Having your book turned into a movie is like seeing your oxen turned into bouillon cubes. John LeCarre
Never judge a book by its movie. J.W. Eagan
I don't really contemplate books and their movies too often; but both these quotes made me laugh and I thought I had to ponder them!
I often think the worst thing is when you have read a book; it's your favourite or fabulous or something and then it gets re-printed and somebody decides that the artwork on the front cover should depict one of the characters and they don't look ANYTHING like you imagined them or you think they should be! It makes me cranky and sad and I can't believe I even bother getting upset, but I do say no no no that's not what they look like and then never look at the cover again if I can help it! Laugh!
My thoughts about books to movies are limited. A couple that spring to mind are The Road and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think The Road ended up being a really good movie - slightly different to the book but it didn't make me despair. The book was one of my 'reads of the year' last year, so that is saying something. I had to watch the movie at home, with Barry and with the capacity to stop and talk and go away if needed because I knew it would be difficult.
I also liked the movie of TGWTDT - the Swedish version that is (not sure I'll watch the Hollywood version...). I enjoyed the books and of course Lisbeth became a hero in a kind of way, so it was important to me that whoever played her was gutsy and wild, and she was. A lot of the detail didn't translate but it wasn't the worst adaptation I've seen.
I'm sure there are plenty of bad adaptations but my mind isn't turning to any of them at the moment - perhaps you have some thoughts on the matter!
We are miles away from our computers and photo libraries and I don't really have a book to movie photo with me on the island, so here's something like The Road. A shot of a road we walk each day in Umbakumba, with a dog we call 'Shadow' because he appears every morning and every night and goes on our walk with us! We have no idea where he lives - he slips in and slips out without us ever noticing where he comes from or heads home to.
Wherever you are, I hope you get to enjoy some movies and some books - both are good for the soul I think. In the absence of movies for us, here's another happy shot - Barry fishing at sunset in Umbakumba.
BTW - no fish were injured or hurt in the making of this blog!
Never judge a book by its movie. J.W. Eagan
I don't really contemplate books and their movies too often; but both these quotes made me laugh and I thought I had to ponder them!
I often think the worst thing is when you have read a book; it's your favourite or fabulous or something and then it gets re-printed and somebody decides that the artwork on the front cover should depict one of the characters and they don't look ANYTHING like you imagined them or you think they should be! It makes me cranky and sad and I can't believe I even bother getting upset, but I do say no no no that's not what they look like and then never look at the cover again if I can help it! Laugh!
My thoughts about books to movies are limited. A couple that spring to mind are The Road and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think The Road ended up being a really good movie - slightly different to the book but it didn't make me despair. The book was one of my 'reads of the year' last year, so that is saying something. I had to watch the movie at home, with Barry and with the capacity to stop and talk and go away if needed because I knew it would be difficult.
I also liked the movie of TGWTDT - the Swedish version that is (not sure I'll watch the Hollywood version...). I enjoyed the books and of course Lisbeth became a hero in a kind of way, so it was important to me that whoever played her was gutsy and wild, and she was. A lot of the detail didn't translate but it wasn't the worst adaptation I've seen.
I'm sure there are plenty of bad adaptations but my mind isn't turning to any of them at the moment - perhaps you have some thoughts on the matter!
We are miles away from our computers and photo libraries and I don't really have a book to movie photo with me on the island, so here's something like The Road. A shot of a road we walk each day in Umbakumba, with a dog we call 'Shadow' because he appears every morning and every night and goes on our walk with us! We have no idea where he lives - he slips in and slips out without us ever noticing where he comes from or heads home to.
Wherever you are, I hope you get to enjoy some movies and some books - both are good for the soul I think. In the absence of movies for us, here's another happy shot - Barry fishing at sunset in Umbakumba.
BTW - no fish were injured or hurt in the making of this blog!
That's such a gorgeous shot to close with. Exactly why I love books is because I get to make my own "films" in my head that go at my speed as and when I'm reading. Lovely that shadow has found you.
ReplyDeleteFiona, how delightful the coincidence, Road and Dragon were two of my favorite reads last year and two of the only films I managed to see! They did not disappoint as so many literary adaptations do. Lisbeth was perfect! But some books in fact remain "off-limits" for me because I have such strong ideas in my mind of what they should look like. I specifically refused to go see the movie Blindness because the book needed to remain a pure reading experience for me and any visual version seemed both ironic and unnecessary! And do we really need so many Austen renderings? The Darcy in my mind will always reign supreme.
ReplyDeleteI love Thursdays. We all need to stop and ponder occasionally, but often don't make time. Your weekly blog makes me do this, so I thank you.
ReplyDeleteAnnie - so true; you get to replay scenes, imagine them and all the rest; its quite disconcerting when others interpret it for you!
ReplyDeleteG/Tt - Snap! They were both great films - and Lisbeth was just right! I agree there are books I would never see the movie of; I can read them over again but never want to see what somebody else pretend it is.
Jo - glad you enjoy the moments when we hit the pause button - I do too!