Movie adaptations of books can be pretty hit or miss. Some adaptations are so good that they compliment the book and add their own special something to an already fantastic tale, such as the film adaptations of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Others take a great story and absolutely butcher it, like Percy Jackson and the Olympians does. For those of use who read the books before watching the terrible movies, the experience can be quite painful. However, sometimes the journey of discovery goes the other way around, where you watch an epic movie and then want to find out where the story came from. It can be fun discovering books thanks to awesome films, and today I thought I would share three books that I’m inspired to read after watching their movie adaptations.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Douglas Adams
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.
The movie version of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is one of my favourite movies of all time. It’s a weird and wacky space adventure with a motley cast that includes a clinically depressed robot, and has just the best sense of humour of almost any movie I’ve ever watched. The opening song is also incredibly catchy. So far, I haven’t read the original book, but if the movie is this good, I can only imagine how fun the novel is. I think there are four or five books in the series, so I’d have plenty of entertainment for quite a while.
Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton
An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.
Until something goes wrong. . . .
I’m almost ashamed to admit that for the longest time I didn’t realise that the movie Jurassice Park was actually based on a book. Not sure how I missed learning that fact for so many years, but it’s been a fairly recent revelation for me. It’s such an iconic movie, and still such a good watch, even though it’s a bit older. I’m never not going to love watching epic dinosaurs causing havoc as they rampage around amusement parks. Now that I know that the movies were based on books, I’m really interested in reading those and seeing where the inspiration for the movies came from. If they’re anywhere near as iconic as the movies, then they’re sure to be fascinating.
I, Robot
Isaac Asimov
What happens when a robot begins to question its creators? What would be the consequences of creating a robot with a sense of humour? Or the ability to lie? How do we truly tell the difference between man and machine?
In I, Robot, Asimov sets out the Three Laws of Robotics – designed to protect humans from their robotic creations – and pushes them to their limits and beyond.
Following genius robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin and engineers Powell and Donovan, these short stories helped to transform artificial intelligence from a dream into a science and changed perceptions of robots for ever.
I have to admit, I have a real soft spot for movies or books involving sentient robots. There’s so much you can do with a robot who has the ability to think for themselves. This movie is a bit of a favourite of mine. I love all the robots, the struggle against the three laws of robotics, and the way this movie has its own twist on the chosen one trope. I definitely plan on reading the original stories to see where the inspiration came from. Maybe they’ll be even better than the movie. That would be nice.
There might be plenty of disappointments for book fans watching movie adaptations for the first time (I’m still not over the mess they made of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, alright?) but sometimes those movie adaptations can be so good that you just have to go and check out the original stories to get more of the amazing stories. These are three books that I want to read because I watched the movies. But I’d love to hear from you. What is your favourite book to movie adaptation? Has a movie ever made you want to read the book it’s based on? What book would you like to see a really good movie adaptation made for?
These movies have inspired me to add some new books to my reading list, but can I inspire you to add one to yours? Why not check out my brand new novel Frost Hands? It’s an awesome YA sci-fi novel about teens with mutant abilities, rebellions, secret agents, and doing the right thing the the toughest of times. I think you’ll love it. Frost Hands is available on Amazon now in print and ebook. Check it out! And while you’re at it, why not add Frost Hands on Goodreads too?
Photo by Sven Scheuermeier on Unsplash
Oooh, I enjoyed the book I, Robot! Personally I didn’t care for the movie, but I loved the way it explored the characters in the book. It is very different from the film, by the way. Probably my favorite sci-fi book-to-movie adaptation is Ender’s Game. I just love the rest of the series too.