tactile experience.

4. The Reader by Bernard Schlink

Michael Berg, a young law student, witnesses the trial of his lover who took part in the burning of a church where 300 Jewish women died. A post-holocaust story that describes the painful process survivors go through years after the war.

5. The Godfather by Mario Puzo

A crime novel whose popularity was surpassed by its movie adaptation. The Godfather portrays Michael “Mikey” Corleone’s hesitance to accept the role bestowed upon him by his father as head of the family and its business, that is, running a criminal organization.

6. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A fantasy novel set in graphic format, Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess team up to offer readers an escape from the mundane and non-magical world. Tristan Thorn entered the Wall as his father did seventeen years ago and he came out from the Wall a changed man.

7. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar

An unauthorized biography of John Forbes Nash Jr., whose journey to professional success (Nobel Prize in Economics) was marred by his personal battle with schizophrenia.

8. Dracula by Bram Stoker

The seminal gothic novel that inspired artists to create versions of their own, Stoker’s Dracula captures the horror and mystery of the man from Transylvania in epistolary format.

Making it to the list are two Filipino novels --

9. Dekada ‘70 by Lualhati Bautista

A family drama set during the Martial Law years. Amanda Bartolome, a mother of five boys, experienced how her family went through changes in the face of social, political and ideological upheaval that shaped the decade.

10. Kangkong 1896 by Ceres Alabado

A historical fiction set in 1896 when Filipinos took up arms to fight for independence from Spain. Alabado narrates Plorante Acabo’s coming of age journey at the height of the revolution.