Madeline
Similar to my article, The Movie Was Better, this post is the about the reverse of that. I love to read and I love to watch movies. Sometimes the movie was better, but more often than not, the book was better. This list could be much longer but I cut it off by only choosing the obvious books to make the book was better list.
Brain on Fire
Brain on Fire is a memoir of a women who went through the grueling process of discovering she had encephalitis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the brain. I’m always fascinated how people discover an obscure disease and so this book had me totally engaged walking through the process of her diagnosis. Meanwhile the movie read more like a narrative and less of a memoir. The explanation made it so the book was better.
Because of all the details of the illness and the explanations as to why her and her doctors were making the decisions they did, it did not translate well into the movie screen. It left the storyline bland and not nearly as fascinating as the book. And so the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
A Walk to Remember
Perhaps it was the Mexican beach that I read A Walk to Remember on or maybe I was not versed in Nicholas Sparks but I really enjoyed this book. I felt for the main characters and felt like I was walking with them. I felt the tragic ending and may have had a tear run down my cheek that I called sweat from the Mexican sun.
I love me some Mandy Moore. And don’t get me wrong, the movie was fine. But a fine movie does not compare to a heart wrenching of this book but unfortunately, I have to say that the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
In high school English class, we had an assignment to read any of 100 or so books from the approved list to read and write about. I picked A Clockwork Orange. At this point, I had seen the movie and loved it. I was also not a book reader. I started to understand how people could enjoy reading about this time, and A Clockwork Orange definitely was one of the books that contributed to this love of reading.
I love Stanley Kubrick, but I think this book holds a special place in my heart that Kubrick just can’t replace and therefore the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
The Hunger Games
The hunger games were not only a great book series but also a great movie series. It’s the story of a dystopian world where teens are put into an arena to fight to the death and the winner does not only get to survive but also becomes a hero. This story is not new, but the way Suzanne Collins takes the idea and puts it on paper is genius. She has developed a whole world with a whole set of rules with a whole gauntlet of great characters.
The execution on the movie screen was also genius and although I thoroughly enjoyed the movies the book was just that much better. Both are worth attention (book first of course) and for that reason I would say the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The twists! The turns! The exotic Scandinavian setting. A small goth girl. I loved every minute of reading this book. I was pretty young when I read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and I think what really got me was how adult it was. And not just adult but also not boring. Sure, I had read books in school and just about every Chuck Palahniuk book but this was different.
I watched the movie about six years later, now long after it was made. By this time, I didn’t have the same excitement for the movie as I did for the book. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie very much but my enthusiasm was not the same. Perhaps it was my age or perhaps the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
A Man Called Ove
I adored this book. Maybe it’s because I adored the main character, Ove. But that is one in the same, right? This book was cuddle on the couch, sipping tea while it pours cats and dogs outside, good. I don’t know what it is about this book that makes it great for cold whether.
It’s a sweet heart warming story about the friendship between an old man and a young family. The relationship starts on a bad foot and then goes to the best foot. The details in this book that warm your heart is the kind of heart warming you can only get from a book which has made me decide that the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
The Kite Runner
I loved the journey of reading the Kite Runner. Although I’ve never been to Kabul, I had a very clear picture of what is was like, both before and after the war. I fell in love with the main character, Amir, and his best friend, Hassan. I felt their joy and I felt their sorrow. I understood how life changed when they moved to California. It helped explain the Afghani culture you see in the San Francisco Bay Area. Something I’ve seen first hand from living here but never understood.
The movie on the other hand did not make me feel anything. It told the story and followed the book, but there was nothing else that made me go “Wow.” Considering the book made such a large impression on me but the book did not, I would say the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
White Oleander
As I’ve mentioned before, you would never guess by reading this blog, but in high school, I hated reading. And as I’ve mentioned before, White Oleander was one of a book that I really liked. It kept me engaged and I could not wait to pick it up read what happens next. Having not read a whole lot of books at this time, I was excited to hear there was a movie coming out. At this time, I may not have liked reading but I loved movies; therefore, if I felt the book was good the movie must be amazing. But alas I was very disappointed. The movie did not live up to the greatness of the book and, sure enough, the book was better.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
The Joy Luck Club
The Joy Luck Club was required reading in high school. Having seen the movie a handful of times previously, I had a preconceived notion if the book was better. I was not thrilled about being force fed any book and that includes this one. That being said, The Joy Luck Club was one of the best books I’ve ever been force fed in school. So much, that I’ve seeked out other Amy Tan books since I read The Joy Luck Club. Thank you to my high school English class for introducing me to The Joy Luck Club.
Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
Choke
Fight Club, the movie, was a huge success. This movie shot Chuck Palahniuk to his peak. And after seeing the movie, people flocked to read Fight Club. And in wanting more Palaniuk, the next obvious choice was to pick up Choke. The movie Choke was the response to the success of Fight Club, but was a huge let down next to the great movie of Fight Club. Everything about both books and the movie Fight Club left much to be desired in the movie Choke. The book was better because it just didn’t translate into movie like the book did.
Read My Post/ Read the Book/ Watch the Movie
Ready Player One
The major reason the book was better was the imagination it took to read the book. The same descriptions were there but I had my own idea of how this world should look. And when someone else made the decision of how this world should look, it was hard for me to accept it. The movie left me saying over and over again, “that is not how it is in the book.” I’m not sure if it was the text or in my mind it really was not that way. All in all it destroyed how I felt about the movie and therefore the book was better.
