Books in Movie Form

I touched briefly upon this in my last post about whether or not I see a movie first and then read a book, I tend to go with my first impression, and I started to think, is that always true? Have there been instances where I’ve read the book, saw the movie and then thought the movie did a better job or vice versa? So I did a mental rundown of all the various books-turned-into-movies, where I have read and seen the movie and tried to figure out which one I enjoyed more.

Generally speaking, I believe books are far superior to their movie counterpart. When I read a book, I begin to picture the characters in my head and their lives act out in my imagination and I become a part of the story. I find that if I see a movie first, when I read the book, I’m no longer visualizing the character myself, but picturing the actor who played that character, and using the scenes from the movie as my backdrop. But there have been times for me where the movie has done an excellent job capturing the soul of a book and stimulates my imagination further.

So here’s a fun list of books vs movies:

• The Devil Wears Prada
  I read this book in anticipation for the movie, and I thought the movie did a better job than the book. I’m a huge fan of fashion (although I’ve had my “what not to wear” moments) and seeing the many gorgeous outfits on Anne Hathway was a fashionista’s orgasmic dream. I seriously wanted every article of clothing that came on screen. The actual book itself was ok and had a darker tone than the movie. But to me, the movie was all about the clothes and that won in my eyes.

• The Da Vinci Code
  This booked kicked ass and the movie was eh. I read the book first and could not put it down. I admit, the book was a bit of a far stretch, not even about the whole Christ was married factor, but just the ridiculousness of some of the scenarios that occurred. I felt like every chapter had to top the next chapter in suspense, and that to me got old. Besides that, the book goes into so much more detail and offers such a compelling story, and the movie couldn’t encompass all that in the film. And I really couldn’t picture Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon. He just didn’t fit the part to me.

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
  Ok, so I’ve only ever read 1.5 books out of this trilogy. I’m halfway through The Two Towers, and I just can’t finish it. Every time I try, I have to start from the beginning again because I can’t remember what happened, and then I get discouraged at the thought of having to start when I’m already 300 or so pages in so I just leave the book on the shelf and think, perhaps another time. For those of you who know me in real life, know my absolute love all The Lord of the Rings movies. I own the extended version for all three and am always trying to sucker people to watch the movies with me. The entire series is visual stunning and did a far better job of creating Middle Earth than I could. Peter Jackson did such a kick ass job with this and deserves his Oscar and I hope he brings The Hobbit (I read that one) to film.

• The Harry Potters
  Of course I love the books more than the movies, but I think the movies are just as good. I’m in the midst of reading the first book again, and came upon the scene where Snape confronts Quirrell and I realized that I always associated this scene with how the movie portrays it. In the movie, Harry catches them while he’s under his invisibility cloak in the hallway of the school, but in the book, Harry is putting away his broom and notices Snape sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest and follows him on his broom. That to me just proves how much of an impact the movies have.
  

• The Godfather
  I can’t remember if I’ve read the book first or saw the movie. Both the book and the movie are my all-time favorites. Mario Puzo knows how to tell a gripping story and he wrote the screenplay so the movie is very close to the book. Both the movie and book are just elegantly done. I can watch the movie and read the book over and over again. The movie is a classic and all other mafia movies pale in comparison.

I could go on and on, but those are the movies vs books that really stick out in my mind. If I think of more, I’ll continue to add to this list.