FROM PAPERBACK TO FILM
This year’s screen adaptations also happen to be some of the book industry’s most compelling reads. TAN MIN YAN delves between the covers.
Add these novels to your reading list before the movies land.
RED SPARROW BY JASON MATTHEWS
THE BOOK: First-time novelist Jason Matthews’ spy thriller on doublecrossing and seduction is centred around a pair of young intelligence officers operating for opposing camps – she’s a rookie Russian “sparrow”, a trained seductress in the Russian intelligence force; he’s a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer in charge of penetrating Russian intelligence. Fun fact: Jason himself is a 33-year veteran of the CIA, whose knowledge of the inner workings of the actual spy world colours this ctional verse with incredible detail.
THE MOVIE: Slated for a Nov 10 release in the US. Jennifer Lawrence and Joel Edgerton take the leading roles.
THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US BY CHARLES MARTIN
THE BOOK: What would otherwise have been your standard-issue love story between two strangers meeting under strange circumstances (a bride-to-be and a surgeon share a charter plane after a snowstorm causes their ights to be cancelled) takes a bad turn when they crash-land in the harsh wilderness of the Uinta Mountains in Utah. Stranded and badly injured, the two have to fend off nature’s wrath and their own personal demons. The inevitable falling in love between the two could have been a cringe-worthy cliche if not for the well eshed-out characters that bring very real emotions to the forefront of the story.
THE MOVIE: Scheduled to hit cinemas on Oct 20 in the US, it features Kate Winslet and Idris Elba as the couple.
A DOG’S PURPOSE BY W. BRUCE CAMERON
THE BOOK: Dog lovers hardly need any reminder that their canine friends are probably the most loyal beings in their lives, but why not let a heart-warming read told from a dog’s perspective drive home the point anyway? The New York Times’ 2010 bestseller chronicles the canine protagonist’s search for purpose in his own existence as he’s reincarnated numerous times through different lives and fates, before – spoiler alert – he nds himself reunited with his rst owner in a full-circle-moment ending. An expected tear-jerker that will make you want to give your pet a hug at the end of it.
THE MOVIE: Mark your calendar for March 2, when the lm arrives in Singapore. Dennis Quaid plays the lead character, Ethan, the rst owner.
LOST IN THE JUNGLE: A HARROWING TRUE STORY OF SURVIVAL BY YOSSI GHINSBERG
THE BOOK: Based on Israeli Yossi Ghinsberg’s harrowing real-life, neardeath experience trekking through the Amazon rainforest, the book recounts the extreme dangers he had to face – ranging from nearly drowning in a river to coming face-to-face with a black jaguar. The mental and physical pain he endures makes for an uncomfortable read, but it’s still a thrilling page-turner that will make you appreciate nature’s wrath.
THE MOVIE: Slated to hit the big screen in late 2017. Daniel Radcliffe stars as Yossi.
BEFORE I FALL BY LAUREN OLIVER
THE BOOK: Think Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls. Protagonist and high-school queen bee Samantha is killed in a car accident, but nds herself alive and well in her own bed the next morning. Eventually, she realises that she’s trapped in a time loop, seemingly destined to have her life cut short over and over again. In the course of the next week, she tries to uncover the details behind the accident, but at the same time, she discovers the impact of her actions on the people around her and makes amends. Nothing quite like a do-over story to get you feeling
introspective.
THE MOVIE: Slated for a March 3 release in the US. Rising star Zoey Deutch portrays Samantha.
“That’s the lesson of the dogs, that it’s important to both live in the moment and then go on to the next wonderful thing.” – Excerpt from A Dog’s Purpose “I shiver, thinking how easy it is to be totally wrong about people – to see one tiny part of them and confuse it for the whole, to see the cause and think it’s the effect or vice versa.” – Excerpt from Before I Fall