Jamie Lee Curtis

[#1]

The screen star on three books best left on the page.

When we asked the movie star -- and author of nine children's books including, most recently, My Mommy Hung the Moon -- to share some favorite reading, she chose three novels whose film adaptations she thinks just don't measure up to the original books. Forget the DVDs, read them now!

Books by Jamie Lee Curtis

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King Rat

By James Clavell

"I was thirteen on the island of Sardinia with my father. I picked up this book off the shelf in the rent-a-house and it saved me. A great story. I give it often."

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The Prince of Tides

By Pat Conroy

"Such a dysfunctional family. Great to compare with your own."

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The English Patient

By Michael Ondaatje

"Such a stunning world of driving narrative and poetry and imagery."

[#2]

Interesting book selection by Ms. Curtis regarding those best left off the big screen.  I think it's been 20 years since I read "the Price of Tides" and I passed on the movie knowing that it could not possibly be as good as the book.  It is on my all time "Top 10" list.   

With regard to "King Rat", I pulled it out of my late mother's library the other day.  At 54, I still cannot believe that I have never read it.  I am familiar with the film, but never saw it either, so I'm anxious to get into the novel.   My mother was an excellent reference for great books.  I would never have enjoyed "Centennial", "The Thorn Birds", "The Winds of War" or "Lonesome Dove" long before they came to television, had my mother not recommended reading them first. 

RancherNM