With few exceptions, novels are better than their film adaptations. All too often the movies eclipse their novels success to the point where few people even know (or remember) the movies were in fact based on novels to begin with. Of course, sometimes the success of the movie inspires people to read their source material, and that's how we often get those horrible movie ties-in books. However, I am the type of person who will try to read the source novel before seeing the movie version, or in the event I have already seen the movie version, I will make an effort to read the book eventually. Yet, of the books I'm about to list here, I've only read two, but will now make an effort to read them all.
8. Jaws - Jaws By Peter Benchley
Peter Benchley's novel Jaws may have been a bestseller (it spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and sold over 20 million copies) after being published in 1974, but ask a random person today about "Jaws" I wouldn't doubt that they'd say they've seen the movie, but haven't read the book. In fact, I bet many wouldn't even know it had been a novel. When you think about Jaws, you think about it's iconic movie poster and the ominous two-note title theme, and Roy Scheider saying "You're gonna need a bigger boat." The movie, naturally, focuses more on the shark, while the novel contains several subplots that didn't make it to the big screen. While the movie certainly deserves credit for it's impact on popular culture and sparking an interest in sharks and oceanography, it never would have happened had it not been for the novel. The movie also certainly made people fearful of the ocean, in a way I guess the novel didn't but, perhaps the novel should be read while listening to the score of the film. Still, if you're a sucker for character development and thrive on the insight of the characters that the big screen just won't give, this is probably a novel you'll want to read, but perhaps not at the beach.