I’ve written about adaptations that may be more or less faithful to the books they’re based on or inspired by.
Just like there are adaptations that are retellings (10 Things I Hate About You), there are also books that are also retellings or “remixes” of other stories. (No, I’m not talking about fan fiction and the Twilight > Fifty Shades of Grey connection.)
The many, many, many versions of Cinderella are arguably the clearest example, from Disney to Julia Quinn’s An Offer from a Gentleman and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder and…Well, Cinderella’s story has become a romantic trope, after all.
But what about other stories?
There are plenty mythological ones retold: Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Ariadne and Elektra by Jennifer Saint, Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes, as well as many deities or figures appearing in other reimagined situations, like Sherrilyn McQueen’s Dark-Hunter Universe.
Then, there are more specific retellings, like the mashups Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters by Ben H. Winters. I’ll let you assume what novels they’re based on. I like both of these (the former more than the latter) and enjoy the movie adaptation of the first.
Yes, there are many retellings of Jane Austen’s texts (for good reason), and among the contemporary takes, Persuading Annie by Melissa Nathan is among my favorites.
And while I haven’t actually read the source material, Bridget Jones is among the most famous retellings (and it’s easy to see why).
Another retelling I love even if I haven’t actually read the novel either is the movie adaptation of Rosaline. It tells a slightly different version of Romeo & Juliet and is hilarious (Minnie Driver’s Nurse Janet is fantastic).
There are other retellings that are straight up parodies, like The Harvard Lampoon’s The Hunger Pains, but they’re not what this post is about.
There’s also These Violent Delights, a retelling of Romeo & Juliet, and Nutshell by Ian McEwan (a take on Hamlet), but I’ll be honest and say I’ve read neither (so far; I really want to).
And there are also famous characters popping up in very different stories than those where they originated. For example, a variety of Jane Austen characters appear in Lost in Austen (fine, TV series, not book); it’s always fun to come across them, especially when there’s a twist.
Do you have any favorite retellings?
