From page to film...

For those of us who are both readers and movie lovers, there is often debate as to which format is better: book or movie and which of the two should be first if both are available. I have differing opinions based on the story in question. I would love to see some books I have read made into films. For other topics, sometimes I would rather see the film and skip the book. For me this is especially true of novels, simply because I don’t read that much fiction. I recently saw the Lovely Bones which was (I am told) fairly representative of Alice Sebold’s novel. The movie was well done; far too sad, but thought provoking and deep. I could have done without the fantasy depictions of the ‘in-between’ and I think I probably would have been impatient when reading those sections in the book. I would want to get back to the reality of solving the crime.

Another recent film, Shutter Island, was based on the book by Dennis Lehane. In this case I read the novel first and it was a riveting, suspenseful page turner. The movie was also suspenseful, but since I knew the conclusion beforehand, it was not as mysterious as it could have been to someone unaware of the story. It followed the book’s action very closely. However, when you read the book first, you have a chance to imagine how the setting and characters will appear. I pictured Shutter Island as a more rocky, barren piece of land and anticipated the hospital being more massive, like some abandoned state asylum. Viewing what another envisioned means you have to adjust the mental image developed while reading the novel. Both the book and the film Shutter Island were entertaining with a well-developed plot. Page or film first is really a matter of personal preference.

It’s always disappointing when you loved the book and the movie is not true to the novel’s events. I felt this way with Confessions of a Shopaholic. I loved the books (I would recommend Sophie Kinsella’s books for funny, girly fiction), but hated that the movie followed the story only in principle. On the other end of the spectrum, Bridget Jones’s Diary was a hilariously funny movie which could only have been better if Bridget’s daily tally of cigarettes, alcohol units, and weigh-in figures were included as in the book.  Any comments on your favorites?

Some recent novels to movies:
Dan Brown – Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code

Stephenie Meyer – Twilight Series (you must have some opinions on these books to movies)
Harry Potter
Jodi Piccoult - My sister’s keeper (Another fiction writer I really enjoy reading. I certainly hope more of her books are made into films.)
Ian McEwan – Atonement
Richard Matheson – I am legend
Stephen King – The Mist (from a short novella; great film)
Khaled Hosseini – The kite runner (I hope to see A thousand splendid suns in movie format.)


For a list of movies made from books see http://movie-o.com/books/movie-books.php