Books that don't translate well into movies

[Stuart Matthew Davis]

I just wrote about a book that doesn't translate well into movies on my blog.  I was wondering if you guys can suggest more books that the movie gods have tried to make into a movie, but you feel they failed because the book was too difficult to translate into film.

[Brian Hoffman]

The king of this sort of thing is The Bonfire of the Vanities.  Also, various versions of The Great Gatsby.

[I. J. Parker]

Generally the movie (or TV program) foreshortens the action because of time limitation.  Weird things happen to a novel when you do that.  Just watched THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP on PBS.  In the show, the grandfather becomes a disgusting scoundrel instead of a weak old man with a gambling problem.  I used to like the novel quite well.  It was tragic, but the grandfather had a chance to redeem himself somewhat. 

[Brian Hoffman]

While we (me) are blasting movies, I feel an obligation to mention two movies that translated very well into film.

The Godfather I and  II.  The Bladerunner which I believe to be the best SciFi movie ever.