Novel approach ... the book and screen versions of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Photograph: Kobal
In the past when confronted with stories such as the one in today's Guardian on the top 50 film adaptations of books as chosen by a "panel of experts", I've wondered who exactly these experts are. This time, I was one of them.
Invited along in my books-y capacity (films, to be honest, aren't really my strong suit) the whole experience was a fascinating one for a virgin panelist. The judging began very cordially, but the combined sugar and caffeine rush produced by a surfeit of coffee and biscuits caused the morning to descend into a sort of polite bar-room brawl.
Particularly interesting was the extent to which people's opinions differed: titles which I'd assumed would be absolute shoo-ins - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, for example - were hotly contested, and only just made the cut. In the end, the only adaptation to receive unanimous backing was To Kill A Mockingbird.
Of course, lists like these only come alive when they're released into the public domain and people are given the chance to violently disagree with them. So what do you all reckon? Any omissions that particularly glare?
