Five books...

[fajrdrako]

From fannish5: Name five books that could be great movies.

1. The Persian Boy by Mary Renault.
2. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner. (Or Privilege of the Sword, but Swordspoint comes first.)
3. Venetia by Georgette Heyer. Or any other Heyer of choice.
4. The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox.
5. The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis.

Note that I did not mention the Dunnett novels. Any of them. I think they'd all make magnificent movies, but of such scope they would have to be extended miniseries. And a version that was not good would be unbearable. But if it could be done, and done right, it would be magnificent.

Comments

[chazzbanner.livejournal.com]

I think the Liaden books would make a great anime series :-). I did end up loving the series, and bought books for myself (I originally got them through the library). I still don't think they're influenced by Dunnett particularly -- but Heyer, yes. The first written (second publisehd) "Local Custom" ws written as homage to Heyer, but is not a Heyer clone atall. A couple of times in each book they'll use a Heyer phrase, and that makes me smile. ('high stickler' was the first one I noticed)

I think Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger would make a great movie, and it has two excellent male leads.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think the Liaden books would make a great anime series

Funny thing - when I started reading a Liaden book, my mental image was immediately to picture everyone as an anime character!

'high stickler' was the first one I noticed

I like that. Heyer influences one's vocabulary - in a very particular manner.

Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger

I haven't read it. Good title.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

I would so *love* to see _The Persian Boy_ as a movie, so long as it was a movie as good as the book.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, that's it! One could only hope. The story I heard was that Mel Gibson had bought the movie rights to the book, not to make the movie, but to prevent the movie from being made. I don't know if that's true. I think it would be a terrific movie.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

That's ... horrible and perverse. Gah.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Horrible and perverse, yes, exactly.

It's such a lovely historical novel, and on several levels - particularly (to my mind) in the way it presents Persian culture of the time. It's the kind of movie that ought to be made. For one man's homophobia to get in the way of that is... annoying.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

It's beautifully crafted (well, Renault's prose appeals to me greatly, Anglophile that I am), the choice of narrator is brilliant, and the historical revisioning is at the very least original and I think quite coherent. And bye the by, he had a taste for buggery. Beautiful. I also like how she portrayed Alexander's ambitions toward uniting the Persian and Greek/Macedonian races, and his adoption of Persian manners, and the reaction of his Macedonian old-schoolers, and generally how she made things like that make sense.

'Annoying' wouldn't cover it (infuriating? I feel oppressed!). *whimpers* Are you *sure* Mel Gibson has the rights?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I agree with all your comments, and no, I am not sure about Mel Gibson holding the rights... It's something I heard round about the time "Alexander" came out, in the context that Oliver Stone had wanted to make a movie based on "The Persian Boy" (and perhaps also "Fire from Heaven") but couldn't do so since Mel Gibson had the rights and wasn't letting them go. Ever. And I don't remember even where I heard this, so I can't even guess how reliable the source was.

It would be nice it if was wrong.

[omnivorously.livejournal.com]

Since I have mad research skillz, I did a google search *and* askjeeves, and came up with nothing - me, I'd rather feel a little silly than feel paranoid about being oppressed by a Hollywooder ; )

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, and it would be nice to feel we weren't misjudging someone. So I'd take the story with a grain of salt, but still - keep my ears open for more information if it should come my way.