Book to Movie --- The Last Station

I was searching the web for a list of James McAvoy movies...I'm a huge fan, and came upon a trailer for a new movie he is in, The Last Station.  The Last Station is a movie tie-in of the book, The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Final Year by Jay Parini.  The book, and movie look really interesting, plus James McAvoy is in it. 

The Last Station Trailer

The Book

 From the Publisher



A New York Times Notable Book

As Leo Tolstoy’s life draws to a tumultuous close, his tempestuous wife and most cunning disciple are locked in a whirlwind battle for the great man’s soul. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and chastity and the reality of his enormous wealth and thirteen children, Tolstoy dramatically flees his home, only to fall ill at a tiny nearby rail station. The famous (and famously troubled) writer believes he is dying alone, unaware that over a hundred newspapermen camp outside awaiting hourly reports on his condition.

Jay Parini moves deftly between a colorful cast of characters to create a stunning portrait of one of the world’s most treasured authors. Dancing between fact and fiction, The Last Station is a brilliant and moving literary performance.

Books to Movies

There's a couple of books to movies coming out soon, and since I'm one that must read the book before watching the movie, I assume others are the same.

I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell- Tucker Max
Movie Trailer Coming out 9/25

Shutter Island- Dennis Lehane
Movie Trailer Coming out 10/2

The Road- Cormac McCarthy
Movie Trailer Coming out 10/16

Where The Wild Things Are - Maurice Sendak
Movie Trailer Coming out 10/16

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant- Darren Shan
Movie Trailer Coming out 10/23

Whip It (adaption of Derby Girl by Shauna Cross)
Movie Trailer Coming out 10/9

Precious (based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)
Movie Trailer Coming out 11/06

New Moon- Stephanie Meyer
Movie Trailer Coming out 11/20

The Blind Side- Michael Lewis
Movie Trailer Coming out 11/20

The Lovely Bones- Alice Sebold
Movie Trailer Coming out 12/11


I'm looking forward to Shutter Island, not only did I love the book, but Leonardo Dicaprio is in it.
The Blind Side looks good also, one that my husband would go and watch with me.

Which one looks good to you?

From Book to Movie

Revolutionary Road- Richard Yates

The rediscovery and rejuvenation of Richard Yates's 1961 novel Revolutionary Road is due in large part to its continuing emotional and moral resonance for an early 21st-century readership. April and Frank Wheeler are a young, ostensibly thriving couple living with their two children in a prosperous Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. However, like the characters in John Updike's similarly themed Couples, the self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.



I thought the movie stayed true to the book. Some things were weeded out of the book in the movie, but not major plot points. I still get the sense of discontentment in both Frank and April Wheeler mainly due to the actors portraying them, Leonardo Decaprio, and Kate Winslet did a great job. Revolutionary Road is one of my favorite books, so naturally I expected the worse, surely no actor could portray the emotions of Frank and April, the feeling of suffocation in the very world they created, but indeed I felt it while watching the movie. If you loved the book, you'll love the movie.