Films as Critiques of Novels Transformational Criticism
| Author: | Pellow, C. Kenneth | |
| Year: | 1995 | |
| Pages: | 380 | |
| ISBN: | 0-7734-9067-1 978-0-7734-9067-3 | |
| Price: | $239.95 + shipping | |
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This book shows how films are useful as literary criticism. From an examination of what will and will not "translate" into film from print, one learns much about a novel's structure and methodology, its themes, narratology, and other aspects of fictions. Novels/films include The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Sterile Cuckoo, Catch-22, Bang the Drum Slowly, A Room With a View, Ordinary People, more.
Reviews
". . . a welcome addition to literature and film study, for its aim is not the evaluation and subsequent denigration of the cinematic adaptation, but a better comprehension of the novel. . . . Pellow is an astute film critic who has not only researched the novels but the films. He includes, when appropriate, production details, negotiations, casting information, and interviews with some of the novelists/screenwriters; and he is particularly adept at close readings of both novels and films, which he treats as works of art rather than cultural artifacts. The writing is clear, concise, engaging, free from film jargon, but scholarly in its insights. . . . . in addition to its reference strengths, the book would make an excellent literature-and-film textbook. . . . superior in its insights, its coverage of literature-film problems, and its theoretical approach." -- Thomas L. Erskine
". . . a useful discussion of the often uneasy relationship between films based on novels and the novels themselves. . . . writes in a style that is clear, often witty, and always intelligent. His discussion of the subtleties of Spark's anti-chronological method in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and of the differences between Reisz and Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman are particularly insightful. . . . his arguments are grounded in thorough knowledge of both film and book and are likely to stimulate both thinking and discussion. . . . will be a useful text for film, film and literature, and literature courses and a good resource for both students and teachers." -- Sharon R. Wilson
". . . a useful discussion of the often uneasy relationship between films based on novels and the novels themselves. . . . writes in a style that is clear, often witty, and always intelligent. His discussion of the subtleties of Spark's anti-chronological method in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and of the differences between Reisz and Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman are particularly insightful. . . . his arguments are grounded in thorough knowledge of both film and book and are likely to stimulate both thinking and discussion. . . . will be a useful text for film, film and literature, and literature courses and a good resource for both students and teachers." -- Sharon R. Wilson