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David Ulin and Carolyn Kellogg on literary adaptations Tue. 10 a.m.

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L.A. Times book critic David L. Ulin saw “Gatz” this weekend. He’s a longtime reader of F. Scott Fitzgerald (who isn’t?) and we’ll talk about what a play like “Gatz” means for literary adaptations. Join Ulin and me here Tue. at 10 a.m.

“Gatz” is the faithful-to-the-word stage adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” which has just opened in Los Angeles. But it’s hardly the only literary adaptation this season. There are a pile of films -- “Anna Karenina,” “Life of Pi,” “The Hobbit,” “On the Road” -- that all try to bring beloved classics to life.

What makes an adaptation work? How much does a reader’s connection to the work affect their pleasure or disappointment at seeing a novel adapted to another form? Should an adaptation stand apart from its original work -- and if the answer to that is yes, how far apart is too far? Is one kind of media better for an adaptation than another?

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Should we just ask HBO to make long-running serials out of every great novel and be done with it?

Join us here Tue. at 10am Pacific for a conversation about literary adaptations. We’ll be talking about some of the best -- and worst -- literary adaptations we’ve seen.

In the meantime, tweet what your favorite literary adaptations are and why to @latimesbooks. Or tell us about the literary adaptations you would prefer you hadn’t seen at all.

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Carolyn Kellogg: Join me on Twitter, Facebook and Google+

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