Tomorrow is the release of the highly anticipated The Hunger Games movie. I imagine it will break some box office records since I read someone recently that they had already sold over a million pre-sale tickets. I was supposed to be going to an advance screening tonight but that little thing called life sort of snuck up on me instead. I think my sister appreciated the tickets though. :)
I'm not going to get in to what I loved and didn't love about the series except that I devoured the first book, enjoyed the second and really wished I could have enjoyed the third book as much as the first. Didn't quite work out that way unfortunately, but I still really liked the series overall. All of which makes it harder to go watch the movie. For me the book is almost always better than the movie, and I can't help but worry a little that The Hunger Games movie will be a bit of a let down. 
When my sister started dragging me to the Harry Potter movies, and I started enjoyed each movie more than the last one (really loved the last one) I just couldn't bring myself to start reading the books. I was worried I wouldn't enjoy the last couple movies if I got sucked into the written series. I still haven't gotten around to reading them just yet, but plan to this summer. :)After I've seen some movies I've gone back and read the books to see what was different and it's surprising just how much was changed between the book version and the movie one. But what about you? Do you avoid reading a book that you know is being turned into a film? Do you skip movies of books you've really loved? Or do you enjoy both?
Hi, Sydney! After having seen a number of book-to-movie adaptations, I think I have to approach the movie as an entirely separate experience. It's tremendously difficult to divorce the two in my head, but when I don't, I almost always end up frustrated with casting or plot changes and don't enjoy it nearly as much. One book and movie I did enjoy immensely was The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan)--they weren't the same, but were both lovely in their own rights.
ReplyDeleteNow that we've finally finished reading all the HPs, we're contemplating starting the movies; we'll see how the kids fare ;)
And DS1 finished reading The Hunger Games; I'm guessing he'd be interested in seeing the movie, too... not everyone gets as hung up on the details as I do ;p
Fedora makes a great point - consider them separate experiences. Usually I find I enjoy the book much more than the movie. The exception that was the Harry Potter series - I think they did a great job of making the movies very faithful to the book. Often what's missing from a movie is the character's introspection and it takes a really great actor and probably director to convey that - but in the HP books there's not a lot of that so it wasn't missing. For me, anyway.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder if there are that many changes to the plot between book and movie, who is it that says, "that element won't work on the big screen, lets do this instead." A difference of "what if" opinion between the original author and the screenwriter? lol
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that character introspection adds a lot to a book. I think that may work better for the Hunger Games movie since we only get Katniss's pov in the series, so some of the other characters may come more alive on the screen.
I agree with everyone else here. I try to keep them separate. Sounds "old" but I think one of the best Book-To-Movies Ive seen is "Gone With the Wind" It was such a huge, deep book, and I think they did well with characters and plot.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, thanks for sharing!
hugs, Kari Thomas, www.authorkari.com
I agree with everyone else here. I try to keep them separate. Sounds "old" but I think one of the best Book-To-Movies Ive seen is "Gone With the Wind" It was such a huge, deep book, and I think they did well with characters and plot. Interesting post, thanks for sharing! hugs, Kari Thomas, www.authorkari.com
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