So the #NZBloggers group and the #brunchclub group have this blog post inspiration challenge going this year called #bloggreatness where they are giving a topic for each week of the year to inspire bloggers to blog. Read more about it and the groups here. I've been wanting to do this for a while, especially the typography week, however I just haven't got around to it. This week however is Contrast and I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss my personal views on the endless debate: Books vs Screen.
Now while I do love a good movie my personal favourites are books, I do have points where I just can't be bothered reading and it takes me over a month to finish one book. But if you couldn't tell from the increase of book posts over the past few months I've finally got my reading mojo back! Hope you don't mind about that by the way.
My favourite book series of all time are the Harry Potter series. They never lose their magic no matter how many times you read them and I've read them a fair number of times. I remember when it took me an entire summer to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when it first came out and now it takes me a few days. I wouldn't say the movies are a total let down, they're magical and I'd happily watch them again and again but there's just a few tiny details that would've made it so much better, even simply including Peeves the Poltergeist would have made it better. I know things like these have been mentioned time and again round the internet so I won't go on about it. But how magical would a tv series been? I don't know if it would be right to do it anymore as our recognisable Harry, Ron, and Hermione have grown up. I'm not sure if it would be right to have it recast even if we were to get something as magical as a tv series. Wouldn't it be cool though if they refilmed the 19 years later scene when they all got to that age? I'd accept that!
I don't know if many of you have heard about the new thing coming to Netflix next year but I'm so bloody excited about it! A Series Of Unfortunate Events is going to be made into an actual series. Not a crappy movie that covers three books and then doesn't have any sequels... an actual series! I read this series when I was younger and having never owned them myself I would borrow them off my best friend one after the other until I caught up, we then went to different secondary schools so the newer ones I haven't actually read (but will get to in due time). The second one was always my favourite, followed closely by the third one which I now own after finding a copy in a charity shop a few years ago. I do admit I enjoyed the film, Jim Carrey was great and the story line was great for the fact they shoved 3 books into it but I just feel like a series like this would be done so much more justice from a TV series. I'm just in love with the fan cast of Lily Collins for Violet and pray it comes true really.
Game of Thrones for example is a great example of this, I haven't actually read the books as I've never been able to get into them even after trying again and again - I will conquer them one day I promise. The series though just does works so well and tells all the different story lines in a way that isn't confusing and it's so good to a point where I don't feel like I really need to read the books. I know that there's so much more in the books and it's actually has some different story lines but it's just something that I'll get around to one day whereas I watch each episode as soon as I can obtain it!
What are your thoughts towards this debate? I know some people just can't concentrate enough to read a book but only some on screen productions have been able to create magic equal to that in a book. Are there any books that you feel have been beaten by their on screen partners? Or is the pen always mightier than the um... tv?
I have a very vivid imagination that really helps me to bring characters to life when I read, so I often find myself really disappointed when it comes to film/tv adaptations! Sometimes they're done really well (like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter) and sometimes, well ... I feel like Beautiful Creatures sums that one up for me *sigh*
ReplyDeleteHaha my copy of The Philosopher's Stone looks a lot like yours. Well loved and read. It is and has always been my favourite books series!
ReplyDeleteI was also in the same boat with you when it came to A Series of Unfortunate events. I never owned the series and when the movie came out they we always on Loan at the library! It was also one of the movies I saw before reading the books!
I love to read books AND watch the movie adaptations of those books. Normally because I read the book first I can feel a little bit disheartened when it didn't happen in the movie how I imagined. However I really appreciate the different perspective that the directors bring to the story. When City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, was made into a movie, it didn't really follow the storyline as much as I thought it should. Yet, I found that I still loved the story they chose to tell.
My favourite compromise it when they turn it into a TV series like they did with the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I love that a TV Series gives the director the leisure to actually be able to follow along with the book's plot a lot closer. Plus each book equals a season(ish)!!! :D (My example instead of GoT as I still haven't watched it!)
I feel the same way with City of Bones! The first time I watched it I was like, what that didn't happen why did they do that what why did the portal turn into snow what? But the next few times it just made sense (apart from the snow)! I haven't seen Outlander but yes, your average series being 10 episodes that's 10 hours instead of maybe 2 1/2 it's so much better for the books story line!
ReplyDeleteI always hate it when you imagine a certain character a certain way and then their movie/tv version is nothing like it!
ReplyDeleteMy Harry Potter books are so falling apart now, I've had the first one for over 15 years and read the crap out of them! I remember coming home from the first movie and crying because it wasn't how I had imagined it haha. I'm excited for a series of unfortunate events, I read all the books, or at least all of the books that were at my library before I kind of got a bit too old for it? I love books a lot, and they generally win over movies for me, but I like to see both.
ReplyDeleteI remember I cared greatly that some of the characters weren't how I imagined them but as for the scenery etc I didn't mind as much as they were so incredibly magical to me at a young age!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Harry Potter movies at the time (although the first two are truly awful aren't they) but I remember seeing a couple of them with my sister who hadn't read any of the books and she was just like 'wtf just happened?' There was far too much detail in the latter ones to make into a movie that was easy to grasp what was happening if you didn't know all the details from the books. My only bug bear with book to movie adaptations is how fast they are being made. I watched The Drop before I even knew it was a book by my fave author Dennis Lehane and it really annoyed me that I couldn't read it first, I think the rights were sold before he even published it!
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That's the trouble isn't it? I've watched a few movies including The Maze Runner, Hunger Games, and The Mortal Instruments with people who haven't read the books and they spend ages after the movie asking questions!
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