This blog is submitted by staff member, Chinyere O.
No! The book is better than the movie. No! The movie is better than the book. That's often an argument that I hear when people come into the library searching for literary works turned into movies. In my opinion, when it comes to my dystopian novels to film choices, both the book and film will have you rooting for the underdog. I know I rooted for the underdog when I read and watched all seven of these book-to-film adaptations.
Now, what is film adaptation? And what makes a good book to film adaptation? Well, my definition is a book turned into a movie. But I do not think an art department at a university will agree. Like the film studies department at Dartmouth whose film resource guide defines adaptation as, “A pre-existing work, often literary or theatrical, that has been made into a film. More commercial properties such as musical theatre, best-selling fiction and non-fiction, comic books, and so on, are also regularly adapted for the cinema.”
So, now that we have the academic definition of the film adaption, what makes a good book-to-film adaptation? Some may say best-selling novels like Host by Stephanie Meyer and Books of Ember by DuPrau that were in the 2008 NYT Best-Sellers list, and a historical novel like 1984 by George Orwell, or just maybe the excellent writing of the author, like The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins. In his 2012 article, 3Qs: What Makes a Good Book-To-Movie Adaptation? Matt Collette writes: “It’s a combination of genius, inspiration, and the nature of the narrative itself, but then these elements also have to be combined with reader — and now viewer — expectations. I don’t think there are general principles to follow except for aiming for the highest production values and the lushest kind of visuals.”
The Wow Factor
Rooting for the underdog requires a wow factor undertone that should be found in both the book and the film adaption. Why else would we root for Katniss, in The Hunger Game book and movie series, or Thomas in The Maze Runner book and movie? Matt factors, “A reader’s encounter with a written narrative is completely dependent on the visuals created by the text and his or her imagination.” And Beth Sawdon in her 2018 article believes that honoring the source material, the original work “must be included for the film to ring true to the book. The plot must flow as smoothly as that in the book does in order for the adaptation to be a success.”
Here are seven Dystopian novels with film adaptations that I believe have the wow factor.
The Hunger Games series are three novels that unfold in an apocalyptic world. The story is centered on a 16-year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen, and her struggle for survival in a controlling government dystopia.
The Divergent series are three novels that are set in a futuristic dystopia, which has been divided into five factions: Abnegation, Candor, Amity, Dauntless, and Erudite. The protagonist and narrator is a sixteen-year-old girl from Abnegation named Beatrice Prior.
The Maze Runner series is set in a post-apocalyptic world. The story begins where a teenage boy awakens with no real memories other than the fact that his name is Thomas. He discovers that the Glade is run by two boys, who maintain order by enforcing strict rules. This is important because outside the Glade is the Maze, a terrifying labyrinth of high walls covered in ivy that houses strange, lethal creatures known as Grievers.
The Giver follows Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy who lives in a society that is very strongly regulated by the government and with few individual liberties. At Jonas's sorting ceremony to decide his profession, he gets told he will be the receiver, someone who is wise and collects memories, serving as a repository of sorts for these memories. Jonas learns about pain, suffering, and sacrifice through these meetings with the Giver; these are feelings that other people in the society have never felt before.
The City of Ember is a post-apocalyptic story that follows Lina and Doon who are citizens of the city of Ember, a city surrounded by darkness. There is no moon and no sun, and when the lights in the city are off, it is completely dark. They have always lived here, and no one has any idea how the generators work or how they came to be in the city of darkness. They discover a journal written by one of the first citizens of Ember detailing an impending disaster and saying that the city is the last resort.
The Fifth Wave is a dystopic story where aliens invade the earth, bringing death and destruction in five well-defined waves. During the first thru fourth wave, an EMP destroys all electronics on earth, space causes destruction on every coastline in the world, an Ebola virus wipes out more than seven billion people and In the fourth wave, humans are hosts to the alien forms. The fifth wave is just beginning as teenagers Cassie and Ben make their way separately through a world they no longer understand.
The Circe is a dystopian novel set in the future. It is told from the perspective of Mae Holland. She has landed a job at the Circle, which is a monopolistic tech company led by the Three Wise Men. The Circle has cultivated a positive image through its missions of improving human rights and democracy, as well as by making it easier for people to connect globally. Nonetheless, the Circle has tyrannical ambitions to control all the world’s information.
Did my list make the cut? Did my Dystopian books to film adaptation choices wow you? Just remember, for a book to film adaptation to have the wow factor, we should be reminded, “The more a reader’s expectations line up with the film, the more successful the film is thought to be.”
