Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature

by John Desmond, Peter Hawkes

This concise and readable new text for courses in Film Adaptation or Film and Literature introduces students to the art of adapting works of literature for film. Adaptation describes the interwoven histories of literature and film, presents key analytical approaches to adaptation, and provides an in-depth overview of adaptations of novels, short stories, plays, nonfiction, and animation. The book concludes with an analysis of why adaptations sometimes fail.

Genres: Nonfiction, Academic, Film

304 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2005

Reviews

[Leo Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent look at adaptations for film. The case studies are very well analysed and the lists at the end of each chapter with examples of adaptations are very helpful.
The last chapter in failed adaptations seems a bit weak as the arguments are well made however it’s a fairly subjective area and that undermines the case studies or examples.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't exactly say much about this book. I had to read it for a Lit and Film class. I found what Desmond said to be insightful, but at times I wanted more clarity. Sometimes I just wanted him to shut up and get to the point because his twenty plus page chapter(s) could be summed up in five pages.

Conclusions

For the length of this book and the amount of times I used it (somewhere in the ballpark of six times), I think this book isn't worth paying for. It's better to just see if your library has it and to check it out for an entire semester.

Regardless, I would read it again if I had to.

If you're taking a film class, definitely read it. It'll help when you have to talk about the various forms of adaptation and makes reading some other texts easier to understand.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to find out the different adaptations of stories whether they are successful or a failure. There are some stories in here that I haven't heard of that I want to read now. So, in this instance, it is a great resource.