Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Calling All Book Nerds!

You might remember that I have a step-sister called C. who I interviewed for the blog last year.  She's currently undertaking her final year of high school.  Anyway...C and I have always talked books.  I was giving them to her before we spoke all that much and now it's our thing.

I am asking for your advice on her behalf as I just received this email (posted with her permission) -

Hey Adele,


I know how much you love helping me so..... I have another Independent Reading Study to do.


So, here's the deal. I can study 2 novels or a novel and a movie. They need to have heaps of comparisons. Therefore I am begging for your help. If you can think of any send me an e-mail because I would really, really appreciate it.


Thanks!

The thing is that I can really help her a lot.  I have heaps of ideas.  I was an English teacher after all but what about those obvious or left field ideas that don't occur to me?  So I am asking my lovely PSnark readership to  suggest two novels / novel and movie pairing that C might choose.  She is partial to contemporary and avoids gore and aliens - - her words.

She would love me forever :)

20 comments:

Braiden said...

I was going to suggest Battle Royale and The Hunger Games...but then I read "avoids gore" and thought it's a bad choice after.

Splendibird said...

My comment was getting too long so have sent an email to your gmail address x

Booklady said...

How about Bronte's Jane Eyre and Jane by April Lindner. And if she wanted extra credit, she could through in one of the many movie variations or even Becoming Jane.

Alison Can Read said...

Some combination of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. I guess that's really 3 series, but it seems workable. And they all have movies.

Helen's Book Blog said...

I am loathe to suggest Shakepeare, but what about King Lear and Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres. Romeo and Juliet with Romeitte and Julio...

Gina @ My Precious said...

How about comparing some of the newer released dystopian novels:

Delirium, Matched, Bumped

I think they are all on the same lines.

Or...

What about comparing the treatment of women and sex in:

XVI & A Handmaid's Tale?

Anonymous said...

Ooo, I second the Jane Eyre motion, especially because she can watch so many epic movies (200-something BBC special is love) and because it's generally awesome.

Alwyn said...

In High school I had to read Kafka's the Trial and compare it to the film. Don't do that, that drove me crazy.


A cool idea might be a comparison of a great contemporary teen writer like Sarah Dessen, John Green etc. and the 'classic' teen series like "Sweet Valley High" "Nancy Drew" or "Hardy Boys". For instance she could compare the way "Along for the Ride", "The Truth about Forever", “Thirteen little Blue Envelopes” or "Looking for Alaska" deal with the death of a character. And the much more superficial way Sweet Valley High does for instance. Or even just how High School is portrayed for the perfect never aging SVH twins, and how Meg Cabot portrays High School for Mia Thermopolis, unpopular but who grows up and develops as a character instead of staying static like the Sweet Valley Twins, in spite of the fact that both SVH and Princess Diaries are intensely serialized. I just find it fascinating how patronizing SVH and Nancy Drew seem to teens when you look back at them now. And there’s always the rise of the 80s John Hugh’s teen film to toss in there, or the SVH series.

Or with the paranormal trend she could compare "Jessica's Guide to dating on the dark side" to "Dracula". There would definitely be a plethora of examples if she tackled the Vampire trend from Classic Vampire movies to Vampire Diaries to Twilight.

Or more broadly the revival of the Gothic novel after a fashion with Carrie Ryan's Zombie Novels. And compare them to Zombie films, and the "Zombie vs. Unicorns" anthology.

There's also all the books that deal with Arthurian Legends. "Avalon High" and "The Mists of Avalon" and "The Dark is rising" compared to "The Lady of Shalott", "La Morte D'Arthur" etc. And you can always rope in that UK Tv show "Merlin" and the Avalon High film. As an Art History Nerd I also have to point out there's some great Pre-Raphealite paintings to throw into the mix there. Since that's such a huge subject she could always pick a single character from Arthurian legend and look at how they're portrayed in different versions over time.

This has turned into a much more massive response than I intended…

LinWash said...

How about Cold Comfort Farm (book and movie)? There's also Meg Cabot's Avalon High. And let us not forget Twilight.

Kristen said...

Along the classics line...

Tuck Everlasting

The Lovely Bones

Or.. if she's into romances...

A Very Long Engagement (one of my fave movies)

missus b said...

How about Marjorie Blackman's 'Boys Don't cry' with Joanne Horniman's 'Mahalia? And maybe throw Nick Hornby's 'Slam' in there too.

Danielle Zappavigna said...

I could recommend the Chaos Walking Trilogy by Patrick Ness (I know, 3 books but she could choose two...). There's a lot to compare and contrast here with the difference between men and women, animals and humans, Prentisstown and the rest of the planet, locals and non-locals, humans and non-humans, the opposing leaders in the war - I could go on. This is by far one of the best series I've ever read.

StephanieHuszar said...

It would be fun for her to compare Clueless w/ Alicia Silverstone and Jane Austen's Emma -- lots has been written about it already, but it's really fun to discover all the similarities for yourself. Plus you can't beat having to watch Cluless a school assignment. :)

LinWash said...

I agree with Stephanie. Along those lines, you might think about The Taming of the Shrew and the movie 10 Things I Hate About You.

Anonymous said...

How about Robyn Bavati's 'Dancing in The Dark' and Randa Abdul-Fattah's 'Does My Head Look Big in This'?

Bianca said...

If she wanted to do something with classics she could read The Scarlet Letter and watch Easy A.

Melina Marchetta said...

It's times like this that I miss teaching. I would chose
Graffiti Moon, Nick and Norah and the Doug Liman film, Go and explore the use of dual narratives, gender, setting, as well as whatever the genre is where everything happens in one night.
Melina

Unknown said...

I don't know if you've come across them, but YS Lee's "Mary Quinn" mysteries are great (A Spy In The House & A Body In The Tower). Ying holds a doctorate in Victorian literature and culture, and a lot of the research behind the series (about a young woman recruited into an all-female spy agency in Victorian London) is impeccably researched and realised. I love the theory behind "Miss Scrimshaw's Academy For Girls" - AKA "The Agency" - that young women, especially those working as domestic staff in great houses, make particularly good gatherers of information, as they're all but invisible to their employers. She could compare it to Philip Pullman's very similar Sally Lockhart series, or more interestingly to a novel from a Victorian novelist such as Dickens to illustrate how women in Victorian times were really viewed and portrayed.

Liviania said...

So Yesterday (Scott Westerfeld) and Fight Club (book or movie)

I've always wanted to write something academic about the two. Two very different approaches to materialism (and other themes), highly affected by the prospective audience.

Mrs. Heise said...

I've been having my own students who loved SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson read THE MOCKINGBIRDS by Daisy Whitney for their independent reading. I think there are very impactful comparisons to be made between the two powerful novels.