Nicholls’ touch of magic

It is an old cliché that films of books must be inferior to the books themselves. It is not always true. For instance, read Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and see whether you disagree (the writing is pedestrian and the plotting is incoherent, which is why the movie has a different storyline). Then of course there is David Nicholls’ first novel, Starter For Ten, which was fun but nothing like as good as the film adaptation (in no small part thanks to James McAvoy). The adaptation of David Nicholls’ One Day, a coming-of-age novel about love and fulfilment, hits our cinema screens this autumn.

But clichés are not clichés for nothing. Unlike Starter For Ten, which began life as a screenplay, One Day does not feel as cinematic. Much of the funniest or most poignant narrative is thought, rather than spoken. Voice-overs are an obvious option but it would be a crime against literature if One Day began to sound like Bridget Jones’ Diary.