Classic Novel Adaptations We Love

Of course, the book is always better, but there are some wonderful adaptations out there of some of my favorite novels. Daron jokes that he never has to read them - between me telling him what's happening while I devour the book and then watching the movie!

These are a few of our favorites, with the author of the novel in parentheses. I'd highly recommend reading the novel as well. While the movies are well done, there is much more to be gained from reading the original.

By the way, I would not consider any of these chick-flicks. Fortunately for me, I married a man who had already seen (and enjoyed!!) Anne of Green Gables and most versions of Jane Austen movies when we met. Those were definitely brownie points for him!

Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell) - BBC 1999 Starring Justine Waddell (She also played in a version of The Woman in White, the novel of which I adore, but the movie was too short and changed too much of the plot to make it worth viewing it.) This was Elizabeth Gaskell's last book. In fact, she died before she quite finished writing it, but fortunately she'd left notes on how it was supposed to end. Definitely a romance and story of... well, wives and daughters! Highly, highly recommend.

North and South (Elizabeth Gaskell) - BBC 2004 Starring Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage. Margaret Hale and her family move to the industrial city of Milton during England's industrial revolution. She must learn to cope with the changes in her life, situation, and family. Of course, there is a beautiful love story as well. The music by Martin Phipps is amazing.

Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) - Masterpiece Theater 1999 Starring Ioan Grufford and Justine Waddell. This is my favorite version.

Persuasion (Jane Austen) - BBC 1995 Starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds. This version has so many great subtle moments to it which really make the film for me. I also just saw the 2007 BBC version with Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones, which I also really enjoyed. The music for the 2007 version was also done by Martin Phipps.

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen) - 1995 Starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. Even though this is a shorter version of the story, I still very much enjoy it. I think the cast is superb and it doesn't feel like anything too important is missing from the plot. I'm still waiting to see the 2007 BBC version.

David Copperfield (Charles Dickens) - WGBH 2000 This cast is full of old timers to the classical novel turned movie screen. I found this one to be the closest to the book.

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) - A&E 1995 Starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Who doesn't adore this version? Daron and I love the movies that take the time to develop the characters and get at every nook and cranny the author created. As far as the 2005 Keira Knightley version goes, I enjoyed the cinematography and the music, but I did not like Ms. Knightley in the part at all. I also found it full of historical inaccuracies. Why was she the only one who never wore a bonnet? And they made the Bennett family look like paupers! What was up with that?

Cranford (Elizabeth Gaskell) - BBC 2007 This movie combined the plot elements and characters of Ms. Gaskell's book by the same name as well as some of her short stories. I was a little nervous about it, especially as I hadn't read any of those works yet, but I really enjoyed it. I'm trying now to read the works that they created the movie from. The plot has many sad parts, just to warn you. But the characters are beautifully developed, there is a lot of humor in it (ever seen a cow in gray flannel pjs?) and it definitely shows the good of humanity.

Horatio Hornblower (C.S. Forester) - A&E There are several movies based on the Hornblower series, of which I've read several, but not all. The books seem to be written more for young boys and the movies have made them more palatable towards a larger audience and have added more depth to the characters. Definitely good high seas, swashbuckling, adventure, British navy, Napoleonic Wars type movies. My only concern with them is one of the last movies surprised us with a shot of someone's rear! Yikes! How'd that get in there?

Our Mutual Friend (Charles Dickens) - BBC 1999 This is based on my favorite Charles Dickens' novel. The story of a young man who comes home to England to claim his fortune arrives to find that he's been pronounced dead. So he goes into hiding and tries to find out what happened. The will leaving him all the money also stipulates that he cannot have it unless he marries a specific girl, whom he befriends under a false name. Of course, it wouldn't be Dickens without several other sub-plots, but that's the main one. This movie version treats the story very well and we enjoyed it.

Nicholas Nickleby (Charles Dickens) - There are three versions of this that I know of and I've seen two. Acorn Media did one in 2002 and this is my favorite version by far. Of course, it's longer and has more time to develop the plot and characters which the shorter version (MGM 2002) with Anne Hathaway did not. The third version is still on our list of to see and it's A&E from 1983. I've heard good things about that one.

Middlemarch (George Eliot) - BBC 1994 Starring Juliet Aubrey. I loved the novel. In fact, I've loved almost every Eliot novel I've picked up. The story is somewhat slow moving, but the depth of characters and their plights is so moving and well done. The movie captured it very well, I think.

Bleak House (Charles Dickens) - BBC 2005 Starring Gillian Anderson. Love, love, love this version! I was hesitant to see how an alien-chasing Gillian Anderson would do in a major works by Dickens, but she was excellent! The plot was very well followed and the cinematography was eerily perfect! We also did enjoy the BBC 1985 version with Diana Rigg. It is worth watching both of them and comparing.