Comments on: Books on Screen: Better than the Book?

By: edj

edj — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 16:25:54 +0000

I agree, I can only handle movie adaptations if I haven't read the book. I did this with "Howard's End" and actually liked the movie better! First time ever.
The only one I like both movie and book of is "Unbearable Lightness of Being" and that's because the movie took only a small part of the book to make the movie out of.
I, unlike apparently everyone else in the world, did not like what Peter Jackson did to the LOTR trilogy. I don't imagine Tolkein had Thomas Kinkade in mind when he imagined Rivendell, and his dwarves had some dignity not just comic relief.

By: Heather J.

Heather J. — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:27:20 +0000

great post! i love reading Erika's post on Redblog so this was a great crossover.

By: Carrie, Reading to Know

Carrie, Reading to Know — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:30:00 +0000

That's a really interesting take on Atonement…your not wanting to read the book now. I haven't read the book OR watched the movie and I can't decide which to do so I found that part of this interview fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

By: Beth

Beth — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:25:20 +0000

I have to say that some of the films made from books were totally disappointing (mainly The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies) while others were fabulous (LOTR). I did read the books first on both.

The ones I've seen where the film has outshined the book was Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Of course, I loved Billie Piper on Doctor Who, so I'm a bit biased, but the series is infinitely better than the book. This also happened with Sex and the City for me, which I enjoyed the series more than the book it was based on.

By: Jennifer (5 Minutes for Books)

Jennifer (5 Minutes for Books) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:29:01 +0000

Thanks again for joining us Erika!

I have to say that I do sort of see Julia Roberts as Elizabeth Gilbert. I listened to the audiobook version of that book, and the author read it, so I feel like I "know" her even more than reading her journey in her book.

By: Lauren@Baseballsandbows

Lauren@Baseballsandbows — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:02:44 +0000

I agree with so many of these thoughts. If I know I will be seeing a movie based on a book, I almost always read the book first. If I see the movie first, I usually have no desire to commit myself to reading the story as well. I'll look forward to seeing Life of Pi as a movie. It will have been a long time since I read the book, so I will be much less critical of the film, I'm sure. Thanks for the great interview. I enjoyed reading it!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:02:24 +0000

Oh, this was a wealth of information, especially since I had no idea that Life of Pi was being made into a movie– that gives me great trepidation! I loved that book, but it was so surreal that I have a hard time imagining it done well on the big screen.

And, while we're at it, does anyone else think it was just a HUGE mistake to make a movie out of Where the Wild Things Are?? Even just the trailer makes me sigh and long for the good old days of beloved children's books simply staying beloved children's books!