Community Corner

11 Books that Inspired the 2013 Oscar Films

Books are available to checkout at the Dexter District Library prior to the 85th Academy Awards on Sunday.

This year, 11 Academy Award nominees are based on books or book series. As much as five of the nine films listed in the Best Picture category are book adaptations.

The movie industry took a lot of inspiration from books this year, so before checking out all the Hollywood glitz and glamour, head over to the Dexter District Library and borrow one of these available books.

  • Life of Pi

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, was adapted to the big screen by Director Ang Lee. The movie was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Cinematography, Best Music (Original Score), and Best Music (Original Song).

Find out what's happening in Dexterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India. Planning a move to Canada, his father packs up the family and their menagerie and they hitch a ride on an enormous freighter. After a harrowing shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, trapped on a 26-foot lifeboat with a wounded zebra, a spotted hyena, a seasick orangutan, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parke.

  • Les Misérables

Nominated in six categories (Best Picture and Best Actress, among others), is based on the famous novel by Victor Hugo. The Romantic novel paints a picture of 19th century Paris, in all its gritty detail, at a time of revolution. Themes of moral redemption, politics, justice and human rights are vividly expressed as Hugo follows the lives of four unforgettable characters through the sordid streets of Paris.

Find out what's happening in Dexterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

This book inspired Steven Spielberg to direct the movie, Lincoln. This brilliant multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history.

  • Anna Karenina

Nominated for Best Costume Design and Production Design, Anna Karenina tells of the doomed love affair between the sensuous and rebellious Anna and the dashing officer, Count Vronsky. Tragedy unfolds as Anna rejects her passionless marriage and must endure the hypocrisies of society.

  • Argo

Argo, a film about a CIA agent who helps six Americans to escape from Iran in November 1979, was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

  • The Silver Linings Playbook

David O. Russell's adaptation of Matthew Quick's novel, is nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Pat Peoples, the endearing narrator of this touching and funny debut, is down on his luck. The former high school history teacher has just been released from a mental institution and placed in the care of his mother. Not one to be discouraged, Pat believes he has only been on the inside for a few months––rather than four years––and plans on reconciling with his estranged wife. Refusing to accept that their apart time is actually a permanent separation, Pat spends his days and nights feverishly trying to become the man she had always desired.

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Best Makeup)

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon. Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.

Check the availability of these books by visiting http://www.dexter.lib.mi.us/


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here