Movies versus books

From Enoch Soames at The Charlock's Shade:

Uncle!
I received an email the other day from a reader who inquired if I, Enoch Soames, Esq., had heard the news? There is a new film to be released, called "Troy," ostensibly about the Trojan War. And, if so, did I know of a book version?
I diligently wrote back, suggesting that the gentle reader might try an obscure book named The Iliad, by Homer. I assured the reader that, although written prior to the advent of color television, the story still held up quite well.
So far, so good...The reader then replies and objects that the book, this Iliad thing, seems to be some sort of Greek mythology book, and what the reader wanted was a book based on the movie. You know, with pictures and what not. They also noted that the publisher had forgotten to print Homer's surname on the aforesaid volume.

(Via Reflections in d minor.)

Tangential note: I was surprised this morning to find that James Bowman actually gave Petersen's not-terribly-epic Troy a star.

Also from Mr. Soames: yet another reason to loathe movie adaptations of good books:

As most readers are aware, I am not a fan of screen adaptations. Neither was Evelyn Waugh (pronounced EVE-len WAW as in Adam and Eve, and it is a "he"), he would not allow Brideshead to be filmed during his lifetime, for the simple reason that the central character of the story, God, would be removed, thus destroying the entire plot, and meaning of the novel. This stand cost Waugh a considerable sum of money, which he desperately needed at the time, but he stood firm on principle. He was well aware of the travesty that Hollywood would make of his novel.

There's a new version of Brideshead Revisited in the works:

As noted by David Cliffe at An Evelyn Waugh Website, the screenwriter, Andrew Davies is doing just as Waugh feared; "Davies has decided not to have Charles convert to Catholicism; rather he intends to show how faith destroys the relationship of Julia and Charles. He has been quoted as saying If God can be said to exist in my version, he would be the villain."

MORE...

"If God can be said to exist in my version, he would be the villain."

That screenwriter is the most pig-headed, obtuse, cretinous idiot I've heard of all day.

May he slip in the bathtub and break his neck.

Ah! I feel so much better now...