Guest Blogger: Summer Book and Movie Pairings by Laura Haines

I love books and I love movies. Though I sometimes love the book so much that I refuse to see the movie [see: Atonement by Ian McEwan], usually I will happily consume both versions. Below I’ve chosen just a handful of my favorite pairings, all particularly suitable for summer reading/viewing in my opinion. And, just to keep things fresh, I’ve thrown in a suggested beverage.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
PS3553.U484 H68 1998

The Hours
Directed by Stephen Daldry
DVD 2071

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
PR6045.O72 M5

Mrs. Dalloway
Directed by Marleen Gorris
DVD 1471

A re-telling of Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking stream of consciousness novel, The Hours follows three women during critical moments in their lives. The first lives in present-day New York, another in 1950s California, and the third is Virginia Woolf herself in 1920s England. Beautifully written their stories overlap and intersect in interesting ways. I loved this novel (I also loved Mrs. Dalloway) and found the characters so real and compelling that I was reluctant to see the movie for fear my own imaginings of the characters be tainted. However, I ended up enjoying the movie a great deal. It is visually appealing and the cast is superb (Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, John C. Reilly, and Miranda Richardson) with Nicole Kidman playing Virginia Woolf. Ed Harris gives a very moving performance of a man dying of AIDS.

I would of course be remiss if I didn’t point out that Mrs. Dalloway and the movie version, uh, Mrs. Dalloway, are also available in the library. While you may have read Mrs. Dalloway in high school, it is definitely worth a second or third read, and I rather liked the movie version with Vanessa Redgrave as Clarissa Dalloway.

Suggested beverage: kir royale (recipe here: http://www.wineintro.com/champagne/cocktails/kirroyale.html)

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
PS3523.E7993 S7

The Stepford Wives
Directed by Bryan Forbes
DVD 1041

You know the story, right? Independent young woman moves with her family from New York City to the Connecticut suburbs only to discover the locals are being turned into automatons. I should say first off that I love me a good 1970s horror/suspense flick. And, I had further interest in this one as it takes place in the area my mom grew up. In fact, I had already accompanied my grandmother on more than one excursion to the Goodwives Shopping Center [I kid you not] in Darien, CT before I was old enough to see it. Still, it’s a good one. It’s sufficiently creepy and campy and Catherine Ross of The Graduate fame is delightful. It’s just right for a hot summer night.

I never would have read the book had someone whose taste I trusted not suggested it. It was written in 1972 by Ira Levin, author of Rosemary’s Baby and The Boys from Brazil (two other book/movie combos), and while it is true I wasn’t expecting too much, I found it surprisingly well-written, suspenseful and subversive.

PS Whatever you do, don’t watch the 2004 re-make of the movie with Nicole Kidman. Truly terrible.

Suggested beverage: martini (recipe here: http://cocktails.about.com/od/cocktailrecipes/r/mrtni.htm)

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
PS3558.O3447 P73

Practical Magic
Directed by Griffin Dunne
(shoot! I thought we had the movie!)

Practical Magic tells the story of Sally and Gillian Owens, orphans raised by their witchcraft-practicing aunts in a small Massachusetts town. Generations of Owens women have been rumored to cause trouble and be unlucky in love, and the saga continues with these sisters and Sally’s daughters. Alice Hoffman is best known for her American variety of magical realism and this novel doesn’t disappoint. She portrays love sickness in very real ways: a man in loves burns a diner counter with his elbow while another’s cuffs smoke and smolder. The imagery in this novel is beautiful and the characters and conversations are both quirky and convincing. I highly recommend it if you want to get lost for a few hundred pages.

This is one of those cases where the book and the movie are very different. While I liked the book more, the movie is quite enjoyable with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as convincing siblings, a beautiful setting, and a great soundtrack. Even better, the aunts are played by the magnificent Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest.

Suggested beverage: margarita (recipe here: http://cocktails.about.com/od/atozcocktailrecipes/r/marg_cktl.htm)

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
PQ7298.15 .S638 C6613

(Como Agua Para Chocolate) Like Water for Chocolate
Directed by Alfanso Arau
DVD 726

Another magical realist tale, this one tells a classic story of true love in turn-of-the -century Mexico. The protagonist cries so hard in utero while her mother chops onions that she brings on labor and is born in the kitchen, beginning a life entangled in food and cooking. The book is interspersed with recipes. The movie, while lacking recipes and not as charming as the book, is visually appealing, steamy and romantic.

Suggested beverage: Mexican hot chocolate (recipe here: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Beverage/HotChocolate.htm)