Best Literary Movies to Watch And Devour

Best Literary Movies to Watch And Devour – Books and their impact on life forms a potent subject matter for movies. Literary movies include those which feature books as important leitmotifs as well as movies that are adaptations of books. Here is a list of the best movies that have some connection to books that you should watch at the earliest.

The Namesake by Mira Nair

In this adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same name, we follow a young Bengali couple, Ashima and Ashok who move to the US after their marriage. They fall in love and have a son, whom they name Gogol after Ashok’s favourite author. Gogol always has difficulty adjusting with his name and much prefers Nikhil, which the Americans shorten to Nick. Through this name, Nair brings to life his affinity for the American culture, which is shaken when his father dies. He then decides to return to his roots.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mike Newell

This is a romantic historical fiction movie based on a book of the same name. It follows a London writer who corresponds via letters with people in a small town who used to be under German occupation during the WW2. These people had formed the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at the time, and when the writer travels there, a past unfolds with tender, innocent beauty. This movie has strong literary undertones.

Dead Poets Society by Peter Weir

This movie follows a bunch of students who study in a prestigious academy which values discipline and conventional learning. But when an ex student John Keating comes back to teach Literature, traditional learning is challenged. He adheres to no norms, teaches unconventionally and makes his students fall in love with poetry and life. Now, the students re-form a society that travels to deserted places on the campus and reads poetry.

84 Charing Cross Road by David Jones

This movie is based on a book of the same name, and follows an author in the 1970s promoting her book. She lands at the doorstep of a quaint bookshop with which she had maintained correspondence since twenty years. The bookshop has now closed down, so she reminisces the letters and their contents, ruminating on Yorkshire Pudding and monarchy. Thus a bookshop becomes a catalyst to her love for literature and life.

Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen

In this delightful movie, a host of 20^th century writers like Ernest Hemmingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald come to life as a literary man chances upon a train that takes him into the past at midnight. In this world, the man, who is a struggling writer, finds inspiration and a home for his sentimentality which his fiancée hates. Eventually, he breaks up with his fiancée because he discovers who he really, truly is.

Pride and Prejudice by Joe Wright

In this adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic romantic novel, a middle class girl, Elizabeth, falls in love with Mr Darcy, an apparently obnoxious wealthy man. In perhaps the original haters to lovers trope, the two start off on a note of discord. She thinks him prejudiced and he thinks her proud. However, soon, the two get to know each other and fall in love, resulting in a beautiful love story. There is no overt mention of literature but books are a motif.

Anna Karenina by Joe Wright

Leo Tolstoy crafted the story of Anna Karenina in his similarly titled book with utmost brilliance. This adaptation brings it to life on the big screen with brilliance too. This is the story of Anna, who, bored with her banal marriage, falls in love with the Count Vronsky. This adultery brings only destruction and scandal in its wake, As a contrast to this is the story of Levin, a country farmer disdainful of society who falls in love with the pretty Katarina.

The Notebook by Nick Cassavetes

In this adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ beautifully tragic story of the same name, a man recounts the story of his love life. He details how he met the love of his life, and how they found perfect bliss with each other. In the end, he talks about how she suffered from Alzheimer’s and how the disease tore their love apart. The literary aspect of this book comes from the title, which refers to the notebook from which the narrator reads the story.

The Fault in Our Stars by Josh Boone

In this adaptation of John Green’s namesake novel, a cancer patient, Hazel, falls in love with a recovered cancer patient, Augustus. As the two fall in love, they trade books. Ultimately, they decide to visit the author of a book they both love in Netherlands to get a few answers from him. However, the visit is a flop. But in the process, their love deepens, and that is exactly what makes the end of this book so devastatingly tragic for readers.

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