10 Books Worth Reading Even After You’ve Seen the Movie

A truly great story can move an audience to tears, fill them with laughter or make them examine their own lived experience from a new perspective. And so it’s no wonder that when a great story captures public attention, studios are often keen to reproduce it for the big screen. The results, however, can be mixed, with readers and moviegoers often debating which medium told the story best. Some adaptations don’t stay true to the original text; others fail to capture the magic of the written word. On the other hand, some movies take their source material to a whole new level, turning a feast for the imagination into one for the eyes, and winning hearts and minds along the way.

Movies can also bring new attention to a book that may have been forgotten or overlooked, and novels generally see renewed interest when pushed onto the screen and showcased on the red carpet—a win for authors and publishers. A great tale retold on screen may even prompt people who rarely pick up a book to give reading a go and shine a light on an author’s backlist. In other words, love them or loathe them, movie adaptations bring stories into the mainstream and spark debate around the written word, which can only be a good thing.

The following tales began as some of the best books across genres, which made it to the big screen with great success. Whether you read, watch or do both is entirely up to you.