The movie ‘ruined’ the book!
How many times have we heard these words uttered by nearly every book lover and avid reader after coming out of a movie theatre?
I probably would have said it a couple of times myself!
But, let’s be honest here, there are a lot of book-to-movie adaptations that are just outstanding and have got people admitting that the movie was much better than the book.
Not that it’s a competition, mind you!
It isn’t really a question of “ruining” the book. There is just the simple fact that the movie and book are now accessible because of their reliance on each other.
And no matter how big your imagination is, there will always be aspects of the book that your mind just cannot capture.
Take Hogwarts, from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowlings, for example. Were you really able to envision it as it was in the movies? I know I wasn’t able to.
Watching how the scene unraveled on screen for the first time just left me in awe. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have goosebumps.
What about The Da Vinci Code?
The Hunger Games?
How adorable were Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort in The Fault in our Stars?
I’m really just naming a few from the top of my head that I think were good adaptations.
I do make it a rule though, to always read the book before watching the movie, as I love to compare how my mind visualized the details of the characters and the scenery with how the screenwriters depicted all the information gathered from the book. It’s just one of the perks of reading.
But reading aside, watching the movie adaptation is an experience on its own. It’s a good opportunity to share this experience with different people throughout the years.
So, I’m all for adaptations! I’m a big fan of reading the book and watching its movie. I make it a habit to check out what books are coming to the big screen every year to make sure I am able to read it just in time!
Are you a fan of book-to movies? Or do you think books should be left for the enjoyment of readers only?
Read the full article from Khaleej Times here
Filed on January 12, 2018 on @bloggerheads
Africaanah's Book Blog 
I realised that I can read books before watching the movie but I can’t seem to read books for the first time having watched the movie first.
I completely agree with your post, and sometimes even if I think the book was better people who have only watched the movie would like the movie and who am I to deprive the world of a good story – no matter what format.
Some movies that I thought were better than the books are The Great Gatsby (very close call but Leo just is much better than the Gatsby I envisioned) and Murder on the Orient Express.
I do like reading the book first to imagine the characters on my own. On my blog (https://thebookclubb.wordpress.com/) I wrote that I pictured The Commander in The Handmaid’s Tale to be like The Captain in Sound of Music. When I actually watched the serialised show, it was completely different.
It’s funny that you mentioned Harry Potter, because even though I read all the books that were out before watching the first movie I now can’t remember at all how I pictured any part of it on my own, I can’t compare what I imagined to the movies because the movies took over all the visual territory of Harry Potter in my head.
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Thanks for the reply. I still haven’t watched The Great Gatsby featuring Leo but I have seen the old one. It was a school thing. I was lucky con to have read HP before the movies so use the privilege to imagine on my own. But really, It’s nothing to care about.
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I love movie adaptions of books, harry potter, tfios, the hunger games and the mazer runner are just a few that i thought were amazing, just as much as the book actually! 🙂
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Maze Runner was amazing. Have you seen the latest movie?
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I’m not opposed to the idea of books being adapted to movies or TV shows, but personally I find myself reading the books before I watch them. And sometimes I just don’t watch them at all.
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Same here. I’d rather read first.
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I totally agree to this. I think reading the book before seeing the movie is especially important so you can really utilize the subtle hints the author uses to describe the characters (unless the descriptions aren’t so subtle lol).
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Exactly. And there are stuff, no matter how it’s describe. It’s hurts the brain to imagine them 😂
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Great topic! I agree that there were some good movie adaptations that did the books justice like the Shrek movies for example.
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Oooh I had no idea Shrek was a book.
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Yeah, I didn’t know either until after I watched the movie.
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I always think of the movie as a companion / director’s interpretation of the book. It leaves me with no expectation of continuity, and I walk with good vibes.
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That’s a nice way to see it. I think like that too
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