10. Movie/Book Comparison. Find a book that you haven't read that has a movie based on it that you haven't seen. Read the book and watch the movie within a few days of each other. Write about your reactions to both the book and the movie and compare the two.
I read Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson last week - you can read my thoughts on the book here. Somewhere in Time, the movie, stars Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, and is a slightly different story, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.
One of the biggest problems I had with the book was that the first half started out rather slowly - it seemed to drag significantly until Richard made it back in time. I felt like the movie did a much better job of pacing - I didn't get that antsy feeling I had when reading the book, waiting for things to start getting good. I also felt a much stronger emotional connection to the romance of the story. I think, in general, I respond more to love stories on screen than in books, and that was definitely true with this story.
Of course, casting Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour as the leads certainly didn't hurt - in 1980 when the movie was made, they were two of the most beautiful people in the world, and watching them on screen certainly brought the story to life for me.They did change some plot points from the book to the movie, and the changes to the ending made it seem a bit abrupt. But in general, the adaptation was strikingly similar to the book, and I feel like it stayed true to the feeling of the novel. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the greatest love story of all time, as I've seen some people assert, but it was an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours.
6 comments:
I usually like the book better than the movie, so this surprises me.
I loved the movie!
I have not heard of the movie or the book. Great review!
Great challenge, this is actually one of my favorite things to do! I think my best example is Fried Green Tomatoes; the movie is awesome, but the book is extraordinary!! I also just posted a review of My Sister's Keeper and my somewhat ambiguous feelings about the differences between book and movie. Anyone else have thoughts on this particular one? Here is my link; http://itsmycatharsis.blogspot.com/
Again, thanks for the challenge, I love it! :)
Usually the book is better than the movie so it was nice to see one where the movie works better than the book. And I just can't watch anything with Christopher Reeve in it without getting so sad.
It's good to hear that the movie didn't suffer the same slowness of plot. I am really interested in both the movie and the book, so I am glad to hear that they were both good. Glad you liked the film.
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