Focus | Sudeshna GhoshThe American comedian and master of wit Groucho Marx had once said, "I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book."An overview of the book scenario today presents the impression that its future lies heavily bestowed on the talented, and undoubtedly rich, shoulders of authors like Rowling, Archer or Jenkins.The predominating notion is that these very respected authors have begun a jihad of sorts to restore the sanctity of the written word.Is the situation as bleak as we are forced to believe Are the internet, video games and audio-visual media truly diminishing the importance and relevance of the book An insight into the Oscars this year would provide the answer: A vehement "No".The 80th Academy Awards was, no doubt, predictable as ever. Very few ambitious and out-of-the-box films were nominated and still fewer actually won an award.The major films this year formed a ballad of what presenter Joe Stewart called a "slate of Oscar-nominated psychopathic killer movies." The convention of the awards ruled supreme in true Hollywood fashion.At the end of the day, the Oscars still remained a coveted annual party that the richest and the most glamourous stars in the world love to go to.The unique feature of this year’s award ceremony was the fact that it revealed an increasingly deep relationship between books and films.Abraham Lincoln had once commented, "Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new after all." Indeed, a number of films at the Oscars had found inspiration in books.Works of writing have found their way into screen since the birth of cinema. See Dr Zhivago, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Pride and Prejudice, The Godfather, A Clockwork Orange, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Catch 22, Gone With the Wind, 1984, LA Confidential, even the more recent Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Brokeback Mountain. The list is endless.The major winners at this year’s Oscars like No Country for Old Men from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, There Will be Blood from Upton Sinclair’s Oil, Atonement from Ian McEwan’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name as well as regular thrillers like Bourne Ultimatum the last of Robert Ludlum’s Bourne trilogy fall under this category.What makes the Academy Awards stand out this year is the spectrum of book genres that found place in it. There were films adapted from short stories — 3:10 to Yuma written by Elmore Leonard, Away from Her from Alice Munro’s The Bear Came Over the Mountain and non-fiction works like Into the Wild John Krakuer’s best selling book.A refreshing nomination in the animation category was Persepolis, an adaptation of a French language autobiographical graphic novel by Marjene Satrapi, based on her experiences as a child in Iran.Apart from the last in the Bourne saga and keeping alive the Hollywood tradition of trilogies is The Golden Compass the first instalment in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. The awards also shone with Eastern Promises with screenplay by the noted writer Steven Knight.The other ‘book to screen’ journeys this year include Gone Baby Gone from Dennis Lohan’s novel, Katyn the Polish film from Andrzej Mularczyk’s book Post Mortem and Charlie Wilson’s War from Crile’s book Charlie Wilson’s War — The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History.But it is not just books that lit the Oscars with their inspiration. Movie magic was given a new dimension by the magic of music. I’m Not There — a collage of stories based on the lives of Bob Dylan-like characters — was a tribute to the musician and poet.A treat for any Beatles fan was the little known Across the Universe, a musical love story with over 30 songs from the Beatles Songbook and visual allusions to many famous movies of the yesteryear. The delightful but dark and controversial American Gangster owes its inspiration in the Jay-Z album by the same name.Again, the Russian film 12 is an adaptation of the Sidney Lumet film Twelve Angry Men and provides a vivid imagery of the social and political environment in the country.Everything said and done, it is the charm of the written word that has embossed its mark on celluloid this year. Is it just a coincidence or is the universality of books more permanentIn the words of the writer Andrew Ross, "The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."At least the Oscars this year cannot run away from his words. It is probably the right time for the world to say, "Books, Camera, Action!"