Basically Books! discussion

Lara thought of this great debate , and i agree with her totally.

So is there a movie thats better than the book :D

I have read many Movies which are books, 1 of them I AM NUMBER 4 : I Am Number Four

I actually liked the movie better :D Images was amazing and i could feel there emotions way better :D

Well, provided I haven't seen a LOT of books-turned-movies lol....

Okay, I thought Hayao Miyazaki's adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle" was phenomenal. The book was great too but I preferred the movie.

thanks tara!!!

one movie i liked better than the book was but the movie was so visually stunning that the book couldn't compare....or rather my imagination couldn't......

I like the movie version of The Horse Whisperer better than the book. I know they changed the story a bit, but it really worked for me. It's a movie that I watch on a yearly basis and have done for... probably about 12 years now. It's been a very long time since I read the book, and I would need to reread it now as the movie has taken over my memories. But I do prefer the movie!

I liked the film of The Notebook so I read the book. Big Mistake!

And I thought The Bridges of Madison County was a mediocre book. But Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood turned the film into something special.

^^ LOL never been a fan of Nicholas Sparks. But the movie adaptations are... er... watchable.

Devil wears prada couldnt stand the book loved the movie

I agree with Tara. I am number 4 was a much better movie then book!
Possibly A Tree Grows In Brooklyn was a better movie, but that is kind of hard to compare...
Although I did not like the Twilight Saga, I watched both the movies and the book and thought the movie was better.

I think that the first The Princess Diaries movie was better than the book. It was funnier, despite all of the differences. I preffered the queen in the movie, she's incredibly mean in the books.

Not a film but the BBC did an awesome series of Little Dorrit a couple of years ago. That's way better than the book.

I loved that series, which is why I bought the book really but I do enjoy Dickens novels anyway.

Claire Froy (I think that was the name of the actress) was really good in it. I liked her in The Promise too, that was a great drama series, really interesting.

Char wrote: "Not a film but the BBC did an awesome series of Little Dorrit a couple of years ago. That's way better than the book."

Little Dorrit was AWESOME!!! I totally agree it was much better on film.

Emma wrote: "I loved that series, which is why I bought the book really but I do enjoy Dickens novels anyway.

Claire Froy (I think that was the name of the actress) was really good in it. I liked her in The P..."

She's called Claire Foy (you were close). When I was watching it I was just blown away by her, it was her first acting job.

I love the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera. I love the book as well, but the movie was what got me into POTO in the first place.

The movie is more a Gothic romance, while the book is a thriller with Gothic overtones. Either way I love them both.

Char wrote: "She's called Claire Foy (you were close). When I was watching it I was just blown away by her, it was her first acting job."

Close but no cigar, lol.

She was great in Going Postal too - completely different, though I'm not sure how well she portrayed the character as that is one Terry Pratchett book I haven't actually read.

Lol, 'fraid not. XD

My brother has the book and the DVD of the series. Apparently the book's better but I'm not a Pratchett fan.

Char wrote: "Lol, 'fraid not. XD

My brother has the book and the DVD of the series. Apparently the book's better but I'm not a Pratchett fan."

I do like Terry Pratchett, he really tickles my funny bone but there are just so many books in the Discworld series I had to stop reading them, otherwise I'd never have read anything else! Variety is the spice of life and all that. :)

I tried to read him but he just wasn't to my taste. It is indeed. I've been finding reading series difficult because I can't focus on them. There are like 30 something books aren't there? :)

Char wrote: "I tried to read him but he just wasn't to my taste. It is indeed. I've been finding reading series difficult because I can't focus on them. There are like 30 something books aren't there? :)"

At least - some of them I really love and some of them are just okay. I find series really distracting because I end up having to read them all and I end up neglecting the other books on my TBR.

Haha, I think all series are like that. It's rare to find a series where all the books are equally as good. I can see why you'd find them distracting. Can't you not read 2 books at the same time?

Char wrote: "Haha, I think all series are like that. It's rare to find a series where all the books are equally as good. I can see why you'd find them distracting. Can't you not read 2 books at the same time?"

I do sometimes, but it's more like I start a couple of different books and then the one that sparks my interest most takes my attention. Once I'm done with that I go back to the others I've started and finish them, but if the one I get sucked into is part of a series I might read the next one in that series before I go back to the others (if that makes sense :S)

That makes sense. I'm exactly the same. I have two on the go but I keep ditching one in favour of the other. I think it just proves which you like the best. I mean The Book Thief is winning my attention right now. :)

Char wrote: "That makes sense. I'm exactly the same. I have two on the go but I keep ditching one in favour of the other. I think it just proves which you like the best. I mean The Book Thief is winning my atte..."

Mine too - I started 1984 but I've completely abandoned it in favour of The Book Thief. Sometimes it's about what mood I'm in as well.

It's almost embarassing to admit but the movie The Princess Bride has always been one of my guilty pleasures. So when another group decided to read it this month I thought it would be cool to read it since the book is ALWAYS better. But I'm having a really hard time getting through it and have been thinking I might just abandon it :(. So far the movie is much better.

The film of To Kill A Mockingbird was as good as the novel.

I loved Waiting to Exhale but did not really care for the book. How Stella got her groove back was an okay movie but could not stand nor finish the book.

MaraC wrote: "It's almost embarassing to admit but the movie The Princess Bride has always been one of my guilty pleasures. So when another group decided to read it this month I thought it would be cool to read ..."

i agree....the princess bride is an awesome movie....the books wasn't as dashing....

The film version of The Godfather and the book are on a par for me. The film has more of a family atmosphere to it, whereas the book tells you about every single character and how the events that have happened ((view spoiler)[the Don being shot, Michael killing Solozzo and fleeing to Scicily, Freddie's reaction to his father being shot in front of him, Connie and Carlo's marriage and Sonny being killed (hide spoiler)]) have affected them all. The film doesn't do that, which makes it a little bit better because there isn't as much going on and won't confuse the audience. If that makes sense.

MaraC wrote: "It's almost embarassing to admit but the movie The Princess Bride has always been one of my guilty pleasures. So when another group decided to read it this month I thought it would be cool to read ..."

I read the book and wasn't that impressed though unlike most of the people who recommended it I wasn't annoyed by the 'book within a book' and the narrator's interruptions. I just don't really like fairtytales.

But I loved the film (I have it on DVD and my son loves it too) The slightly snarky, 'Mel Brooks' craziness of it all is fantastic.

I really didn't mind the 'book within a book' thing either. The book is missing the magic that made the movie so awesome. In this case I think the actors are what really made it come to life. I finally just gave up on reading it.

I agree about The Princess Bride...Oh and if you ever get to watch Mansfield Park..the newer release...it has a cool spin on the book...they actually integrate elements of Austen's life into the story...I loved it.

Rose wrote: "I love the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera. I love the book as well, but the movie was what got me into POTO in the first place.

The movie is more a Gothic romance, while ..."

I prefer the stage version myself... but even that is slightly overrated. The music is lovely, though. :)

The Witches of Eastwick

this book was awful....the movie was entertaining, at least, if not high drama or anything...

I would say True Blood the TV series is much better than the Sookie Stackhouse novels and I preferred Bridget Jones' Diary the film to the novel.

I haven't seen many movies based on books because I tend to rant a lot... but I have the suspicion that the movie of City of Bones will definitely be better than the book XD

Jeshu wrote: "I haven't seen many movies based on books because I tend to rant a lot... but I have the suspicion that the movie of City of Bones will definitely be better than the book XD"

I totally agree. The books need alot of editing, so the movie might actually be better. Aside from Alec, the casting is really good..

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite all-time movies, but the book kept the craziness going far beyond the limits of my patience. (Cannibals? Really?)

Haha cannibals can be fun! Forrest Gump generally isn't very appreciated (Run Forrest, run!!) and we make fun of it a lot at work. I haven't read the book though so I can't comment on that.

I haven't read the shawshank redemption either but the movie is so fabulous that I don't even want to.

Rea wrote: "Haha cannibals can be fun! Forrest Gump generally isn't very appreciated (Run Forrest, run!!) and we make fun of it a lot at work. I haven't read the book though so I can't comment on that.

I hav..."
The Shawshank Redemption is every bit as good as the film IMHO - but, for me the big let down was the book Jaws, I thought it was rather tacky whereas the film is a classic for its time!

Wendy, I agree. I read Jaws years ago, and it was tacky, but even with Bruce the mechanical shark, the Jaws movie was terrifying.

Lisa wrote: "Wendy, I agree. I read Jaws years ago, and it was tacky, but even with Bruce the mechanical shark, the Jaws movie was terrifying."

Oh yes! Good old Bruce made me jump out of my skin at several points in the film. And I really liked the memorable human characters too!

Vampire Diaries TV show is much better than the books but than that isn't exactly difficult.

I liked the Fight Club movie better than the book and the same with the Bourne movies. :)

I personally liked Percy Jackson the lightening thief movie much better than the book. Possibly because it is written toward a very young age group.

I reckon movies are better than books. U dont have to imagine what's going-you just watch, and the movie's idea for the setting is way better than mine. Also, you can feel more emotion with movies, like Life of Pi (I LUV that movie). So, I like movies better