The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Poster of the 2007 movie and cover of the 1997 book
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The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jean-Dominique Bauby, 1997
movie vs book
Julian Schnabel, Laura Obiols, 2007

The first third of the film is told from the main character’s, Jean-Dominique Bauby, or Jean-Do as his friends call him, first person perspective. Bauby cannot speak, but he develops a system of communication with his speech and language therapist by blinking his left eye as she reads a list of letters to laboriously spell out his messages, letter by letter.


Bitter Moon. Poster of the 1992 movie and cover of the 1981 book, Evil Angels
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Evil Angels
Pascal Bruckner, 1981
movie vs book
Roman Polanski, 1992

British couple Nigel and Fiona Dobson are on a Mediterranean cruise ship to Istanbul en route to India. They encounter a beautiful French woman, Mimi, and that night Nigel meets her while dancing alone in the ship’s bar. Later Nigel meets her much older and disabled American husband Oscar, who is acerbic and cynical, having been jaded and a failure as a writer.


An Officer and a Spy. Poster of the 2019 movie and cover of the 2013 book
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An Officer and a Spy
Robert Harris, 2013
movie vs book
Roman Polanski, 2019

In 1894, French Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young promising officer, is degraded for spying for Germany, wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment at Devil’s Island. Among the witnesses to his humiliation is Georges Picquart, who is promoted to run the military counter-intelligence unit that tracked him down.


The Siege of Jadotville. Poster of the 2016 movie and cover of the 2005 book, Siege at Jadotville
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Siege at Jadotville
Declan Power, 2005
movie vs book
Richie Smyth, 2016

As the mineral rich State of Katanga secedes under the leadership of Moise Tshombe, United Nations Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld assigns Conor Cruise O’Brien to head up a UN peacekeeping mission. Privately, Hammarskjöld tells O’Brien that the Katanga crisis could potentially trigger World War III and orders the Irish diplomat to take offensive action.


The Ninth Gate. Poster of the 1999 movie and cover of the 1993 book, The Club Dumas
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The Club Dumas
Arturo Pérez-Reverte, 1993
movie vs book
Roman Polanski, 1999

Dean Corso is a New York City rare book dealer who is hired by wealthy collector Boris Balkan. Torchia is alleged to have written the book in collaboration with the Devil, and only three copies survived when he and his works were burned for heresy. Corso retrieves the book and travels to Toledo, Spain, to speak to the Ceniza Brothers, book restorers who owned Balkan’s copy before the Telfers.