For my three favorite works of literature, I have chosen The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas, Dracula by Bram Stoker, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. These pieces are instantly recognizable to many due to their extensive use in film, television, and popular culture, yet I do not simply choose them because of that inherent familiarity to others. I proudly own all three, each resting at the top of my book shelf.
The story of Monte Cristo is in my mind the greatest tale of vengeance ever told, and though it has appeared in film and television a number of times, I feel that the actual source material warrents more justice. Many remember the most recent film adaptation starring Jim Caviezel, and though I think it was a decent movie, I have fonder memories of Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, an anime adaptation whose incredible visual style is matched by it attention to the novel's plot. What the story excells at, above the action and adventure, is creating a web of deception and drama, which audiences at large have yet to see realized on the big screen.
Recently there have been a rash of movies, TV shows, and books devoted to "vampires", to the point of the market being overrun. I write vampires in quotes because to my way of thinking, modern media has either only highlighted a romantic, fangless version that menaces no one, or transformed them into mindless, ravanous monsters that only vampire hunters with stave-firing machine guns stand a chance against. It's an affront. Dracula, as Bram Stoker wrote him, was able to combine the best aspects of the vampire, the mysterious nobleman with a demon within that terrorized the populace, into a villian that is synonomous with the children of the night. The 1992 adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola is a shining example of what the legend is made of, and a well thought out, well executed reimagining of the story could wash away years of irreverence.
Similar to Dracula's predicament, the story of Frankenstein has not received the level of attention that it is due; I might argue to a greater extent than the former, though I personally prefer Stoker's novel. The story of a scientist's mad pursuit of man-made life, tantamount to the power of a god, and the horror of motivation turned monstrous, is a tragedy that deserves exposure to the limelight once more.
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