The majority of scholarly treatments for film adaptation are put forth by experts on film and film analysis, thus with the focus being on film. Analyzing Literature-to-Film Adaptations looks at film adaptation from a fresh perspective, that of writer or creator of literary fiction. In her book, Snyder explores both literature and film as separate entities, detailing the analytical process of interpreting novels and short stories, as well as films. She then introduces a means to analyzing literature-to-film adaptations, drawing from the concept of intertextual comparison. Snyder writes not only from the perspective of a fiction writer but also as an instructor of writing, literature, and film adaptation. She employs the use of specific film adaptations (Frankenstein, Children of Men, Away from Her) to show the analytical process put into practice. Her approach to film adaptation is designed for students just beginning their academic journey but also for those students well on their way. The book also is written for high school and college instructors who teach film adaptations in the classroom.

"This is a wise and wonderful book, which among other things provides a novelist's eloquent insider's perspective on the transformation of one of her books into a film. Thirty years ago Stanley Cavell published The World Viewed: Reflections on the Ontology of Film, which opened up an intellectual highway between philosophy and cinema. Now at long last Mary Snyder's book accomplishes a parallel clearing of the way between film making, the art of the novel, and literary and critical theory Every page is bubbling with creative, theoretical, and pedagogical insights. Her intertextual readings of a score of literature-to-film adaptations are priceless in themselves. I only wish that the title of the book had been taken from her chapter, `The Fascination Never Ends'." Michael Payne, Professor of English Emeritus, Bucknell University Critical questions specific to film adaptations need to be not only developed but established. These questions, or approaches, must be accessible to students, including those students who are not yet educationally sophisticated enough to digest purely theoretical material. Analyzing Literature-to-Film Adaptations: A Novelist's Exploration and Guide demonstrates an exploration into film adaptation from a novelist's perspective, comprising a study of literary creation as well as the process/product of adaptation and moving into the author's collaboration with a screenwriter, which ultimately becomes a journey to understand and identify the implications of literature-to-film adaptation and the complexities and problems it raises. Drawing from both classic and contemporary film adaptations (Frankenstein, The Hours, The Constant Gardener, Children of Men, The Lovely Bones, Away from Her), the book puts forth an understanding of film and film analysis, as well as addresses literary analysis. The crux of the book, however, lies in its introduction to an academic means for critical analysis of film adaptations.

Novels into film offers a unique look at how a story makes its way from the printed page to the screen.

Books to Film will cover literary adaptations in four main categories: Classic Literature; Contemporary bestsellers and popular fiction; nonfiction, encompassing biography, true crime, history, and memoirs; and childrenâ??s and young adult literature. Sidebars will highlight people, such as authors, film directors, screenwriters, actors, producers, who are particularly identified with adaptation or a particular work.

In 1995 and 1996 six film or television adaptations of Jane Austen's novels were produced -- an unprecedented number. More amazing, all were critical and/or box office successes. What accounts for this explosion of interest? Much of the appeal of these films lies in our nostalgic desire at the end of the millennium for an age of greater politeness and sexual reticence. Austen's ridicule of deceit and pretentiousness also appeals to our fin de siècle sensibilities. The novels were changed, however, to enhance their appeal to a wide popular audience, and the revisions reveal much about our own culture and its values. These recent productions espouse explicitly twentieth-century feminist notions and reshape the Austenian hero to make him conform to modern expectations. Linda Troost and Sayre Greenfield present fourteen essays examining the phenomenon of Jane Austen as cultural icon, providing thoughtful and sympathetic insights on the films through a variety of critical approaches. The contributors debate whether these productions enhance or undercut the subtle feminism that Austen promoted in her novels. From Persuasion to Pride and Prejudice, from the three Emmas (including Clueless ) to Sense and Sensibility, these films succeed because they flatter our intelligence and education. And they have as much to tell us about ourselves as they do about the world of Jane Austen. This second edition includes a new chapter on the recent film version of Mansfield Park.

Explores the impulse to transform literary narrative into cinematic discourse through the work of several postwar Italian film-makers - Visconti, De Sica, Pasolini, Fellini and the Taviani brothers.