There she is, in the flesh,
That woman that I conjured for so many days
With jet black hair and espadrilles,
But really she was mousy brown
And wore stiletto heels,
They changed the end as though
They had the right, the Godly power
To alter lives that once were set in ink.
And sometimes it can bring some colour to
A world that was so black and white,
The greens and blues become so bright
And beautiful, in ways I never thought they could.
The book was good,
But I loved the movie, possibly much more that I should.
I know that movie adaptations of our beloved books can be a bit of a touchy subject for some people and a lot of those people will say that a movie can never outshine that text that it was based upon.
In some respects, I guess I agree. But there have been several occasions where the movie has at least been comparable to the book. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve breathed a sigh of relief, as I have worried that the film or TV series would absolutely butcher a story that I love.
One person that is doing a lot of book to screen adaptations at the moment is Reese Witherspoon, and I have to say, she is on point. I am currently watching her take on the Celeste Ng novel, Little Fires Everywhere and I’m loving it.
I absolutely adored the book (and after reading Everything I Never Told You, she became one of my all time favourites). So, of course, I had to hold my breath as I began watching because I wanted Reese to have done it justice. And, oh my word, she has – helped along a bit by the fact that she has cast Pacey Witter as her husband, taking me even further back into the nineties than I already was when I started watching the show.
Reese also filmed an adaptation of Wild by Cheryl Strayed and, again I was blown away when I started off as a little bit nervous.
I do hate it when people absolutely swear off a movie based on a book and I find it a bit snobby when people don’t even give it a chance. I adore books, but there are people out there that hate it, and if these adaptations give them a chance to enjoy a great story that they otherwise would not, what is so bad about that?
Much Love
Rachel xx
juliadeniro
My favorite movies are the Lord of the Rings trilogy. They changed quite a bit from the books, but I didn’t mind.
patientandkindlove
I wish I could get into fantasy but I just can’t. I haven’t even watched any further that the first Harry Potter movie. It does sometimes annoy me when they really change the story. Write a whole new story if you don’t like what the author did!!!
Margot Kinberg
I agree completely that there are some book-to-film adaptations that are very good indeed. But I have to admit that I am a purist when it comes to adaptations. I want the film to be as true to the book as it is possible to be, with no deviations if it can be managed. That’s not always possible, but the closer it is to the book, the happier I am.
patientandkindlove
Yes, I need the book and movie to be the same. I feel like there is a glitch in the matrix when it deviates and the story starts to become unfamiliar. I find it quite unnerving.
clcouch123
“To alter lives that once were set in ink.”–really well-said.
I tend to think movies incapable of translating books because of the time difference. More often, though, I think of the two as an apple and an orange. Things seem to go better that way.
I hope you’re very well.
patientandkindlove
Yes, it is always interesting what they choose to cut for that time difference. I find it amazing that they manage to do it, really.