So between school, all the TV shows I DVR and the constant stream of movies I watch... I also read. Impressed? Yeah, I didn't think so. Reading helps keep me sharp and its a nice way to relax my brain before sleeping. I read somewhere (ha!) that watching TV right before you fall asleep isn't a good thing (if you have difficulty sleeping) because the lights from the TV act as a stimulant for your brain. I have difficulty sleeping therefore I try to read.
I generally prefer memoirs/true accounts as opposed to fiction, chick lit and any of that Dean Koontz type crap. I just can't get into those books. Every once in awhile I'll read a fictional novel. Kristin let me borrow The Other Boleyn Girl. I was interested in this story and knew a movie was coming out with Natalie Portman (love her!). I like to read books if I know a movie is being made from them. This gives me the power to heavily criticize a movie (That really strayed from the book! What crap!).
So, when Kristin lent me the book - I noticed it was a little thick for a paperback. I opened it to the last page and saw that it was almost 700 pages! Holy crap!! I mean, its an interesting story and an easy read but 700 pages?! Oy. Hopefully I'll finish this before the movie is released and then I can discuss it intellectually like I did for:
- Memoirs of a Geisha: yeah... strayed from the book and somehow the intrigue of the book wasn't captured well in the movie.
- American Psycho: I *loved* this book. It gave me nightmares. I blame this book (which I read about 10 years ago) for my irrational fear of serial killers. When reports of a movie was being made, I was stoked! Although I wondered how they'd convey some of the more gruesome scenes (the chapter on the rat! UGH!!). They didn't. And the ending?! What crap. I was super mad although Christian Bale did a superb job.
I meant to read the Nanny Diaries and The Devil Wears Prada before the movies came out but got sidetracked.
Read any good books that translated well to the big screen?
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9 comments:
i too *loved* the book "american psycho" and, just like you, read it about 10 years before the movie came out.
ummmm -- i have to say that the closest book/movie correlation that i can think of is "running with scissors". i read the book about a year before the movie came out and it's pretty close.
so while reading your blog about halfway threw I started humming the reading rainbow theme song...I guess that is a good thing :)
I don't think a fear of serial killers is irrational at all.
I liked the Harry Pooter books, but somehow the movies just didn't live up to my expectations
I have read quite a few books that went on to become movies. For the most part, Hollywood butchers literature, but I understand their doing it given the constraints of keeping it under 2 hours and playing up themes that are more universal in order to sell more tickets.
Books that I read that were also movies:
1. "It" by Stephen King. The movie version of this was actually really good and stayed as true as it could to a book that was over 1200 pages. Not to mention it had John Ritter and a young, fat Jerry O'Connell. Book to movie grade: A
2. "The Last King of Scotland" by Gilles Foden. Maybe one of the best books I've ever read. Pretty decent adaptation to film, granted I fell asleep midway. Bonus points should be given for Forrest Whittaker, who is one of the more badass actors in Hollywood at the moment. Book to movie grade: B
3. "Pursuit of Happyness" by Chris Gardner. An amazing, feel-good movie, but the portion of the book represented in the movie is literally the last 50 pages or so of a 350 page book. The background of the plight of Chris Gardner only makes his meteoric rise to riches and, now fame, more touching. Growing up in a Milwaukee ghetto, being repeatedly beaten by a drunk stepfather, having his mother in and out of jail, joining the Navy and becoming such a skilled medical worker that he performed surgeries with no actual medical school, being raped as a teenager by another man, failed marriages, that his son was actually a newborn (and not a precocious little scamp that happens to be the lead's son)while they were living in the BART station and in the Tenderloin mission are all components of the book that are glossed over. Truth be told, had Chris Garnder led the life as told in the movie, he'd have gotten off easy. Book to movie grade: C-/D+
4. "Different Seasons" by Stephen King. This book of four short stories led to the movies "Shawshank Redemption (Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption)," "Stand by Me (The Body)" and "Apt Pupil (same)." I did not watch Apt Pupil, partially because the story was so good. Shawshank Redemption may be one of the best modern-day movies and Stand By Me did a very good job of pulling together the themes from "The Body." All in all, I would say book to movie grade: A+ (that could be lowered based on Apt Pupil)
I do want to read "No Country for Old Men" because A) I have heard it is wonderful and B) any book the Cohen Brothers would adapt must be awesome.
Okay, that's enough.
I loved The Other Boleyn Girl and became addicted once I got into it. A lot of people in my book club loved it so much they read a lot of the other books by Gregory. They say this one is the best, though. I only hope the movie lives up to it!
to be honest everytime i read a book and then it comes out on the big screen (or broadway) i am always deeply disappointed. every. time.
i love to read but few books i have read have translated well onto the big screen. oh well. i guess i should start reading big boy books.
drew has been trying to get me to read and/or watch American Psycho ever since we started dating. i've got to see what all the hype is about now that i have you to vouch for it :-) you should talk to linz - i think you guys have the same taste in books...
Harry Potter. That's the extent of my book-to-movie reading.
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