There’s really no such thing as an unadaptable book. With the release of Inherent Vice in theaters today, the work of Thomas Pynchon, one of literature’s most unique and seemingly "unfilmable" voices, will debut on the big screen in a star-studded production directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. If a writer like Pynchon can get the high-profile Hollywood treatment, there’s still hope for countless other “difficult” books out there. In the interest of broadening Hollywood’s development scope beyond superheroes and YA novels, here are 10 challenging books we'd love to see given the awards-season rollout. Because, c'mon, someone's gotta turn that Bolaño book into a movie, right?
WHITE NOISE BY DON DELILLO
Why’s it unadaptable? DeLillo’s breakout book follows a professor of Hitler studies as he lives a quiet, death-obsessed life with his wife and children in a college town, until a chemical spill creates an airborne toxic event that turns his life upside down. Obviously, “Hitler studies” doesn’t exactly scream boffo box office, and the novel’s heady concepts would be tough to bring to life.
Who could do it? Since David Cronenberg has already tackled DeLillo, it’d be fascinating to see Steve McQueen’s sharp, penetrating eye turned on DeLillo’s equally precise prose, especially if his frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender played the lead.
2666 BY ROBERTO BOLAÑO
Why’s it unadaptable? The epic final book from Bolaño was written while the Chilean writer was dying from liver disease and that sense of impending doom hangs over the whole project. The most famous section of the nearly 1,000-page novel is called "The Part About the Crimes" and it examines the murders of hundreds of women, presenting the crimes with a level of grisly detail that would make even the biggest True Detective fan queasy.
Who could do it? Years ago, Gael Garcia Bernal signed on to star in an adaptation of Bolaño's slightly more film-friendly The Savage Detectives, but the film never materialized. He’d make a great choice for 2666 too, particularly if he were teamed up with his Y Tu Mama Tambien director Alfonso Cuaron.
INVISIBLE MAN BY RALPH ELLISON
Why’s it unadaptable? Ellison’s 1952 masterpiece is a canonical piece of American fiction and was adapted for the stage last year, but it has yet to make it to the big screen. With its sprawling plot, digressive structure, and lengthy speeches, it wouldn’t exactly fit into Hollywood’s beloved three-act structure.
Who could do it? HBO would be a great home for something this ambitious and uncompromising. Put a rising young star at the center of it (perhaps John Boyega) and it could be sensational.
TO THE LIGHTHOUSE BY VIRGINIA WOOLF
Why’s it unadaptable? While Woolf’s work has made it to the screen before and Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for donning a fake nose to play the writer in The Hours, her arguably best book remains unadapted beyond a 1983 tele-film with Kenneth Branagh and Rosemary Harris. Like most of Woolf’s work, it’s primarily a book about perception, memory, and consciousness, topics that can be difficult to translate into the visual language of film.
Who could do it? Jane Campion has a knack for bringing an edge to literary material and she’d be a perfect fit for Woolf’s cerebral yet deeply melancholy prose. And there’d have to be a role for her Top of the Lake star Elisabeth Moss.
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