Books vs Movies – Why the Book will always be better.

In the age old debate on Books vs Movies, humanity will be divided into two groups. Those who would read the book before watching the movie (and usually wind up preferring the book) and those who would rather wait for the movie.

My husband and I usually land on opposite sides of this line. Me being a fervent reader and him preferring the opposite. The other day we had once again landed in such a debate and he wound up asking me what difference does it make? It is still the same story. So I have decided to attempt to accurately express – and hopefully resolve this debate once and for all – my views on why the book will always be better than the movie.

Movies are interpretations of the text. In a movie you are experiencing someone else’s experience of the book. It is like listening to someone else describe their delicious food. You are not tasting the food for yourself. You just wind up wishing you had ordered that instead.

Movies cannot include all the detail. To accurately translate a 400 page novel to a 2 hour movie, a lot of scenes wind up being left out or deemed unimportant. This in turns limits your ability to connect with the character on the same level you would have whilst reading through those “lesser” experiences. They show character development and heart. And usually wind up emotionally connecting you with a character that you would otherwise have ignored.

Movies cater to a greater audience and therefore need to adapt to that audience. In too many cases the scripts were altered from the original book to please audiences and tally sales. Even the slightest changes (like keeping a certain character alive) has a major impact on other character developments and motives. What originally seemed like a logical reaction can now be viewed as an overreaction.

Below are a few book to movie adaptations that I recommend you get into. I would love to hear what you thoughts – do you prefer the book to the movie?