I just picked up Edna Ferber's Show Boat at the library. I've read it before but it's been quite a while so I thought I'd read it again. It was later made into a musical and I'm a big fan of both the movie versions that were made from it. They've both recently been on TV and I have them DVR'ed and I kept thinking I wanted to re-read the book.

FTR, Edna Ferber wrote mostly about America in the late 19th century to the 1920's. She was sort of a proto-feminist in that most of her female characters start out as kind of clueless ninnies but end up showing great strength of character. If you like stories about strong women, you'd probably enjoy her books. And her books make great movies too!

I wish I could get into vampire fiction, but it's never interested me. I preferred Frankenstein to Dracula.

You know Guillermo Del Toro the director of Pan's Labyrinth and other great movies has a new book out about vampires. The reviews on this book are really good. I've already ordered mine.

Frankenstein is cool too!

Oh I meant to comment on Frankenstein. I was just so excited about the new vampire trilogy. Yes I do love the novel. But when I First read it it was nothing like I thought it would be. It is very sad as well as frightening. The doctor cries alomost all through the story. I also love the story of how Mary Shelley came to write the novel.Dracula remains one of my favorites of all time. Now there's a vampire novel!

And you know Mary Shelley was only 19 years old when she wrote Frankenstein.

The scariest version I ever saw of it was the Mr. Magoo cartoon version. Believe it or not.

I have a question for everyone. When you read a book, do you ever picture in your mind who should play what character if they ever turn it into a movie?

I really don't read books thesedays, I keep meaning to get back into it but there is so much media stuff now, I just never seem to! I don't think when I did read books I used to imagine who would play the part.Some of the books I read was actually after I had seen the film or TV adaptation, so I used the actor's face as a guide.I think mostly though, I just imagined what the person/people were like.
It's sad in a way that I don't read thesedays, it was an escape if it was a truly good book, from being a child (Enid Blyton...Famous Five) to doing my exams where we had studied Thomas Hardy, yet in the exam I knew more about "Catcher in the Rye" than I did "The Mayor of Casterbridge "... because I had chosen to read it. (BTW I didn't have the nerve to answer the questions for Catcher in the Rye)

I'm quite intersested in reading some Martina Cole though, it's tough East End London stuff, & I saw her interviewed on TV the other day...& she is sooooo down to earth, & even wonders herself where the violent part of the books come from within her! She is like a cockney Linda La Plante (if anyone has read her books) -SO unassuming & funny

Of all the books I have read though, I did read a series many years ago by Judith Saxon ..The Pride, The Glory , The Splendour & Full Circle & the only person I could think of playing the main strong woman in each book was my mum (& I would have been a pain in the ass 19 year old!)

Actually when I read I form in my own mind what the character looks like. that's why I was so freaking MAD when that non actor pip squeak Tom Cruise was cast as Lestat ! PLEASE! The words in the book remain the same so it didn't ruin the series for me. But STILL.

I read No country for Old Men way before the movie so I was very confused when I read The Coens cast Javier Bardem as Chigurgh . I thought they were way off on that one. Turns out it was brilliant.
I think the casting for True Blood is very good though. Tara and Sam are almost perfect. I never would have thought of Anna Paquin as Sookie but she is quite good.

I can usually visualize in my mind what I think the characters look like, but I don't try to see what actors would play the role.

I like the casting for True Blood too, Bill was cast perfectly, I think.

I thought Tom Cruise did a fairly good job as Lestat. It was funny because before it even came out, all the talk was about how good Brad Pitt was and I thought he was terrible in the movie. Actually, Kirsten Dunst probably did the best work out of the three of them.

You know, sometimes casting someone who doesn't exactly match the description of the character in the book can work fine. Have any of you read the book or seen the movie "The Postman Always Rings Twice" which has been made twice? It's about a drifter who meets a woman in a cafe and has sex with her. She convinces him to kill her husband who is the owner of the cafe and run away with her. In the book, she is described as being Mexican with dark hair while her husband is Greek. But in the 1942 version of the movie she's played by Lana Turner and it's considered an iconic role for her. Even though she doesn't look anything like Cora in the book, the whole idea of her being this golden goddess who a young drifter might find so alluring he'd do anything for her, really ends up working quite well.

Tom Cruise SUCKED as Lestat. A) He cannot act.
B) Physically he is all wrong. As bad as he sucked Brad as Louis was even worse.

I just imagined Sookie as taller and very sexy. I can't think of anyone right off as to way I imagined her. I don't know who I would have put in the role.
To me Bill and Eric, Sam are perfect. I don't know the actor that plays Sam but he fits it percfectly. Eric I imagined as a hunk and boy they got him right.

I always thought Tom's best work is when he is paired with a more experienced star a la Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson.

Speaking of miscasting, for years I've thought that Leslie Howard was the weak link in Gone with the Wind because he was too old to play Ashley Wilkes by then. I recently read that he thought he was miscast too but figured as long as they were willing to pay him, who was he to complain? That was the studio contract system for you.

I'm reading "John Adams," the book on which the fabulous HBO miniseries was based.

It might be the best biography I've ever read. Love it!

Next, I'm going to see if I can find a good one on Jefferson. He was actually a piece of work! lol