THE GREAT AMERICAN READ (PART 2)

Books that were oddly not put on the list (that probably should’ve been according to the goal of the list.)

After reviewing The Great American Read list, I couldn’t help but to notice that some books that would normally be included on a book list were not mentioned. I also wondered why some books were mentioned and not others when it seems as if the unlisted books are similar if not advanced in popularity.

I’m talking about books like....

The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L. Engle

War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

The Little House on The Prairie (series) by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Fahrenheit 451 or The Martians Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (Ray Bradbury wasn’t on the list at all. There are a number of sci-fi titles on the list and Ray Bradbury who was a very well known sci-fi author is not on the list. A second film version based on the 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 was recently made, but nope. Not good enough for The Great American Read.)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice (Didn’t Anne Rice’s vampires come before Stephanie Meyer’s vampires?)

Waiting to Exhale or How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan

Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret? by Judy Blume

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

A Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger

Goosebumps (series) by R.L. Stine

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I feel like something by Danielle Steel should be on the list simply because she’s one of if not the most prolific romance writers of our time. I’ve never read anything by her, but I sure am familiar with her name. When you hear her name, you know she’s a writer and what type of genre writer she is. I think Wikipedia classifies her as being the fourth best-selling fiction author of all time.

I also feel like John Grisham should be on the list for maybe A Time to Kill, The Client The Firm or The Pelican Brief. About eight of his books have been adapted into feature films, but he’s not on the list.

Some of the titles on the list are novellas (not full length novels.) So why not include:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Regarding the decision to only put one book by a single author on the list....

If the author had more than one really good, well known book, shouldn’t it be acknowledged? (The Stand was chosen to represent Stephen King. Is that his most popular book? Not sure, but shouldn’t Carrie, The Shining and/or Misery be included? And why were some books chosen as the main book to acknowledge a certain author when another of their books have proven to be more popular? A Christmas Carol should represent Charles Dickens. Isn’t it the tale that he is most remembered for? I believe that story truly keeps his legacy alive even amongst non-readers. Who isn’t familiar with the story about the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future that visits a scrooge on Christmas Eve? Instead, Great Expectations was chosen to represent Dickens.

Any time I hear the name Kurt Vonnegut, it’s usually in association with a book called Slaughterhouse Five. Apparently, that is his biggest claim to fame, but the book on the PBS list for him is The Sirens. Is The Sirens a better book?

Looking For Alaska was chosen for John Green instead of his more popular breakout novel The Fault in Our Stars.

Movies VS Books

Are some books more known for their film version or novel version?

Were the movie/TV versions of these The Great American Read titles more popular than the book versions? In other words, if you hear the titles, do you think of the film/TV version of the story or the novel version first?

When it comes to these two classics, the question is...do people actually read their book versions at all?

Gone With the Wind= Some people still don’t know it was based on a best-selling book. For me, it’s all about the movie. When I think of Gone With The Wind, I think of Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, period.

The Godfather= Again, I only think about the movies. Even though the third film was not necessary, when I hear The Godfather, I think Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and

Robert Di Niro.

Frankenstein= Okay, this one is a tiny bit embarrassing because I actually own a copy of the book that I got for free, and I still have never read it. In my defense, I think most people are familiar with the story overall, but haven’t actually read it, right? Many even get confused and think that Frankenstein is the monster/creature rather than the doctor that creates the monster/creature. Frankenstein has often been reduced to the costume worn on Halloween. I have seen a movie version of the book. So I have to say that when I think of Frankenstein, I think movie first. Well, I think of Halloween, and then the movie, but both of them comes before the actual book. I also think of the movie Young Frankenstein which is hilarious and should be seen by everyone.

Alice in Wonderland= I grew up with the animated Disney version of this tale and as a result, have never completed reading the actual Lewis Carroll story. I’ve read the entire Disney novelization of the tale. Does that count? Probably not. So animated movie first. Book second for me.

Charlotte’s Web= Saw the Disney animated film version. Never read the actual book. Would not want to read a book that includes a talking spider no matter how nice she is. Really don’t like spiders. So, I didn’t love the animated film either, but the pig is adorable.

The Color Purple= Perhaps the book and film are tied in popularity, but I do often and automatically hear people quoting Oprah Winfrey’s character’s line from the movie “All my life I had to fight” monologue when the title is mentioned. I think it’s safe to say the movie enhanced the popularity of the book.

Flowers in the Attic= I think her books kind of maintain their own special appeal and didn’t necessarily gain more attention because of the 80s film or the made-for-TV movies of the Flowers in the Attic series made a few years ago.

Jurassic Park= I honestly never knew it was a book first until I saw it on the list. So movie first for me.

The Game of Thrones and Outlander= I put them together because I think the huge success of their TV series have been tremendously popular, and I believe there are probably more people who have watched the TV shows more than read the books. But I also believe that readership of the books have increased because of the successful TV shows.) I never heard of Outlander until the TV was created. I’ve only read the first book (out of I think eight soon to be nine books) of the series as a result of watching the show. I have to say that I am more of a fan of the show than the book. I prefer the actors and their onscreen portrayals of Diana Gabaldon’s stories that feel a bit more charming than her books.

Little Women= Just for I think of the Winona Ryder and also the June Allyson film versions of the book first, but I think most people think of the book first with this story.

The Joy Luck Club= Maybe they’re tied, but I think most people would think book first. I think film first because I liked the film better than the book.

Rebecca = I only think of the film version of this story when I hear the title. I think Alfred Hitchcock classic before I think of Daphne du Maurier‘s novel.

Titles that were so popular that they were made into films, but the films don’t overshadow the overall popularity of the books:

Harry Potter

Da Vinci Code

The Color Purple

The Picture of Dorian Grey

The Great Gatsby

The Hunger Games

The Help

Gone Girl

Little Women

The Notebook

The Lovely Bones

Memoirs of a Geisha

The Joy Luck Club

The Outsiders

Fifty Shades of Grey

Jane Eyre (But the Orsen Welles’ film version is a really good compliment to the story.)

The Chronicles of Narnia

To Kill A Mockingbird