Books vs. Movies

[Julia6394]

I have a friend furious cinephile . He never misses a premiere, and he likes the more fantastic movies . Otetit need that he does not read absolutely nothing. And if we are asked to read a book, he immediately begins to look for her screen version.
 
And I also love to read the book first and then watch the movie. In my opinion, the movie is not so well able to express what the author was trying to convey and the audience , who did not read the same , Jules Verne, is unable to understand the beauty and grandeur of his books.Do you think that it is actually better : read the book, and then watch a movie or just go to the movies , and the book put into trash ?

 

[KoshN]

Movie and then book. The movie helps you picture the characters in the book, and since the books are almost always better, you're saving the better version for last.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

I prefer to read a book first and then compare what I had imagined with what the director/actors created. There is one case where what I imagined and what I saw on the screen was almost identical: Annie Wilkes from "Mysery" by Stephen King.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I guess I don't usually make the choice of which first. I may have read the book, before there was a movie, and I may go see the movie. Or, I might see a movie, and be interested to read the book. But, with few exceptions, the book is better than the movie. So, I would say that the ideal is to read the book, then wait a while, so it's not so fresh in your mind, then go see the movie.

 

[KoshN]

But, with few exceptions, the book is better than the movie. So, I would say that the ideal is to read the book, then wait a while, so it's not so fresh in your mind, then go see the movie.

Then, ideally, I have to read the book again, just to help get the memory of the movie out of my mind. Similarly, after watching "War of the Worlds" (2005), I had to watch the George Pal 1953 version just to help wash away the memory of the Spielberg/Cruise/Fanning piece-o-crap .

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Ah! I see! The book as toilet paper for the bad film theory...

 

[Talvitar]

The more I have experience of this, the more I've started thinking it should be 'movie first, then book'
Or if not possible: leave at least half a year between the book and the movie

I have much too much evidence of me not being able to enjoy a movie simply because it doesn't correspond to my idea of the book.
Harry Potter movies (yea gods... how are they even understandable without reading the books??)
Jack Reacher movies (Tom Cruise *is not* Jack Reacher!)
Valerian movie (very little to do with the comics)
Ready Player One (huge mistake to watch the movie the next day after finishing the book which I had liked. I was hopping mad & absolutely furious about the movie).

In most cases there's nothing really wrong with those movies AS MOVIES. Had I never read the stories, I'd probably been "yeah, ok, nice entertainment".
But in those cases it was *really* hard to get over the books. They had got under my skin somehow, so I had a big emotional reaction. Couldn't detach myself from the original story - couldn't view the movie as a separate work of art.

On the other hand: loved the LotR movies, loved the books. Have always liked most of A. Christie's filmatisations. Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry's Bertie and Wooster series is a real joy. I'm a die-hard Jane Austen fan but I've never shrank from watching the movies -- period versions, modernizations, bollywood version - anything goes. With Austen, it's a bit different though, my attitude is close to "academic mindset" in this case; I'm just so curious to see what different kinds of things can be done with Austen's novels. Everything from Bride & Prejudice to Clueless to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Sometimes I know not to risk it: to my huge surprise, I totally fell for the Twilight books, and made an immediate decision to NOT watch the movies, as I knew they would never ever be able to make them the way I had envisioned. (I got a glimpse of one of the movie posters - yes, I also tried to avoid all pictures of the movies - and I knew I made the right decision... they looked Wrong!).

Even though I said above that maybe it should be movie first, then book, I'm not sure it would work for me... There have been several cases where finding out that a movie was based on a book has not in any way encouraged me to read the original work. Even if I had enjoyed the movie. I'm sure there are many examples but right now only two come to mind: the Divergent-series (I've seen the first 2 movies) and The Maze Runner series.