Bad Book - Better Movie?

[matei]

I agree about "Fight Club" and "Blade Runner".

Perhaps I am in the minority, but I enjoyed "The Maltese Falcon" more as a film than as a book.

I didn't read "The DaVinci Code" until about a year ago. My wife read it and was of the same opinion as many others here; it is a good idea, poorly written. I too felt the same. It is like the literary equivalent of fast food - a nice snack but not something I'd want to have every day.

I think I read it in about two hours or so - we were actually on the ferry going back home to Dublin at the time. A fun, simple read - nothing amazing.

 

[LeFonque]

Here's another controversial film better tan book "the Third Man" Orson Welles was fantastic as Harry Lime, the black and white post war backdrop abd the zither music was amazing!

 

[Samsa]

I can think of two:

1) High Fidelity
2) Naked Lunch

 

[Marc Chevalier]

... and the zither music was amazing!

Read all about it here: http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/591639/index.html


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[LeFonque]

Thanks for the Third Man Link. Great page

 

[rue]

*bump

I thought that Bridget Jones's Diary was an awful book and a much better movie.

Don't shoot me, but I also thought Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series was much better in the movies. I tried very hard to read his books, but for me Shakespeare is an easier read.

 

[Pompidou]

Jurassic Park was an okay book that became a groundbreaking movie. Also Jaws.

 

[Lady Day]

Beloved

The film changed my life, but for the life of me I can't get through a Toni Morrison novel. I've tried to read three of her books and I can't pick up the rhythm of her writing and it feels like I'm reading what noise looks like.

LD

 

[Widebrim]

While not a bad book--in fact it is a good one--Double Indemnity was better on celluloid...

 

[Cobden]

I preferred both the "Manchurian Candidate" films to the book. Conlon's writing style isn't for me

 

[Neophyte]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, and I'm not sure if the novella Who Goes There? counts, but John Carpenter's The Thing has almost always been in the top 10 of my favorite movies.

 

[Marla]

I know the following two are probably controversial, but I volunteer:

Doctor Zhivago (1965) as directed by David Lean, better than the book. The story just seems livelier on the screen, and the screenwriter made several changes to the plot for the better. My favorite change is that in the movie Zhivago has a heart-attack on the street when he sees his lost love Lara and collapses before he can get her attention.

Anna Karenina is another movie that is better than the book. Any movie version of Anna Karenina is better than the book. I think the plot can be summarized nicely in a two-hour movie, in book-form it's excessive.

 

[vitanola]

Stella Dallas.

the novel is a turgid weep-fest. The film is one of the great acheivements of the cinema. of course with Ronald Coleman and Belle Bennett as principals how could the director (Henry King) go wrong.

The King Vidor/Barbara Stanwyck version is quite good, though perhaps a trifle too tear-soaked for most, and the most recent Hollywood adaptation ("Stella" featuring Miss Bette Midler) I findto be nearly unwatchable.

 

[Mr Vim]

Farewell to the Master
By far a better story than the two films that were produced both titled the Day the Earth Stood still.

Don't get me wrong, I love both films, but the original story is better. Gort gets more screentime.

 

[Puzzicato]

I can think of two:

1) High Fidelity
2) Naked Lunch

I agree about High Fidelity. I liked the book, but the film has John Cusack.

My other big one is Solaris. Maybe in the original the book is better, but the English translation is tedious, while I found the film really atmospheric and haunting.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Red Headed Woman (1932)

The novel is an easy read, but Lil Andrews is whiney, selfish, unlikeable and thinks she should be entitled to riches. In the film Jean Harlow plays her just wonderfully. The film is changed a little -- I guess to make Lil more loveable and funny. In the book she is annoying.

 

[Dr Kilroy]

My other big one is Solaris. Maybe in the original the book is better, but the English translation is tedious, while I found the film really atmospheric and haunting.

I have read the book in original and in my opinion it was nice (I like all Lem's books), however I cannot compare it to the film because I have not watched it.

Best regards, Dr

 

[scotrace]

...it feels like I'm reading what noise looks like.

LD

Brilliant phrase!

 

[Yeps]

Naturally I discount novelizations of movies from this, since they are normally severely lacking.

However, The Princess Bride --- absolutely fantastic book, even more brilliant movie.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I preferred The Story of Temple Drake to Sanctuary, just couldn't get into Faulkner's characters at all.

Also, whilst I disliked the film American Psycho, I really really detested the book. The authour kept putting his point across with a sledgehammer.