7. Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace
Another post-modern book, some fans would think it sacrilege for Wallaces singularly unique prose to be turned into a movie. After all, Wallace is revered as one of the modern greats. What makes Wallaces prose stand out is his biting satire and this is most at play with Infinite Jest. At over 1100 pages long, this sprawling ensemble novel about tennis, drugs, and advertising is simply too fractious and disconnected to be turned into a film. Part-parody, party-warning about the rise of material culture, Infinite Jests plot makes a half-hearted attempt to weave itself around the missing master copy of a missing master film so captivating it makes those who watch it lose interest in living out their lives. It is also a comedic portrayal of a unified North America where years are named after products as a national kind of brainwashing takes root. This rambling novel shines with inventiveness and subtle satire but is forbidding enough for a would-be reader to understand it. How would a director tackle such unpluckable fruit? So much would have to be omitted in the film version, particularly in a wide-ranging cull of the extensive cast (theres more characters in Infinite Jest than in War and Peace). But the temptation to do the impossible may prove too great with Infinite Jest. Even though the outcry from Wallaces legions of adorers would surely be heard across the world. With Wallaces suicide, however, its doubtful the film rights will ever come to light-although he wasnt against a movie adaptation in principal.