Sunday Salon | Books into movies

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Good morning fellow saloners – thanks for stopping by. I just finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman and it got me thinking about books that have featured on the big screen. Turning a book into a movie must be a really difficult task – an author uses language to draw the reader into the story, tell us what the characters are thinking and feeling, and to paint enough of a picture that our imagination can then do the rest. This of course is completely different to a screen play.

Take the Harry Potter series for instance – the books are just crammed with so much detail that the movies just don’t do them justice. I remember seeing the early movies quite soon after reading the books and being disappointed – the actual story lines were being amended to fit the big screen format. Fortunately the movies have improved as the production team has changed over the years – and I’ve found the best way to appreciate them is to separate them form the books and enjoy the films on their own merit.

I have a similar issue with the DaVinci Code – I know some people think this book is over-hyped but I really enjoyed t and thought it was make an amazing film. I turned up at the cinema filled with excited anticipation – and left feeling let down – they completely changed the ending for Pete’s sake! My husband was confused as to why there was so much hype about the book – and I had to explain that the book was amazing – and the film was… ugh!

Then we have The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – now it has been many many years since I read that book – and I though the film was fantastic – just the right amount of drama and special effects to sweep you up into the magical world of Narnia. Back home I decided to read the books to save me waiting for the next film to find out what happened next. Wow did those screen play writers take some artistic license – there are scenes in the movie – that seem to be integral to the plot – that aren’t actually in the book! To be honest I finished with the Wardrobe and decided not to read any more of the series – I’ll just wait to see the lavish productions at the movies instead.

So my track record of books into movies isn’t great – should I bother with Stardust the movie – or just stop with the book?

What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy movie adaptations of books? Have you had a different experience to me? Do you think that screen play writers can pull off the conversion successfully?

I’d love to hear what you think.

Mrs S

PS – if you’re a fan of Anne of Green Gables stop by and find out about my mini-challenge: Celebrating 100 years of Anne