Ever Liked the Movie Better, O Fellow Bookworm?
- NadineTimes10
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Ever Liked the Movie Better, O Fellow Bookworm?
And, granted, I usually do prefer the book version of a story over the movie version, but there are times, I'll admit, when I happen to like the movie better.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult--the reading was going nice and fine for me, right up until the end, where I felt suddenly shortchanged. The ending of the 2009 movie wasn't the perfect fix, I don't think, but I still feel it was better than the novel's.
A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks--a sweet and heartwarming kind of read, but I felt the 2002 movie made Jamie and Landon truly memorable, particularly by making something "more" out of Jamie, without compromising the character of her character. Plus, the song "Only Hope" makes me teary.
The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott--the classic author's long-lost first novel, written in her teens, with a heroine so sweetly perfect that she became positively tiresome. The 1997 movie version made Edith character's real--still sweet, but real.
I'll not list any more at the moment, but how about you? Have you, even being the bookworm that you are, ever liked the movie version of a story better than the book version?
- bookowlie
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- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - I am not a big Nicholas Sparks fan, but I loved this movie so much that I read the book after seeing the movie. Even after reading the book, the movie still came out on top.
- The Client by John Grisham - I am a huge Tommy Lee Jones fan. The book was ok, but the story really came alive in the movie.
- NadineTimes10
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Ah! Nicholas Sparks again. Yes, I've watched The Notebook three or four times, and it pretty much gets me every time.bookowlie wrote:Good question! I always always prefer the book better. In fact, I think the movie version often spoils my vision of the characters. There are a few exceptions:
- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks - I am not a big Nicholas Sparks fan, but I loved this movie so much that I read the book after seeing the movie. Even after reading the book, the movie still came out on top.
- The Client by John Grisham - I am a huge Tommy Lee Jones fan. The book was ok, but the story really came alive in the movie.
- jadestar31
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I also add Fight Club, The Princess Bride, and The Fault in Our Stars to my "movies better than books" list. I liked the books, but I LOVED the movies. I think I had a problem connecting to the characters in those novels, but in the movies, the acting was so incredible that it drew me in and actually made me love the people.
It's definitely really rare for me to say that though.
- NadineTimes10
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Yes, sometimes where book characters may fall a little flat, actors bring them alive onscreen. (And sometimes the opposite happens--flat acting of a character who seemed more alive in the book, but I suppose that would be a different forum post. )jadestar31 wrote:I have to agree with The Notebook. I felt like the movie had this heart and warmth that the book didn't give me. I found the book almost forgettable, but that movie has stuck with me.
- Rachaelamb1
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- NadineTimes10
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Yeah, sometimes filmmakers aren't looking to "remake" a book's story for the screen so much as they're making a movie based on a book's original idea only. For the most part, I've learned to view books and movies as separate works, which they are, and so I can usually appreciate each work of art for what it is, but the times when a story's onscreen version strays far away from the book, I wish the filmmakers could at least give the film a different title instead of calling it by the book's name.yett23 wrote:I usually watch the movie version to see how much of it sticks to the book, and I often get disappointed.
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- NadineTimes10
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- Rabidwerewolfie
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Queen of the Damned movie on the other hand..... For the sake of the soundtrack (which I love) I just pretend it has NOTHING to do with the franchise and the similarities are nothing more than a huge, unfortunate coincidence.
- kimberlyrav
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- NadineTimes10
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What an awesome idea! I might have to steal that strategy.Rabidwerewolfie wrote:... For the sake of the soundtrack (which I love) I just pretend it has NOTHING to do with the franchise and the similarities are nothing more than a huge, unfortunate coincidence.
-- Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:13 am --
Yikes. I know the feeling. Seen a couple movies where the only similarities to the books were some of the characters' names, pretty much. Those are the times when I wish the movies could kindly find different titles by which to be referred.kimberlyrav wrote:I just finished reading a book called The Majorettes. Afterward I found out there is an old 80s movie of it. I watched it just last night and it was terrible. Hardly any of the good stuff was in the movie.
- crysraddon
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Though I don't like reading the book after seeing the movie if it is exactly the same. I feel like I can't create my own images of the story and characters I only picture what the movie showed me.