Random Thoughts

Here’s another observation: I just finished re-reading “A Tale of Two Cities”, and it strikes me that this should be made into a movie. I know it’s already been made into a movie, but it should be made into a movie again. So much of the book reads just like a movie anyway, it would be perfect for the big screen.

I’ve often wondered if books are different now than they were before the advent of movies. Most people watch more movies than they read books, so perhaps today’s authors find themselves heavily influenced by the big screen, and write books that start to resemble screen plays. I’ve not done any research into this question, or attempted to compare literature or anything like that. It’s just a thought that wanders into my brains sometimes. Perhaps some of you who are more knowledgeable than I about literature could shed some light on this question.

But the interesting thing about Dickens is his book, well before the invention of movies, already was resembling a screenplay. Not all of it. There are a lot of long and windy parts (I’m told Dickens got paid by the word), and there would be a lot of parts that would have to be chopped out to make the transition to the screen.
But the parts that would be left would very easily transfer to the screen. I’m thinking specifically of some of the court scenes, or the scenes that take place in Paris. The say the characters seem to talk to each other in memorable one-liners, the way the drama is built up in the conversation leading towards some sort of revelation, the way most of the story is revealed in the character’s dialogue rather than by the author. It all seems perfect for the screen.

Video version HERE