Elizabeth Bowen and novels adapted into films – though not in conjunction…
In the first half of this podcast, we discuss novels adapted into films – and whether or not we would like our favourite novels to be adapted into films – along with our takes on many different films we’ve seen. (By the by, do go and listen to my brother’s films podcast, The C to Z of Movies, which you can also find on iTunes.)
In the second half, we pit two Elizabeth Bowen novels against each other: To The North and The House in Paris, and I get into a mess trying to work out what I think of her. I’d love to hear what Bowen fans (and antifans) think of these books.
Listen in the player above, or a podcast app, or visit our iTunes page. Sorry for slightly lower quality than usual – we spoke for so long that the file size was too big for the usual quality!
Here are the (many!) novels and authors we mention in this episode:
The Dover Road by A.A. Milne (on at the Jermyn Street Theatre)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
Persuasion by Jane Austen
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson
To The River by Olivia Laing
One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
Sylvia Townsend Warner
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
A History of England by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
High School Musical: the book of the film (so sorry)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sister Sister (look, I don’t know why I’m typing these out)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley
Submarine by Joe Dunthorne
Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
The Ghost and Mrs Muir by R.A. Dick
Patricia Brent, Spinster by Herbert Jenkins
Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson
Beryl Bainbridge
The Cazalet Chronicle by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White (The Lady Vanishes)
‘The Birds’ by Daphne du Maurier
To The North by Elizabeth Bowen
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Manservant and Maidservant by Ivy Compton-Burnett
The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Muriel Spark
Friends and Relations by Elizabeth Bowen
Family and Friends by Anita Brookner (is what I meant!)
The Little Girls by Elizabeth Bowen
A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen
The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen
The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
The book is always better – always!!! I rarely like films of my favourite books because I have such a strong image in my head of the characters and setting etc. I don’t like anyone else’s vision to mess with that! And you remind me that I haven’t read enough of the Bowens of which I can say HIU! 😀
Always always :) Except for The Devil Wears Prada…
And I’m glad HIU is gonna catch on.
The only film of a book i felt was more entertaining than the book was GRAHAM GREENE’S “THE END OF THE AFFAIR”.I read the book after the film and was a bit disappointed.The film was 1999 and 1955.I liked the 1999 version.
Bowen is great but she needs concentration.I only love “TO THE NORTH” as we have all known a cad which makes it very enjoyable.And her short stories are the best.
Tina
Also–just look at the Wikipedia article on how to fully understand Bowen’s “THE HEAT OF THE DAY”.My mind goes round like a fruit machine to take it all in.
Tina
The Litter Girls by Elizabeth Bowen
Should read LITTLE GIRLS?HEHEHEHE
Tina
Well spotted, thanks :)
I do believe that Jennifer Ehle is the epitome of Elizabeth Bennet for some people, but I absolutely cannot make myself experience her that way. To me, she’s so unbelievably dull and she has such a PLACATING sort of face, which is fab when she’s playing Oscar Wilde but not so much as Elizabeth Bennet. (This will be the most controversial and enraging comment I’ve ever made on anyone’s blog, ever.)
We have TALKED about this now, but I remain OUTRAGED. She is perfect. As she is in every film.