I saw something come in the other day comparing books to movies. It was a list of what were supposed to be the worst film adaptations of a popular book. Although I’m not sure you can compare the two.
We’ve probably all had that moment when we were really excited for a movie. Maybe we had read the book. Maybe we had just heard a lot about it. And then somehow, it just doesn’t match up.
Now, in all fairness, I seemed to be a list comparing reviews from a book lovers website with reviews from a movie website. I’m not sure how accurate that would be. And it seemed geared a bit toward young adult novels, although, again, we can probably all name a few.
In spite of the fact that a movie and a book might share similarities in plot and name, it’s difficult to compare them. They really are two different things. There are some books that are very difficult to turn into a movie. For example, Dune.
I’ll be honest. I loved the books. Well, most of them. The first half dozen or so anyway. But the movie and TV adaptations could never quite come up to the books, until the latest movies. But there was just far too much detail in the books. Things that you wouldn’t have time to cover in two hours, but are still a big part of the story.
There are also movies that go the other way. Like I love Stephen King’s book Carrie. But the movie adds a little extra twist that just sets it apart.
But that’s the thing. They are really two different forms. You can do things with films you can’t do with a book. Having a hand pop out of the ground in a book is just another paragraph. Seeing it happen in a movie with no warning can be downright terrifying.
So I try not to compare the two. I like both books and movies for different reasons. Sometimes a story needs to change to fit the format. It doesn’t make it bad. It just makes it different.