Comments on: Books On Screen: What Is Your Policy?

By: Classics Bookclub: Hamlet Preview

Classics Bookclub: Hamlet Preview — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:44:11 +0000

[...] that I may resort to checking out a movie before I read it to help me with the plot and story. Lauren mentioned that she found watching Jane Austen movies aided in reading the unfamiliar [...]

By: mamacita tina

mamacita tina — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:46:44 +0000

I’m usually disappointed in the movies if I’ve read the book first. This especially was the case after I read The Devil Wears Prada. I’m starting to think I should watch the movie first, and then really enjoy the story by reading the book.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:30:42 +0000

Oh no — I must must must read the book before I see teh movie.

By: gail

gail — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 22:39:29 +0000

fun topic! i used to be a voracious reader, fiction and nonfiction. slowly i stopped reading so much and became more of a movie viewer. a voracious movie hound. i challenged myself this summer to read the LOTR series. i had read them in jr high and loved them. then watched them when they came out and have watched them on DVD too. i finished the first and now am on the 2nd. i’m amazed at how different they are from the movies and how much the movies left out. i must confess, i enjoyed the movies more than i’m enjoying the books, tho some of the dialogue and writing is quite poignant and makes you sit up and take notice.

i have watched some of the classics and enjoyed them, but am not sure i’d enjoy reading them now that i have the actors in mind. i really enjoy shakespear and have enjoyed reading them more than the movies, so go figure …

By: Tameka

Tameka — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:09:05 +0000

I usually prefer to read the book first & picture the story in my mind. However, that always makes for the movie never being half as good as what I made up in my own head. lol. I thought about watching Pride & Predjudice actually for the same reasons that you said though. But I decided against it. I’m going to finish the book first & then catch the movie.

By: Michele

Michele — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:33:40 +0000

I prefer to try to read the book before watching the movie version. A lot of the time the books are just so much better. I love all of the details reading provides, some times you cannot capture that on the big screen.

By: Shauna@Shaunarumbling

Shauna@Shaunarumbling — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:45:01 +0000

I almost always like the book better regardless of whether I read it before or after seeing the movie, but watching the movie after reading the book tends to be more disappointing. I can only think of two exceptions–The Princess Bride and Sense & Sensibility, which I preferred on screen.

I did implement a new personal rule after watching a horrible BBC adaptation of The Woman in White immediately after reading the book, and now I try to wait at least a year after reading a book to see a movie adaptation of it (no reading a book right before the film comes out for me!). I don’t mind doing this so much if it’s a children’s book that I watch and discuss with my kids after reading it with them, though.

By: Alexia

Alexia — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:33:18 +0000

I almost always read the books first. And it generally ruins most of the movies for me, because the book was soooo much better.