A Home at the End of the World

This novel was decent. I prefer a focus on a smaller time period, but it held my attention. The movie seemed wooden somehow. I never really felt for any of the characters. Clare's horrific bangs distracted me the entire time. I didn't quite believe Bobby as the moldable, brainless character he seemed to be in the book. We never felt Clare's pain in settling for Bobby when she can't have Jonathan. Erich is completely missing from the movie??? Sissy Spacek was decent as Alice, but the mutual dislike with Clare is never touched on. When Alice asks someone to hold her, the movie switches this someone to Bobby. That ruins the whole point of that scene. Alice says in the book that she wants Clare to hold her because she "doesn't want the boys to see her this way." While the movie does capture some of the emotion of the book, overall I would call it a flop. (apparently the box office did too)

Dangerous Liaisions

This book was a bit long, and I would say too repetitive. The main characters are indeed shocking, but I think that was the point. For modern times, I found myself thinking "well, I guess they could be worse." I know this book was banned in many countries when it was first published in the late 1700s.

The movie with Glenn Close and John Malkovich (1988) was a pretty faithful retelling of the book. I think some of the nuances were lost, since the characters needed to interact to make a decent film. In the novel, all is told through a series of letters. I did not find the movie particularly powerful or interesting. Malkovich does a good job with the creepy factor. But I found it less than believable that he was the suave, sexy, handsome Valmont of the book. I liked Michelle Pfeiffer, I would say she saved the film for me. Overall, kind of a snore.