The Books Briefing: Miss the Movies? Read the Books.

I miss the movie theater—but the books have filled my time. Streaming isn’t so bad, either.

​Every Friday in the Books Briefing, we thread together Atlantic stories on books that share similar ideas.

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What We’re Reading

FOCUS FEATURES

The Delicate and Demanding World of Emma

“Austen’s story chronicles Emma’s growth beyond silliness and selfishness, but it’s also a celebration of froth, anchored by a character whom the author thought ‘no one but myself will much like.’”

📚 Emma, by Jane Austen

🎥 Emma, starring Anya Taylor-Joy

ILLUSTRATION BY ARSH RAZIUDDIN; FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES; GETTY

The New David Copperfield Movie Might Be Better Than the Book

“Today the book reads unevenly and, in a strange way, un-Dickensianly. It billows, it sags, it contracts suddenly to a point of diamond hardness and then billows and sags again. … But if you can rise above your need for coherence and carefully graded shifts in tone, then David Copperfield becomes a kind of fun-house ride, jolting you about with an almost modernist brusqueness.”

📚 David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens

🎥The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel

BRENT N. CLARKE / INVISION / AP

Films That Speak to an Industry In Flux

“News of the World is a departure for [director Paul] Greengrass, who often prefers to take on true-story dramas. Based on the novel by Paulette Jiles, it follows a Civil War captain (Hanks) traveling through post-war Texas who is contracted to rescue a kidnapped young girl.”

📚 News of the World, by Paulette Jiles

🎥 News of the World, starring Tom Hanks

TIFF

Films About American Soul-Searching

“The film is a worthy exploration of the lost American dream, focusing on communities laid to waste by an economic crisis the country has already begun to forget. … In the classic American Western, endless possibility always lies ahead; Nomadland is a modest yet powerful portrayal of Fern’s determined effort to cling to the only thing she has left: her independence.”

📚 Nomadland, by Jessica Bruder

🎥 The New Old Age: Jessica Bruder at The Atlantic Festival

🎥 Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand

DC ENTERTAINMENT

Wonder Woman’s Kinky Feminist Roots

“In her hugely entertaining new book, Jill Lepore sets out to uncover the true story behind both Wonder Woman and her creator. Make that creators: not the least of Lepore’s revelations is that [creator William] Marston had a lot of help from his wife, Elizabeth Holloway (we have her to thank for “Suffering Sappho,” “Great Hera,” and other Amazonian expostulations), as well as from his former student Olive Byrne, with whom he and Holloway lived in a permanent ménage à trois that produced four children—two from each woman.”

📚 The Secret History of Wonder Woman, by Jill Lepore

🎥Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot

About us: This week’s newsletter is written by Mary Stachyra Lopez. The book she’s reading now is Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We’ve Left Behind, by Grace Olmstead.

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