Read the book see the movie: American Lit

Explore iconic American literature adapted into films with 'Read the Book, See the Movie: American Lit.' Discover must-read books and their movie counterparts in this curated list of classic and modern adaptations.

Gone with the Wind Cover
Book

Gone with the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

The classic civil war romanctic tale of Scarlet O'Hara and Rhett Butler and the Civil War conflict.
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The Great Gatsby Cover
Book

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A mysterious American millionaire tries to recapture the sweetheart of his youth, which results in tragedy.
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ID: B0000AUHQT
(Type: books)
The War of the Worlds Cover
Book

The War of the Worlds

by H. G. Wells

The Night After A Shooting Star Is Seen Streaking Through The Sky From Mars, A Cylinder Is Discovered On Horsell Common In London. At First, NaĂŻve Locals Approach The Cylinder Armed Just With A White Flag Only To Be Quickly Killed By An All-Destroying Heat-Ray, As Terrifying Tentacled Invaders Emerge. Soon The Whole Of Human Civilisation Is Under Threat, As Powerful Martians Build Gigantic Killing Machines, Destroy All In Their Path With Black Gas And Burning Rays, And Feast On The Warm Blood Of Trapped, Still-Living Human Prey. The Forces Of The Earth, However, May Prove Harder To Beat Than They At First Appear.
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ID: B0009A3ZZI
(Type: books)
The Grapes of Wrath Cover
Book

The Grapes of Wrath

by John Steinbeck

The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized—and sometimes outraged—millions of readers. One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years First published in 1939, Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one man’s fierce reaction to injustice, and of one woman’s stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbeck’s powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics. This Centennial edition, specially designed to commemorate one hundred years of Steinbeck, features french flaps and deckle-edged pages. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
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ID: B0000DJZ8R
(Type: books)
The Color Purple Cover
Book

The Color Purple

by Alice Walker

Set in the period between the world wars, this novel tells of two sisters, their trials, and their survival.
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ID: 0790729717
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The House of Mirth Cover
Book

The House of Mirth

by Edith Wharton

A portrait of American manners and morals at the turn of the century offers the saga of Lily Bart, a beautiful heroine who lacks one important requirement for marrying well in New York society, her own money. Reissue.
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ID: B00003CXSA
(Type: books)
The Age of Innocence Cover
Book

The Age of Innocence

by Edith Wharton

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time Newland Archer saw little to envy in the marriages of his friends, yet he prided himself that in May Welland he had found the companion of his needs--tender and impressionable, with equal purity of mind and manners. The engagement was announced discreetly, but all of New York society was soon privy to this most perfect match, a union of families and circumstances cemented by affection. Enter Countess Olenska, a woman of quick wit sharpened by experience, not afraid to flout convention and determined to find freedom in divorce. Against his judgment, Newland is drawn to the socially ostracized Ellen Olenska, who opens his eyes and has the power to make him feel. He knows that in sweet-tempered May, he can expect stability and the steadying comfort of duty. But what new worlds could he discover with Ellen? Written with elegance and wry precision, Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece is a tragic love story and a powerful homily about the perils of a perfect marriage. Commentary by William Lyon Phelps and E. M. Forster
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ID: B00003CX8S
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ID: 630470755X
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ID: B00009RXKB
(Type: books)
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ID: 0140432620
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The Turn of the Screw Cover
Book

The Turn of the Screw

by Henry James

Widely recognized as one of literature's most gripping ghost stories, this classic tale of moral degradation concerns the sinister transformation of two innocent children into flagrant liars and hypocrites. The story begins when a governess arrives at an English country estate to look after Miles, aged ten, and Flora, eight. At first, everything appears normal but then events gradually begin to weave a spell of psychological terror. One night a ghost appears before the governess. It is the dead lover of Miss Jessel, the former governess. Later, the ghost of Miss Jessel herself appears before the governess and the little girl. Moreover, both the governess and the housekeeper suspect that the two spirits have appeared to the boy in private. The children, however, adamantly refuse to acknowledge the presence of the two spirits, in spite of indications that there is some sort of evil communication going on between the children and the ghosts. Without resorting to clattering chains, demonic noises, and other melodramatic techniques, this elegantly told tale succeeds in creating an atmosphere of tingling suspense and unspoken horror matched by few other books in the genre. Known for his probing psychological novels dealing with the upper classes, James in this story tried his hand at the occult — and created a masterpiece of the supernatural that has frightened and delighted readers for nearly a century.
The Portrait of a Lady Cover
Book

The Portrait of a Lady

by Henry James

When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword and that there is a price to be paid for independence. With its subtle delineation of American characters in a European setting, Portrait of a Lady is one of the most accomplished and popular of Henry James's early novels.
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ID: B0001WTUJO
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ID: 0451528719
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ID: B000065V3V
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ID: 0140432353
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ID: B00005OBAL
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