I'm pretty much ripping the idea from Rollingstone.com. I've been enjoying their Weekend Rock Questions for a while in which they throw out a question of Friday (ex. What is the best Black Sabbath song? or Who should be the next band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?) and compile a top 10 list the following week. Of course, it's Rollingstone.com, not bookmineset.com, and they're asking about rock music not Canadian books, so you can see that I need your help getting these numbers up if this feature is going to make it.
Without further ado, here's the first question:
What has been the best small or big screen adaptation of a Canadian book?
This week's question inspired by Richard Van Camp's recent adaptation of the Lesser Blessed, which I've still unfortunately not seen. Perhaps you loved the recent Oscar winning Life of Pi. Maybe you're partial to the CBC classic Anne of Green Gables miniseries. Franklin? Water for Elephants? Caillou? Away From Her? Barney's Version? Does Superman count? Scott Pilgrim definitely does. The English Patient? Field of Dreams? Sunshine Sketches? One Week? Random Passage? Rare Birds? Blood Ties? jPod? The Hockey Sweater? Shake Hands With the Devil?
None of these float your boat? Maybe you have another idea. If not, you can find more suggestions here: Goodreads, Canadian Literature Film Adaptations Quiz.
Feel free to add more suggestions, but you can only vote for one! Vote here in the comments or through Twitter.
Results and next week's question will be revealed on Friday, March 10.
13 comments:
The first thing that comes to my mind is the first three made-for-tv "Inspector Murdoch Mysteries" movies. Not the tv show mind you. Just the 3 tv movies. I loved the cast in them!
by Maureen Jennings, btw.
For me, it's The English Patient hands-down. A little to artsy for some, I think, but it captured the poetry of the book. It's one of the few where I enjoyed the movie just as much as the film, and I love the fact that it's Canadian at its core.
Tempted to go with Random Passage or the Hockey Sweater, but the visuals of Life of Pi are still fresh in my mind, so I'll go for that one, despite a small frustration with dumbing down the ending.
Just one? oh dear.
I'll try to add another to the list, for variety, because I like all the ones mentioned so far, plus Anne in your intro...
But I'll vote for Margaret's Museum, because I recently saw the play in Halifax, and was reminded of how great that was.
Anne of Green Gables for sure - it's a timeless classic. Who doesn't love that chatty red-headed 'Anne with an e'?
I'm going to have to go with Anne of Green Gables, the Megan Follows version, of course. Too classic, too good.
I'd like to put in a vote for Little Bear, a wonderful Canadian animated show by Nelvana, but it's an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's books, and I guess he's not Canadian.
Random Passage!
I'd have to say Away from Her based on a short story by Alice Munro, starring Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie. Beautiful scenes and great acting.
The Hockey Sweater based on the book by Roch Carrier or The Financial Institute. Based on a story by Stephen Leacock,a NFB short.
This is harder than I first thought. I was going to say The Sweet Hereafter, until I realized it was written by an American. So I am going with The Hockey Sweater, utterly charming.
I also vote for the "Inspector Murdoch Mysteries" TV movies. These adaptations motivated me to start reading the Murdoch Mysteries books by Maureen Jennings.
I'm a little surprised that no one seems to have plumped for Barney's Version.
However, I am going with a dark horse -- Incendies, based on the play by the same title (English translation = Scorched) by Wajdi Mouawad. A powerful piece of drama that draws inspiration from Greek tragedy. The twists are pretty incredible.
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