Books or movies?
-
No matter what the genre, 95% of the time the book is a far better choice. I was tempted to say 100%, but then remembered a few books that were written after the movie, and those are uniformly disappointing. Not only do movies always omit details in order to meet a run time goal, they skip such critical steps as background development and character depth. Sometimes - all of the Jack Ryan movies except "... Red October" for instance - appear to have been made by people who have never read the book, nor had it read to them. These movies aren't even the same story as the book of the same title.
Will Rogers never met me.
Good point(s). :thumbsup: Did you happen to waste any time with the Stephen King / CBS TV series "Under the Dome"? Not even close to the book. Bad enough that important story lines were dropped but they added new ones for no apparent reason. :wtf: BTW - I happen to be in the middle of reading all of Clancy's "Jack Ryan" novels in chronological order. Just started "Debt of Honor".
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
-
Good point(s). :thumbsup: Did you happen to waste any time with the Stephen King / CBS TV series "Under the Dome"? Not even close to the book. Bad enough that important story lines were dropped but they added new ones for no apparent reason. :wtf: BTW - I happen to be in the middle of reading all of Clancy's "Jack Ryan" novels in chronological order. Just started "Debt of Honor".
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
Mike Mullikin wrote:
I happen to be in the middle of reading all of Clancy's "Jack Ryan" novels in chronological order.
Good move! Every few years I have to do the same; they never get old, even as I do. I've never understood the attraction of Stephen King, having read one or two of his early works and not being interested by them. I just don't "get" horror stories, I guess. Reading the newspaper is all the fright and psychotic delusions I can process. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
-
Mike Mullikin wrote:
I happen to be in the middle of reading all of Clancy's "Jack Ryan" novels in chronological order.
Good move! Every few years I have to do the same; they never get old, even as I do. I've never understood the attraction of Stephen King, having read one or two of his early works and not being interested by them. I just don't "get" horror stories, I guess. Reading the newspaper is all the fright and psychotic delusions I can process. :-D
Will Rogers never met me.
Roger Wright wrote:
I've never understood the attraction of Stephen King
I actually like most of King's stuff... its the newspaper that I stay away from. :-D
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
-
6 months? 5 books? :omg: I read that many in a week... :-O
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
You have my sincere sympathies, while I would like to be able to speed read the tech books I like my entertainment slow and comfortable.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH
-
Roger Wright wrote:
I've never understood the attraction of Stephen King
I actually like most of King's stuff... its the newspaper that I stay away from. :-D
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington
:laugh: :laugh:
Will Rogers never met me.
-
Just completed reading the novel "Killing floor" from Lee child. Now I see books are more interesting than the actual movies with stunts, visual effects, etc when it comes to ACTION THRILLERS. For instance, there is a whole luxury of imagination of your own when it comes to a fight, chasing, the land mass, etc unlike the movies where you have to live with what is shown whether you like it or not. As this is only my first book on this genre I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
definately books are more interesting than movies but only when you read the book first and may be watch movie later. what happen with me recently that i have already watched movie "life of PI" and now i am reading the book..but now i do not feel like reading book as i can only imagine actors when i read the book. so i quit reading this book and now will go with some other option.
Ravi Khoda
-
I disagree. You can take an excellent movie (or even a good one) and produce a "book of the movie" - they nearly always stink! Normally because there isn't enough in the movie to make a novel, but they aren't allowed to invent material by the studio, so you do a "Dan Brown" and pad, pad, pad! There are exceptions: but you need a good director who will work with a good author to produce a good book, and that's rare (the only example I can think of is James Cameron and Orson Scott Card on The Abyss) "Movie of the book" goes the other way and throws out too much because the film would be a week long if they didn't! (A recent example is Enders Game: excellent book, hacked to death to fit in a film, and ends up poorer as a result)
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
:thumbsup: I agree here, although I did give in in the end and watched Enders Game, and perhaps since I didn't expect much of the movy, was sortof pleasantly surprised.
"Chess, like Love, like Music, has the power to make men happy" (TARRASCH). Love is like a Game of Chess: One False Move and You're Mated ~ Anonymous~ "A computer programmer is someone who, when told to "Go to Hell", sees the "Go to", rather than the destination, as harmful."
-
That is why I use to wonder why dont they do tv series on good novels........there is high a chance we get the similar output. (Atleast I am not aware of any at this point of time).
-
You know what, I would have described myself the same way if asked last year same time. With in last 6 months I completed about 5 books. Believe me, if you are able to finish one book, it is highly likely that you may end up as a book freak. I am telling from my experience.
-
I love novels, read over 30 last year, and re-read some. I am on my 17th this year. Give a detective story, I will finish it in a day. I can't go a week without reading fiction. My little addiction.
I remain joe!
Have you tried watching a movie of the book after? what is your opinion?
-
Have you tried watching a movie of the book after? what is your opinion?
-
Just completed reading the novel "Killing floor" from Lee child. Now I see books are more interesting than the actual movies with stunts, visual effects, etc when it comes to ACTION THRILLERS. For instance, there is a whole luxury of imagination of your own when it comes to a fight, chasing, the land mass, etc unlike the movies where you have to live with what is shown whether you like it or not. As this is only my first book on this genre I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
When you say book I am assuming you mean fiction type. I actually feel guilty if I spend hours reading a "story" compared to a book on self-growth or something I could use in life or business, with the amount of books that could do an impact in life plus work plus family, there is no time for fiction. I also enjoy the visual effects like in Lord of The Rings and Thor. So definitely a movie.
Make it simple, as simple as possible, but not simpler.
-
When you say book I am assuming you mean fiction type. I actually feel guilty if I spend hours reading a "story" compared to a book on self-growth or something I could use in life or business, with the amount of books that could do an impact in life plus work plus family, there is no time for fiction. I also enjoy the visual effects like in Lord of The Rings and Thor. So definitely a movie.
Make it simple, as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Adam Tibi wrote:
I also enjoy the visual effects like in Lord of The Rings and Thor
I bet you have far better visual effects in your imagination than the one that you see in the movie.
-
Adam Tibi wrote:
I also enjoy the visual effects like in Lord of The Rings and Thor
I bet you have far better visual effects in your imagination than the one that you see in the movie.
-
I free my imagination for other fantasies :) (code fantasies, if you are wondering!)
Make it simple, as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Well then fictional books are not for you :|
-
Just completed reading the novel "Killing floor" from Lee child. Now I see books are more interesting than the actual movies with stunts, visual effects, etc when it comes to ACTION THRILLERS. For instance, there is a whole luxury of imagination of your own when it comes to a fight, chasing, the land mass, etc unlike the movies where you have to live with what is shown whether you like it or not. As this is only my first book on this genre I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
I'm with you on book being better in all genres (at least those genres I like to watch / read). There are exceptions, but they're rare. I'm also a bit against JRR Tolkien's sagas - LotR is not a "quick" read - you need a vacation to enjoy it at "leisure" otherwise you're going to hate its verbosity. Similar examples exist, but I'd say they are the chicken teeth between the feathers! One example where it varied between sequels. I liked the Dune movie better than the first set of Dune books they were based on (not the original 1984 version, but the one which came out in 2000's). This was because IMO Frank Herbert had a very rambling writing style, sometimes I found it torture to read through the book. The movie did however amputate much of the story. Some of the later books however were written at a much better pace, and the latest are actually written by his son in conjunction with Kevin J. Anderson (the writer of XFiles) - these I REALLY liked (gobbled them up over a year to the expense of not watching a single movie / TV show the entire year). The 2nd "set" of movies (Children of Dune) was al-right, but by then I've wrestled through the first books and have found the jewels at the end - which meant the movies were just snippets from the books, and badly thought out imagery as compared to what my brain could render. When I re-watched the Dune movie, I didn't like it as much as before. I could actually see scenes my mind made up from the book which was not in the movie - and to me that had a detrimental effect on the movie.
-
Electronically, and at the Public Library! (There are probably less than 2000 books in this house: I threw out 5000 or so when we moved - couldn't even give 'em away :sigh: )
Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)
You should have checked the local high schools. A few years back I donated 1500 books to the local high school and was able to declare the donation on my taxes. A win for the high school and a win for me! Now, this was before ebooks really kicked in so things may be different now.
-
Just completed reading the novel "Killing floor" from Lee child. Now I see books are more interesting than the actual movies with stunts, visual effects, etc when it comes to ACTION THRILLERS. For instance, there is a whole luxury of imagination of your own when it comes to a fight, chasing, the land mass, etc unlike the movies where you have to live with what is shown whether you like it or not. As this is only my first book on this genre I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
Govindaraj Rangaraj wrote:
I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
I used to, but I've come to realize that it's like a play -- different interpretations of the same material. Taken like that, I can often enjoy both, although not too close together.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
-
Just completed reading the novel "Killing floor" from Lee child. Now I see books are more interesting than the actual movies with stunts, visual effects, etc when it comes to ACTION THRILLERS. For instance, there is a whole luxury of imagination of your own when it comes to a fight, chasing, the land mass, etc unlike the movies where you have to live with what is shown whether you like it or not. As this is only my first book on this genre I am not sure if everyone feels the same way as I do.
I always found it best to watch the movie then read the book. The book will always have more detail and more characters. The movie will always leave scenes out that you wanted to see, or blend characters together, or even change the point of the story. Rarely will you not be disappointed when you see the film version. Some exceptions, Bladerunner was a much better movie than the book, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Bladerunner had scenes that were lifted directly from the book, but the wrappers in the movie made them much better than their context in the book. I thought the Harry Potter movies were better than the books (towards the end) because the movies remembered they had a story to tell and I think JKR had forgotten that with the dollhouse she had created and was just having too much fun playing with them than in telling a story.
Psychosis at 10 Film at 11 Those who do not remember the past, are doomed to repeat it. Those who do not remember the past, cannot build upon it.
