14. The Secret History
The Book: Donna Tartt’s bestselling debut novel infiltrates a close-knit group of friends at an elite Vermont college, bound together by privilege, a love of Classics and the eventual murder of one of their number.
A cracking mystery, with more than a hint of Greek Tragedy about it, brought to life by a cast of glamorous, narcissistic young characters.
The Movie: A college-set murder mystery with brains, there are obvious comparisons to be drawn with Bret Easton Ellis’s The Rules Of Attraction (indeed the two authors frequently reference each other’s work), and as with that film, a cast of fresh-faced but credible actors would be required.
Andrew Garfield would be our first choice for narrator Richard Papen with Nicholas Hoult co-starring as bon viveur-in-training Bunny Corcoran.
Sample Dialogue: “Bunny had an uncanny ability to ferret out topics of conversation that made his listener uneasy and to dwell upon them with ferocity once he had.
In all the months I’d known him he’d never ceased to tease me, for instance, about that jacket I’d worn to lunch with him that first day, and about what he saw as my flimsy and tasteless Californian style of dress.
To an impartial eye, my clothes were in fact not at all dissimilar from his own but his snide remarks upon the subject were so inexhaustible and tireless, I think, because in spite of my good-natured laughter he must have been dimly aware that he was touching a nerve.”
Anyone of you has read "The Secret History"? Do you think Andrew is the perfect choice to play the lead role? ;-D
