How many of you have done this? I have, for many reasons. Just last Friday, we had a movie day at work and watched the movie Holes, based on the book of the same name. I've never read the book, but now I want to.
People will argue that the book was better. Some will brag that they read the book, but didn't see the movie. I have most often tried to read the book first, but there have been times when I did not know that the movie was based on a book. One year, back when I got DVDs from Netflix, I had queued the movie A Hero Ain't Nothing but a Sandwich, unaware of the book it was based on. Now years later, I now want to read the book, even though it's a hard one to find. I'm not sure about ordering it from Amazon, and it seems unlikely that I will find a used in a nearby thrift store. (Though you never can tell on that one). I was also unaware that Fast Food Nation was a book first. It was one of the first movies I got from Netflix when I started using the service. The movie must have looked good at the time. I have since read the book. I still have not read The Descendants despite seeing the movie. I saw that one with a Meetup group I'd briefly joined in the 2010s. I was new to the group and not aware of the book then. And on watching Holes just two days ago--the movie day had planned as part of this month's activities schedule, but the movie had only been decided on that day.
What is your take on books vs. movies? Which to you prefer to do first? How often have you seen a movie not knowing it was based on a book?
6 comments:
Sometimes I have read the book first, sometimes I read the book after (but only if the movie was so good it made me want to). Lots of times I don't even realize that movies/series are based on books. And sometimes (especially now that I'm older and time is getting shorter), I will watch the movie INSTEAD of reading a book. Much quicker.
Working in a library, I often saw the books before movies were made from them, even if I didn't read them. I prefer to read the book before I see the movie, but sometimes it's better to not have read the book and just appreciate the movie for what it is whether or not they stay close to the book.
I am one who read Holes and enjoyed it and have not seen the movie. If for no other reason is other than I don't watch many movies.
I don't see many movies and flatly refuse to see a movie of a book I love - they take too many liberties.
Funnily enough, I'm more a movie first gal. If I read the book first, I'm one of those pedants who will gripe about all the stuff they changed and left out. But if I see the movie first, then I have a better visual of what's happening in the story, and it kind of expands the universe of the story for me.
However, I read Holes first. Only because the movie hadn't come out yet. And it was read out of order in various classes. (It's how I read The House on Mango Street, too.)
99.9% of the time I am a Movie 1st, book 2nd, otherwise, I will probably say the movie sucked compared to the book. lol
I always tell myself I want to read the book first, but sometimes that means that I just never get around to it! So now I'll sometimes just watch the movie and hope it makes me want to read the book.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
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