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As someone who reads a lot I can be apprehensive when I find out that a movie is being planned when it is based on a book, especially if it is one that I have particularly enjoyed or if the book itself has been written by one of my favourite authors. In most instances I have read the book before seeing the movie but there are occasions of where I have seen a movie and then discovered it had been based on a book.
My first book vs movie experience was in my early childhood, I came across a copy of The Omen in a charity shop and I distinctly remember being enthralled but utterly terrified by the character Damien and was genuinely frightened about watching the movie years later as certain points of the book had always stuck with me. To this day I still can not watch the monkey enclosure scene in the movie without comparing it to book.
My worst experience was the movie adaption of Haruki Murakami’s breakthrough novel Norwegian Wood. I still haven’t watched the movie in it’s entirety as I just feel the movie misses the essence and soul of the book.
But there are times when directors get it right and not only have the vision but connect with the story, admittedly I am a little bit of a geek and I feel that I can not omit Sir Peter Robert Jackson’s superb adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings franchises from this particular blog.
A book that I recently enjoyed which was recommended to me by my girlfriend and fellow book worm Mel was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It was very dark and dystopian crammed with loads of 80’s references so was a book that I really could not put it down and immediately wanted to read again as soon as I had finished it. I enjoyed it that much that it is a strong contender for one of my favourite books of 2015. There is a movie planned in the near future and as of March 2015 Steven Spielberg was attached to direct the movie which is a nice touch as he was mentioned in the novel itself.
Ultimately books vs movies preference are influenced by an individual’s perceptions and imagination and is something that will long continue.
