Which One Inspired You?

February 02, 2013

I am addicted to the written word; I love to read. I also love the movies, and I am a music fiend. There is nary a movie that I see that doesn't make me want to look up the soundtrack as soon as I can to find a song that strikes my fancy. The same is true for a movie that is based on a book. Which movie inspired you to read the book?

So many times we read a book and wait with anticipation for the movie to come out, but what about those movies that inspired us to read the book? This phenomenon happens to me quite often and I am glad it does, because I get stuck in genreland sometimes. For instance, I always see a science fiction film before I read a book. Also, I really don't want to read murder/mystery books (too much of that happening in the real world), so I stick with what I like, which can be limiting.

I watched an obscure sci-fi film called The Lathe Of Heaven, and when I found out it was based on a book of the same name by Ursula Le Guin, I had to read it. And those murder/mystery books that I don't like? Well, let me say that after seeing all three Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movies (aka The Millennium Trilogy), I devoured the books and loved them. Go figure.

When I say classics, what springs to mind? Pride And Prejudice? Never read it. Emma? Read it long before I saw any movie of it. But what about Daniel Deronda by George Eliot? Or Wives And Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell? If it wasn't for PBS, I would never have known about them and enjoyed reading them. And I never thought to read Jane Erye until I saw an awesome portrayal on film. I had to run right out and buy the book because, as good as the movie was, I had to know what was going on inside Jane's head, something that can't always be pulled off in a movie, no matter how good the performance. Then there is Bleak House by Charles Dickens. That one took me four months to read. Why did I read it, you ask? Because the TV show inspired me. You get the idea.

My current obsession? Why, Sherlock Holmes, of course! The two movies from the last couple of years are my favorite movies at the moment. These are the first grown up movies that my kids and I enjoyed together, so that makes them extra special. And if that's not enough, there are any number of television shows, old and new, for you to enjoy.

I would never have stopped to think or even care that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle thought these characters up over a hundred years ago if it hadn't been for Sherlock and Watson being the perfect duo on screen. I had to know how it all started. I am reading The Hound Of The Baskervilles right now, my fourth Sherlock book. I've enjoyed them all tremendously.

Now that you've read a little about my inspiration for reading, let me know what inspired you.

Amy H.
North Independence Branch