Page to Screen: The Company of Wolves (1984)

The Company of Wolves
based on the short story by Angela Carter

If I never hear the phrase “the book is always better!” again, it will be too soon. True, the book is often better (that’s why the author wrote a novel, not a screenplay), but sweeping generalizations make my teeth itch. It assumes that the book and the film can be directly compared against each other, instead of being two different expressions of the same story in two different mediums. I often enjoy one over the other, but still: apples and oranges. Case in point: Neil Jordan’s 1984 adaptation of Angela Carter’s eponymous short story, The Company of Wolves.

Review: The Bloody Chamber

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Angela Carter, we meet at last. I’ve been getting recommended Carter’s books for years now—during my trip to Ireland with my college, I actually bought a copy of The Night Circus because it was gorgeous and on sale. But I haven’t gotten around to it, because of my habit of holding onto books I own as a sort of stockpile against finding myself without access to a library at any point in my life. But given that my keen interest in the art of adaptation was fired up by my recent viewing of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, it was time to finally pick up The Bloody Chamber. Luckily, it was a library book, or I never would have gotten around to it.

The Sunday Salon: Chapters of Dublin

This will be my last post about my adventures in Ireland. Across from our hotel in Dublin was Chapters, a bookstore I had actually already heard about from those who had previously gone on the Ireland trip in glowing terms. While I didn’t have a chance to go during our first days in Dublin, I managed to hit it up—twice—during our final weekend in Dublin. And let me tell you, I could spend hours in there.

The Literary Horizon: The Bloody Chamber, Rose Daughter

Fairy tales are ripe for retellings, the publishing industry’s kinder, gentler way of referring to fanfiction of all stripes. I certainly read plenty of them, but I still have plenty on the old reading list.

The Literary Horizon: Nights at the Circus, Inventing the Victorians

Nothing quite says repression and outdated gender politics like the Victorians… or do they? On The Literary Horizon this week, we’re looking at two works involving the Victorian era–one set in it and one that sets out to dismantle our stereotypes about the Victorians.