You hear about an upcoming movie adaptation of a book you've not read (but have always wanted to), what do you do?If I am really interested in a book, I usually try to read it first before its movie adaptation is out because:
1. Sit tight and wait for the movie because you're too busy to read the book/plain lazy/the movie would be a good substitute.
2. Run out and buy/borrow the book asap and read it before watching the movie adaptation.
3. I don't watch movie adaptations, books>movies.
A) I want the full experience that the movie might not be able to give. After watching the Harry Potter movie franchise, I was so glad that I actually read the books first. The movies just did not do the books any justice (I still love the movies though) and I don't blame people who have seen the movies and are not inclined to read the books. I might have been one of those people had I not stumble on those books before the movie deals were discussed :O Since then, if a book to movie adaptation (that I am interested in) is due in the theatres, I try to read the books asap! There are just some emotions and inner monologues that can never be properly translated from paper to screen, you know?
B) Its fun to compare the book to the movie. I can even annoy whoever is catching the movie with me by saying nerdy comments like "Omg they totally skipped that awesome scene in the book!" & "Urgh the book was so much better. #booknerd4lyfe" Admit it, you do this too! :P
C) Its hard for me to get into a book AFTER I've watched its movie adaptation. I recently read (or rather listened) to The Giver by Lois Lowry after I watched the movie and since it was so similar to the movie, I felt like I did not get to enjoy it as much as I would've had I read the book first. Its one thing to watch your imagination come alive on the big screen but it takes away something from the reading experience when you already have visuals while reading the book. Does anyone feel the same way?
If I happen to watch the movie adaptation before I read a book (because I am a cheater), there is a high chance that I will not read the book anytime in the near future. I will usually wait a few months/year(s), when I've forgotten most of the movie, before attempting to read the book. (and by then I would've most likely forgotten about the book. heh.) But of course there are some movies that I felt were good enough on its own and/or I just don't feel like reading the book after watching the movie adaptation because it sucked.
Does watching a movie before reading the book affect your reading experience? or would you even read the book after watching its movie adaptation?
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Hi Ee Hwee.
ReplyDeleteI am a long way from being a snob, ... except when it comes to movie adaptations. In this circumstance, I feel totally justified in saying, 'yeah, the movie was good but the book was better'.
~Icky.
Hahah this happens so frequently. There are some rare movies that are as good as the books or maybe even better though!
DeleteI read way more books than I watch movies, so I guess statistically I'm just more likely to have read the book first! I do prefer to read the book first in general though. I like to form my own ideas and then see how they are interpreted on screen.
ReplyDeleteHA! You nailed every reason that I dislike watching a movie/TV show unless I've read the book first. I won't say that I don't watch the movie first, but generally if I've seen the movie first I won't end up reading the book after (with the exception of The Fault In Our Stars, so far).
ReplyDeleteMy husband hates seeing movies with me if I've read the book first, because I can't keep my comments to myself. My sister loves seeing movies with me after reading the books (think Harry Potter series) so we can dissect the heck out of the missing elements or plot changes they make. Ugh.
And right now I have the book ZOO by James Patterson in my June TBR pile, because a TV show based on the book is starting June 30th! So I finally need to read that book since it's been on my shelf for a long time now.
If it's a story I'm interested in then I always try to read the book first! If it's based on a book I have no interest in then (like, if I'll probably never read it anyway) sometimes I'll go ahead and see the movie :)
ReplyDeleteUsually I don't even know whether movies are based on books. With Vampire Academy for example the super terrible movie did a great job at wanting me to find out more about the VA world so I read the books. I get what you mean with the full experience, but I usually don't even notice that there was a book before the movie. If I do know, I'm obviously not going to watch the movie unless the subject really interests me - sometimes I don't even bother when I already know who got cast for which role. Part of the full experience is imagining the characters in my head while reading the book. if that already got spoiled for me - eh.
ReplyDeleteI always try to read the book before seeing the movie. I like to compare them.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I try to read the book before I see the movie or TV show, but I won't wait if I have the opportunity. I'm really enjoying Game of Thrones right now and debating whether to read the series. There's just so many books and they're huge!
ReplyDeleteIt really depends on the book for me, but mostly I will try to read the book before I watch the movie. Some books I am not interested in reading, but would still want to watch the movie and yet others I don't have the time to read or not care enough to read before the movie. I feel like you get the best experience if you read the book before the movie, like with Harry Potter. I also generally like movie adaptations because I can get more of the same story, and I don't really compare them. To me the Harry Potter movies is something completely different from the books, and I like them both :D
ReplyDeleteAlso, I nominated you for the Liebster award. You can check it out here: http://cucie-reads.blogspot.no/2015/06/liebster-award.html :D
I almost always read the book first, but I did watch The Maze Runner before I read the book and, oddly, I think it actually made me like the book better. I noticed that a lot of people complained that the book meandered a bit, but since I knew where it was all leading, I was still really invested in the story. I also kind of loved reading the book and noticing all of the little differences from the movie instead of the other way around. Weird, I know!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I prefer to read the books before watching the movies. I'm a believer that the book is almost always better than the movie, because it's what the author actually imagined and wanted in his or her story. I will still read the book even if I have seen the movie before reading it. It might just not be at the top of my TBR list.
ReplyDeleteMeredith @ A Book Lover's Corner