The age of computer technology makes us live "faster." More information, the minimum time to remember it and all that remains is a little time for fun. Many people spend this time on their hobbies, others are swallowed up by social networks and the Internet, and still, others prefer popcorn and a good film.
Films are being filmed today at a frantic pace. Several hundreds of films of various genres are published annually. Some of them, represent a fictitious story, others tell about real events of the past, and some are screen versions of books. Our good paper books. For the sake of which you can take your eyes off the monitor or TV screen and devote some time to reading.
Today, opinions about what is better: a book or a movie are divided. You can bring a lot of arguments in defense of one or another way of knowing the world and self-development. So let's start with the advantage of films.
Modern fast life for some people leaves no time for reading. If you need to study the plot of the book and there is its screen version. It’s easier to spend 1.5-2 hours to view the film than a day to read the book. A feature film is an opportunity to rest because while reading the human brain performs complex operations.
It seems to us that we also relax while reading, but what does it cost the brain to "convert" the literal symbols into images that arise in our imagination. This is not to mention the fact that you need to feel emotions and sympathy for the heroes because this is the essence of reading books.
The book makes the brain work, and this is good, but the transformation of letters into images sometimes becomes an obstacle to the emotional saturation of the brain to the extent that a film can do. The main work of the brain is to understand, what the author of the work, however, wanted to say.
With the movie еverything is easier. There is no need to represent anything: streets, cars, costumes, even the heroes have themselves already been created, by those who worked on the film. Cinemagoers need only follow the plot and delve into the essence of experiences and things. Thanks to the finished picture and accompanying sounds, a person doesn't need to think, just enjoy and watch. By the way, the plot of the film is remembered much brighter and for a longer than the similar book.
There is an opinion that films are preferred only by narrow-minded people who neglect books and see them as waste paper. The school program involves reading all genres of literature, but it is quite limited. If a person likes only fiction, he will not read novels that were not on the list.
As for books, one thing is known: reading is useful. It develops the imagination, makes you think, worries, increase your vocabulary. Many people who have read a book and then watched a movie made on it are disappointed. The main characters were not so, the situation was different, to say nothing of the fact that half of the plot of the book is simply not in the script! But do not forget that some five hundred page volumes are simply impossible to fit into the compressed frames of an hour and a half movie. If you want a complete picture - read the original.
The film is always reworked, with the help of a screenwriter and director. So the movie is always presented from the point of view of the people, who worked on it. And the point of view of the author of the film may not coincide with yours. Accordingly, the film and the book is better perceived, as two different works.
Anyway, the richness of the description, in the book cannot be compared with what the director conveys, even the best and most quality picture. In films, directors almost always include moments that could interest the viewer and force him to watch to the end.
The film and the book are still perceived and evaluated differently. After all, these are even different forms of creativity that, simply cannot be compared. There are ideas of films that, have never been embodied in the written version and works that, may not be the basis for writing a script for the movie.
There are film fans who don't refuse to read interesting works for them, and literature lovers, which are not averse to spend time in the cinema when watching the next premiere. But there are no ideal films, no matter how talented the director and actors are. Therefore, cinema can never oust books from a person’s life. Classic is classic. Whatever the film version, many works will still be better than films.
Watch movies, read books. It does not interfere with one another; every kind of creativity allows a person to develop. So why not scoop information from many sources.
1. How about you? What do you like more books or movies?
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Sources
Comments
Some will say "Well, read the book if you want to get all the references". But I don't have to! Movie and the book are two completely different products, separated, you cannot simply produce unfinished movie and say "Read the books to understand everything". It does not work like that.
Of course, majority of movies which are based on books, are weaker than book. It doesn't mean that those movies are bad. While reading books we can read people's thoughts, use our imagination to build scenography in our head and be much closer to the story.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
I have read many books, which had their film realization, and I always preferred my version of the story. Most of the time I was disappointed.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Nothing comes to my mind. I'm still waiting for better screening of "Ender's game"
I do not read too many books. I only watch movies with other people. I believe that books are for reading alone, and movies for sharing with others through spending time together.
I read the Hobbit book and I saw a piece of the movie. It was better in my imagination.
Certainly a lot depends on the book and the film. Certainly there are a lot of descriptions of the area and the place in the books, and in the movies the background is always, so people do not pay too much attention to it.
Hobbit, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings.
I don't love these movies. These are the only examples that came to my mind.
Difficult question, I love and read books, and watch movies, before when I had more time I loved reading books, but everything depends on the genre.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Yes, a similar situation happened to me 5 years ago, when the book was better than the film, I just read the book after the film.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I really like the screen version of The Chronicles of Narnia, because the characters are written from Greek and Roman mythology.
2. I don't recall that such a situation touched me so much.
3. Interview with the Vampire. It seems to me the best screening of the book.
Of course it's way cooler to say, that I like books more than a movies :P and it's actually true, I'm book lover, but there were a few times where movie was actually a better, f.e. Fight Club, Casino Royal or (now, everyone: hate me!) Lotr.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Biggest disappointment when reading book first was: Harry Potter (books are 10/10 for me), Hobbit, The giver and if we count comic books as a book then Netflix Death Note.
Books that were worse than movie: mentioned point before, but also "Hauru howl casle" was an amazing anime and quite 'meh' book.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Casion Royal was great, because book is actually quite boring and movie is best James Bond movie, imo. I love it for nice acting and for making great action movie that allows you not to think much and just enjoy and not being ultra stupid and the same time.
I like books and movies. I can't separate them. When i need to find some knowledge about what i need i started to read a book, when i don't have a lot of free time i can watch movie/video.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
No, i have never experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book has already been read and i have never read book after the movie. As i mentioned i watch movie OR i read book, i don't mix it.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Harry Potter, but as i said, i didnt read books, i watched movies only.
2. Yes, I’ve read “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” once and after that I watched the film which was absolutely disastrous. The history presented in this movie was completely different than in the book and even putting this disadvantage aside, the movie itself was just terrible. Unfortunately, I can’t remember any book I read after watching the film.
3. I like the film adaptations of Henryk Sienkiewicz Trilogy which describes wars between Poland and Sweden, Ukrainian Cossacks and The Ottoman Empire. They are quite accurate, well made and extremely interesting to watch despite being made long time ago with technology we consider ancient right now.
I guess that on most occasions I would choose a movie since it’s just a click and go right now with all these streaming services. Apart from that, a movie generally doesn’t require so much attention as a book usually do. Right now I work in the day and study in the evening so once the day is over I’d rather watch a simple movie but I recently got a few interesting books that I am planning to focus on and read them carefully.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Of course, many times. If I watch a screening of a book, most of the times, after watching it I prefer book. Books don’t have upper limit so the author can do what he wants. Movies should have a decent amount of time as the viewer might get bored or tired. A book can be closed and left and the reader may return to it whenever he/she wants. Watching movies in pieces is rather not a good practice.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I don’t think I have one as screen versions usually disappoint me.
I rarely read a book and watch a film based on this book, but I think that there is no rules, sometimes screenplay make bad book a good looking movie and vice versa. Also when books become weaker movies based on them are becoming worth. So I think when books are good, then movie have less chances to fail.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
I think a lot of people are disappointed when sees that what they have imagined doesn't align with what creators vision. And this is the most important aspect of books, we create our own universe in our imagination. So when we see the movie in first place, our mind is constrained by movies creators vision and we cannot enjoy the book by 100%.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I will advice something besides Lord of the rings or Harry Potter, and despite I'm a man I really enjoy "Pride and prejudice" and think this is great book adaptation.
I hated books when I was a child but right now they are really my thing. I love reading books and learning new things from them. Movies are interesting and cool to watch with friends but when u are alone I highly prefer books, movies are ending too fast even when they have 2 or 3 parts.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
I don't read books after I watched movie based on it but I watched few movies after reading book and in 90% cases im really dissapointed in a movie. It's just never the same or just a little bit similar.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Well I like hunger games but I haven't read a book. I like this movie because it shows problems that even modern society has.
The all of books I was reading and after watching movies I was disappointment. But we can’t taking care off this. The books are writing like to reader imagine the action in novel. In movie the action must be created top-down.
Like I said in previous comment. I didn't saw good screen version of book. So I still waiting for good screen version.
It depends. When I was young I loved reading books - I brought them everywhere with me. It was like an addiction. I love books now, but I don't have so much time like then. I prefer watching movies, because it's more available and not so time consuming. But if I have some spare time, I'll choose book.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie? Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
All the time, but there are some movies or books, that there aren't so poorly done. I like Harry Potter saga and I totally prefer books, but movies aren't so bad. They're not good, but because of my love for it it's acceptable. My favourite movies based on the books are LOTR saga - they're marvelous and amazing!
1. Personally, I prefer movies, because movies are more "realistic" and you can see what is actually happening. Reading book, you have to imagine that. Secondly, I do not have much free time, so movies are the best option for me.
2. Yes I have experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has been read already. For example "Journal 64" book is very interesting and have a lot of details, but movie have only, I don't know, maybe 60-70% of details described in book? But I never read the book after the movie, so I can't describe my feelings.
3. "Journal 64" mentioned above. I'll say shortly 1 difference between book and movie. In book we have description of murder very detailed, but in movie, not really. Only few second and done.
I don't have my preference here. For me these are two different formats that cannot be compared fairly. And of course books will have higher rankings because it needs to stand out to be made into movie.
2.
Not really as I stated above.
3.
Ender's game is cool. It's almost the same as books.
I like both books and movies equally. Books allow me to calm down and stop thinking about some issues, but they require a lot of time. In the case of movies, watching takes us a few hours, but at the cost of simplifying the story. Therefore, I always try to keep balance between both.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Yes, but most of all, my disappointment is rare, because going to the cinema I realize that the story will be stripped down and often somewhat misrepresented in relation to the original. However, I always try to have a view on a story from both the book and the movie, in order to have a full picture of the situation and possible interpretations.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I like most probably the screenings of Tolkien's history.
Unfortunately, I do not always agree with the vision of the author of the films. Sometimes the book is gorgeous. And you know that a movie can be cool too. But alas, the director spoils everything.
I have to admit, most movies I watched after first reading the book, disappointed me. But there are few exceptions.
I like when the movie take different approach than a book like in the ‘I am legend’, I loved both the movie and the book.
I think the best and first example is Lord of the rings. I love the movie and even tough it is old it's still better that nowadays movies and the books are great.
It depend on genre. Fantasy I like to read first and than watch a movie. Biographic stories I like to watch because reading biography is a little bit boring for me, but there are a lot of lives that worth to be known. When reading a book everything looks like you want in your imagination.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
I was very disappointed after watching "Eragon" movie. All races were looking different than it was described in a book. Also a dragon: have you ever seen dragon with feather wings???
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
"Harry Potter" and "Hunger Games" fulfilled all expectations. I like those movies for its scenario that is very close to books, its visual effects and of course for characters that look like as they were described in books.
I prefer books. Some time ago I switched from paper books to e-books, because of efficiency reasons, also when I have e-book I can always read it because it is on my smartphone. For me, books are deeper, every feeling, every thought,, everything in books is described more precise in comparison to movies.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
One of my biggest disappointments was the Eragon movie. I have read the books, I liked it and I was waiting for this movie with the hope that it will be the same as the book. Unfortunately, it is not. There is a lot of plot holes, stupid dialogues, shitty graphics and overall it looks strange.
3. Give examples of your favourite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I think LOTR is a great example. I love books and movie. They are different, but each of them is great and watching/reading them makes me feel the joy and give pleasure.
I have it in different ways. Sometimes a movie is superior to an original written in a book. It is rather necessary to disassemble the individual works and their screen versions, then you can more accurately judge the comparison.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Yes, it happened to me. I can give you an example. I am still waiting for the quality adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace. So many options were removed, but did not get what I wanted to be honest. Of course, I agree, this is not so easy to do, since the work itself is rather voluminous. But since they dare to do it, why not do it with dignity. Well, this is my personal opinion.
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Here I think a good example. The Book of Mario Puzo The Godfather. I watched a 1971 film at the beginning. And then read the book. So, when I read in 90% of the time I presented a picture from the movie. Well it turned out to compare the book and the film.
If movie is based on book and I have read a book then a book, if you ask generally then I like both
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Most of the time I’m fell disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read of course there are some exceptions if book was short and movie wasn’t a loose adaptation or a vision of film director that didn’t even read this book then it’s good and dandy.
3. Give examples of your favourite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
I don’t have favourite screen versions of the book. If I have to say then maybe “Lord of the ring”, “Hobbits” because these are rare fantasy movies, nice scenery and they don’t sing every 20 min like in the book and first 4 parts of Harry Potter because the book where short and they didn’t change too much.
But sometimes I read books on which they shoot films and I have never liked the film adaptation. Even if he has a high rating, he still will not embody everything from my head and this usually disappoints me. So there is no better adaptation.
(Due to technical difficulties, i am forced to post comment using diffrent account)
Mateusz Burzyński
s12800
2. I think I always think that the book was better.
3. I do not think I have one.
Additionally, recently I found that audiobooks are quite good way of reading when you (like me) cannot concentrate on a paper book in e.g public transport. I’ve never understood the idea of audiobooks until I tried it.
2. Maybe not disappointment but I felt like it could contain more “meat”. I have The Martian in my mind right now. I didn’t read any book after watching a screening.
3. In the past for some reason I didn’t like to read books and my adventure with reading started not so long ago so for now I don’t have any examples about topic mentioned in your last question.
2. From what I've experienced, directors tend to change the story a lot. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest changed characters and situations, I Am Legend totally missed the point of the book, Angela's Ashes felt like a highlight reel of the book and just skipped so much detail, but what can you do.. a movie is typically 2 hours long
3. Stardust. The movie added a lot of really great elements that weren't originally present in the book, but the feeling of the book was definitely still there. It's probably the only adaptation I can think of where I actually prefer the movie to the novel.
Books are longer, you can enjoy them more. however good movies gives you pictures and sound.
2. Have you experienced disappointment after watching a movie when the book, has already been read? And if you read the book after the movie?
Thats why I try to watch them before I read them,
3. Give examples of your favorite screen versions of the book and why you love this film?
Clockwork Orange, which has a very good movie adaptation. Its brutal, specific, and gives a good moral