Book first or movie first?

[Theresa Moffitt]

I always try to read the book first if I can, but it’s not always possible. I enjoy reading more and seeing the movie first takes away from my enjoyment of the book more than reading the book first takes away from the movie.

[Zimall]

I would love to read the book first and then watch the movie. It is always interesting when you see the characters out of the book in physical form.

[Sahar Majid]

Book first. I absolutely love seeing how they followed the book, or how they decide to change it up when it comes to portraying things visually. Not only that, when reading I get an insight into the character and that's really difficult to do when watching them and so just having that extra insight makes for a fuller experience.

[GretchenLee]

Personally, I like to read the book first just to see the comparison. I would rather know how the movie ends, rather than know how the book ends ahead of time, if that makes sense. However, sometimes I happen to see a movie that I wasn't aware was based off of a book until later. In that case, I like to find the book and read it. One of my favorite things to do is compare books to their adaptations.

[therock986]

I would always read the book first and then watch the film. I did this with the Twilight Saga and couldn’t wait to watch the movies after reading the books. Yes it is always different to what you imagine but I love to see the tale again with a different interpretation to how I understand it. Especially good when the actors fit the characters and play them so well.

[nomadmadi]

I always try to read the book first, but if I don't get the chance to do it, I simply go ahead and watch the movie... Time is limited after all!

[AMRMullins]

The answer to this question is hit-or-miss with me. For example, I'm glad I saw Fight Club before I read it, because the screen interpretation did a far better job of keeping you in the dark about the Narrator than the treatment in the book. I'm glad I saw The Exorcist on film first, because it was far scarier than the book, and had a more satisfying conclusion. I've had very gratifying experiences from seeing something onscreen that moved me, then digging into the related book(s) because I want MORE.

But this can also be a problem. If I’d watched the movie, “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising” before reading Susan Cooper, I probably would have never read those books. I would have never known how they completely tossed out a perfectly usable plot in favor of action sequences and the most rudimentary “chosen one coming of age” tropes possible. I would have never picked up on the richness of the mythology behind the images. This is probably why I also haven’t read “The Astronaut’s Wife.”

However, the much-more-common experience of reading the book first almost always leaves me dissatisfied. In almost all cases, the book is better. After the immersion of experiencing a story in my imagination, with all of its side-notes and development, a movie is never going to deliver everything I’d want. How can it, short of being countless hours long and letting ME pick the cast? (Looking at you, Lord of the Rings…)

I suppose I’m less likely to miss out on a good book if I endeavor to read first and watch afterwards, so that's probably the most logical approach.

[jeremic]

I'm always for reading the book first.The best version of any book for me is the one I created in my mind and no film version has come close to my imagination,so I like to read the book and then see somebody elses version og it.

[Nusrat_Shabnam_]

I would see the movie first to know that it would suit my taste or not, and then read the book.

[Seamstress]

Definitely, books come first. It is often, well almost always, fans are dissapointed by how crew make it out - favorite scenes not including, characters looking nothing alike.Personally, I wasn't dissapointed only once - Pride and predjudice(1995) is perfect visualisation of great book.

[Eteru]

I'd love to read the book first before watching the movie as I always find it incredible seeing the scenes which I've once imagined come into life.

[lara_haelterman]

Book first, no question about it.

[littlemissunknown]

I've actually experienced this one. I've watched a popular movie and really got hooked into it that made me cry and dumbfounded at the end if the movie. I had a lot of questions on my mind. So I've searched about it and found out that it was based on a book. Now, I've got to read the book and really dig deeper to the story. After reading, I watched the movie again. I'm glad I did. Books first than movie first to really understand the content of the movie. It would answer your questions while watching the movie.

[stelley9]

I would watch a movie first before I read the book

[VandaQ]

It's a gamble, sometimes, as some adaptations are better than the movies and vice versa. However, I usually prefer to watch the movie first. If I read the book and it's better than the movie it will ruin the movie for me. If the book is not as good as thwovie, I can at least enjoy the movie.