Some
people refuse to watch movie adaptions of books they’ve read. The common
consensus is that the movie is never as good as the book. But I find it hard to
resist seeing characters come to life on the movie screen. Yes, it can be hit
and miss, but it’s interesting to see what works and what doesn’t. Here are a
few adaptions I’ve watched lately.
Everything,
Everything (book by Nicola Yoon)
Book: I read this for my monthly book club. It’s a
quick, easy, enjoyable read. The protagonist, Maddy, is a girl who lives an
isolated life because she can’t go outside her house without getting sick. A cute
boy moves in next door and a relationship of sorts develops, but how will they
make it work? If you break it down the plot has some issues, but really if you over-analyse any kind of fiction it falls apart. Best to suspend disbelief and go
with the flow.
Movie: I enjoyed the movie, but in this case, I felt
the book was better. Mainly because some of my favourite moments in the book
didn’t occur in the movie. In the book, Olly does parkour and teaches Maddy how
to do handstands. In the movie, this part of Olly’s character is missing. Also,
I felt that Maddy’s imaginary scenes with Olly prior to their actual meeting detracted
from excitement of their first meeting irl.
Naomi
and Ely’s No Kiss List (book by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn)
Movie: Here is a case where I’ve watched the movie
adaption before I have read the book. I feel hesitant to read the book, because
I enjoyed the movie so much. Naomi has been best friends with Ely forever. Even
though he’s gay, she’s secretly in love with him. In the interest of maintaining
their friendship, they create a No Kiss list of boys they both like. However, they
neglect to add Naomi’s boyfriend, Bruce 2, to the list, because, well, “some
things are just obvious”. I’ve read reviews saying how annoying and ego-centric
these characters are, but I think that’s the point. Through the breakdown of
Naomi and Ely’s insular friendship, they are finally able to grow and become
better people.
Nick
and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (book by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn)
Book: I read this book for book club several years
ago and I didn’t like it. The plot seemed to wander aimlessly, and I found the
writing uneven – I liked reading Nick’s chapters much more than Norah’s. There
was also a storyline where Norah kept trying to force herself to do something
that she really didn’t want to do and that annoyed me no end.
Movie: After enjoying No Kiss List, I thought I
would give this DL/RC movie adaption a go and am happy to report that the movie
was much better than the book. The annoying subplot was gone, and the story
seemed much more coherent: Norah asks Nick to pretend to be her boyfriend for
five minutes to get an annoying school mate (who happens to be Nick’s ex) off
her back. They spend the rest of the night simultaneously trying to get Norah’s
drunk bestie home, trying to find out where the best band in the universe is
playing their secret gig, and falling in love.
Some adaptions
where I liked the book better: The Cat in the Hat – Dr Seuss, Percy Jackson books
– Rick Riordon, Howl’s Moving Castle – Dianna Wynn Jones, Twilight – Stephenie
Myer, Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
Some
adaptions where I liked both the book and the movie: The Book Thief – Markus
Zusak, Harry Potter franchise – JK Rowling, Hunger Games franchise – Suzanne Collins,
The Fault in our Stars – John Green
Another
adaption where I liked the movie better: The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
“I've read many more books than you. It doesn't matter how many you've read. I've read more. Believe me.”
― Everything, Everything
― Everything, Everything
