Re: 25 Classic Books That Have Been Banned

On Tue, 03 Jun 2025 16:51:50 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:16:08 +1100, Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org>
wrote:

<snip-a-bit>

I rarely look at a film based on a book I have read, because I've been
disappointed too many times. I think I did see the film in this case,
but my main memory of it is "not as good as the book".

>
Catch-22 is one of the few books I've read the book and seen the
movie. Unlike *M*A*S*H* which came out around the same time, Catch-22
was a far better book than movie. In *M*A*S*H* my favorite line was
"Get that dirty old man out of my operating" "OK but if the
congressman's son gets an infection because you came in here you'll
never hear the end of it..." and of course the shower scene with the
brass band as the curtain was pulled down (which both the movie and TV
show did - the movie version was better)

I agree with you on /MASH/; for those who are curious, it is basically
a book of vignettes recounting various incidents in the author's
experience as an Army doctor in the Korean War. Since they are from
real life, they are understandably a /lot/ tamer than the same scenes
in the film.

This /form/ can work -- Michener's /Tales of the South Pacific/, for
example. But that is fiction, unbound by reality.

I rather liked the film /Catch-22/. It does lose a lot of the book (at
one point showing something entirely unintelligible in the film),  but
it managed to keep the weird plot structure, albeit simplified.

In general many great books have made horrible movies - I still can't
believe that in the last Lord of the Rings movie they actually shot
the Death of Saruman scene but left it on the cutting room floor while
spending a whole 1/2 hour on the Grey Havens (which I thought was a
minor appendage to the book).

The audience was very restive when that final final final bit started.
I thought they were going to rip the screen off the wall in hopes that
the film would finally end.

And it wasn't even the Last Ship -- that's what Sam took a long time
later. And they didn't show it moving along the Straight Path, but
following the curve of Arda Marred.

I'd love to see a Foundation flick but I have no idea how they'd film
Foundation and Empire effectively either the downfall of Bel Riose or
the flight across the galaxy and the climactic scene when the Darrells
realize their passenger was the Mule. And I'm pretty sure some of the
scenes in Second Foundation with Arkady Darrell and the Warlord of
Kalgan (who was basically a dirty old man) would have a tough time
getting rated particularly when he reveals he had lustful designs on
her which given she was 15 at the time was a huge no no especially
when it was written.

If you are thinking PG-13, it wouldn't appear. At all.

In /The Hunger Games/, before they are accustomed to each other, Cinna
circles a completely naked Katniss, closely inspecting her outer
surface to be sure his prep team has done it's job. That's a scene you
are never going to see in a PG-13 movie. Even if shot from above. No
matter what Cinna looks like.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"