To Kill a Mockingbird, Pride and
Prejudice, Treasure Island, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Who
doesn’t love these tried-and-true stories? I certainly do!
I write fairy tale
retellings, so it’s no surprise that I go gaga over anything that resembles a
classic novel rewritten or a motion picture adaptation of a classic novel. (I LOVED
the Leonardo DiCaprio version of The
Great Gatsby. And wild horses couldn’t have dragged my eyes away from Gerard
Butler in The Phantom of the Opera.)
These actors are uber
hot. But what, I wonder, really makes
a book or a movie a classic? Is it the storyline? The characters? A resounding
social message?
Take Wuthering Heights. Timeless and
provocative, the story tells of a rich girl and a poor boy whose love extends
beyond the grave. Truth be told, Wuthering
Heights wasn’t received well when it debuted. Rather, it was bashed. Written
by Emily Brontë and published in 1847, the book was described as “strange…morose…depressing,
even immoral”. One critic went as far as calling the novel “that fiend of a
book”.
Granted, Wuthering Heights includes scenes of
mental and physical cruelty and vivid descriptions of class inequity, but my
guess is those shocking subjects are what made people sit up and take notice.
Now Emily Brontë’s work is considered sophisticated, intelligent, and haunting.
In a word: genius. But why wasn’t the book valued in its time?
Another similar but less
elegant example of something being scoffed at initially is the film sensation
“Halloween”. A horror movie written and directed by the controversial John
Carpenter, it premiered in theaters in 1978. The plot follows Michael Myers, a
serial killer who murders his sister, gets locked in an asylum, escapes, and
returns to his hometown to stalk teenage babysitters that, we assume, remind
him of his sister. At first, the film was panned by movie critics.
Subsequently, it bombed at the box office. That is, until John Carpenter added a
spine-tingling music score and Roger Ebert gave the film’s innovative camera
shots and vacant, motiveless killer an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Then the movie
took off. Eventually, it grossed over five-hundred and fifty million dollars and
spawned nine sequels.
“Halloween” is
considered an American horror classic and rightly so, but in my opinion its
nine sequels were silly. (Who came up with the title “Halloween H2O – 20 Years Later”?!)
The point is: the film’s sequels weren’t as good as the original. I suppose that’s
the challenge every author and director faces when he or she attempts a
rewrite, a sequel, or a remake of something that’s been previously acclaimed.
So what’s the magic
ingredient that turns a novel into a classic? Everyone has their own theory on
that subject and I’m happy to give you mine here. I believe all classics have
one thing in common: they were ahead of their time. Perhaps—through decades of change
and modernization—that’s what makes them stand the test of time.
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SNOW WHITE AND THE VAMPIRE
Which is stronger:
Fate or Desire?
Alba
Spencer thought her past in Romania and the dark magic that haunted it
was behind her forever. She is one of the first female barristers now,
safe in London. But London has its dark side, too. A man named the
Ripper stalks the midnight streets. There are rumors that her hated
stepmother has found her again, suggestions that the nightmares of her
childhood are returning. And with them appears the cursed Gypsy boy she
once loved, grown into a man more seductive and more terrifying than she
ever could have dreamed...
Dimitri Grigorescu
has become a surgeon, a gentleman - and a vampire. The lusts that drive
his body are scarcely under control, and even he does not truly know
what he is capable of. To fight evil and confusion, Alba must rely on
her wits - and a desire that overwhelms her doubts...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/snow-white-and-the-vampire-marina-myles/1116110221?ean=9781601831002
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