New Leaf Nominations for March 2018 • The Book Came First

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I'm late to the party, but I nominate Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train.

It is $7.64USD on Amazon
It is $11.99 on Kobo

The book was adapted into film by Alfred Hitchcock.

FYI, the audiobook of Strangers on a Train is part of Audible's 2-for-1-credit sale, through February 11.

[Dngrsone]

I'll second Different Seasons.

To be fair, Cruise did a passable enough performance in Jack Reacher for me to queue the first book into my TBR, though it's kinda buried under stuff I've deemed more interesting.

The same happened with The Hunt for Red October: it was good enough despite Baldwin that I read the book.

...and was I amazed that they cast that guy instead of Harrison Ford, whom Jack Ryan's character seemed to be written for.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I'll second Different Seasons.

Three of the novellas have been made into movies.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption became The Shawshank Redemption

Apt Pupil became Apt Pupil

The Body became Stand By Me

I suggest if this gets to the vote and wins that the three novellas made into movies be read.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I'll second Different Seasons.

To be fair, Cruise did a passable enough performance in Jack Reacher for me to queue the first book into my TBR, though it's kinda buried under stuff I've deemed more interesting.

I suspect if you'd read the books first you may have felt differently. Reacher's size is such a significant part of who he is and affects how people relate to him, and that's something Cruise just cannot supply.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Three of the novellas have been made into movies.

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption became The Shawshank Redemption

Apt Pupil became Apt Pupil

The Body became Stand By Me

I suggest if this gets to the vote and wins that the three novellas made into movies be read.

I'd have no trouble/complaint in discussing the the whole collection, but that would make it fairly long (560 pages in paperback). Shawshank and The Body are both excellent stories and great movies - but the other two are much less so and come closer to horror, which may not be to everyone's tastes.

What I like about The Body is that, aside from the slightly morbid title, it's really just a kid's adventure story. Who else besides a bunch of 12yo boys are going to make plans to walk across the country-side overnight on the chance they will get to see their first body? The "body" in this story is mostly symbolic, only horrific from the reality of it and for the impact it has on the 12yo protagonists. For me, this story shows King at his finest and with little in the way of the baggage that might get in the way of someone trying him out.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by gmw

I'd have no trouble/complaint in discussing the the whole collection, but that would make it fairly long (560 pages in paperback). Shawshank and The Body are both excellent stories and great movies - but the other two are much less so and come closer to horror, which may not be to everyone's tastes.

The novella that hasn't made it to screen would not be read. I cannot say how long it would be to read just the three that did make it to screen would be.

[JSWolf]

Still Life just needs one more nod to make it to the vote. So please someone give it a nod and let it get voted on. I have not read it, but would be happy to if it was to win.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The novella that hasn't made it to screen would not be read. I cannot say how long it would be to read just the three that did make it to screen would be.

481 pages according to my paperback edition. (The Breathing Method is the last one in the book, which made it easy.)

[Alohamora]

I will third Still Life.

It does sound good, and my library has the audiobook in Overdrive.

[drofgnal]

I'm a bit late to the party. But I'll nominate a book one of my favorite movies is based on,
'The Heart is a Lonely Hunter', book by Carson McCullers. Available as an Amazon ebook. I've always wanted to read the book.

Link to book Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Lonely-...ustomerReviews

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the...-lonely-hunter
Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hea...780547346656#/

From Amazon:

With the publication of her first novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers, all of twenty-three, became a literary sensation. With its profound sense of moral isolation and its compassionate glimpses into its characters' inner lives, the novel is considered McCullers' finest work, an enduring masterpiece first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1940. At its center is the deaf-mute John Singer, who becomes the confidant for various types of misfits in a Georgia mill town during the 1930s. Each one yearns for escape from small town life. When Singer's mute companion goes insane, Singer moves into the Kelly house, where Mick Kelly, the book's heroine (and loosely based on McCullers), finds solace in her music. Wonderfully attuned to the spiritual isolation that underlies the human condition, and with a deft sense for racial tensions in the South, McCullers spins a haunting, unforgettable story that gives voice to the rejected, the forgotten, and the mistreated—and, through Mick Kelly, gives voice to the quiet, intensely personal search for beauty.

Richard Wright praised Carson McCullers for her ability "to rise above the pressures of her environment and embrace white and black humanity in one sweep of apprehension and tenderness." She writes "with a sweep and certainty that are overwhelming," said the New York Times. McCullers became an overnight literary sensation, but her novel has endured, just as timely and powerful today as when it was first published. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is Carson McCullers at her most compassionate, endearing best.

[issybird]

I'll second The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

[astrangerhere]

I will third The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

[binaryhermit]

I'll third "The Body" and second the idea that the discussion be about the three novellas that were made into films.

[CRussel]

I'll second Of Mice and Men. I've read it fairly recently, and don't have a particular need to re-read it, but it would certainly provide a reasonable book for discussion, and it shouldn't be allowed to languish un-nominated.

[CRussel]

I would also like to urge nominators to post at least minimal links to online sites, preferably with prices. I expect that doing so would increase their chances of having their books actually selected.