Most of the time I like the book better than the movie or TV show. In fact, nearly every time I prefer the book over the adaptation. Many a coworker has heard me go off about the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because it’s just so wrong on so many levels, and I could go on forever about why. But on rare occasions, I prefer the adaptation. Mind you, for all the following, I watched the adaptation before I read the book, so perhaps that has something to do with it.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Don’t get me wrong, I love Neil Gaiman. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of my favorite books, and I’ve enjoyed every other book of his that I’ve read. However, there was just something about Stardust that wasn’t great to me. I love the movie, and I’ve seen it a number of times, but the book just didn’t seem to have as much heart as the movie. It didn’t feel as magical. The narration felt so distant, which I’m not the biggest fan of, so it’s probably just a preference thing. But it made it so I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters as much as I did while watching the movie.
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Mostly I love the development of the side characters that you get in the show that doesn’t get to happen in the books. Since the books are more focused on Quentin, I missed my favorites: Elliot and Margo. I also particularly loved the way Quentin’s relationship with Elliot developed in the show. I know that they veered way off of the events of the trilogy in the show, but for once that didn’t bother me. It quickly became one of my favorite shows, and it’s one of the few I own on Blu-ray.
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
I think this one in particularly is a case of I-saw-the-movie-first. The movie was just so much…well, cooler. While the book was interesting and the mystery of the area was intriguing, I kept waiting for weird, messed up animals to come wandering by. I kept waiting for all the cool, bizarre things that showed up in the movie. And then they didn’t, and I was disappointed and wanted more weird plants and fungus taking over bodies and doubles of animals bounding along. Especially after reading Borne by VanderMeer, I was disappointed by the lack of weird, magical things.
Do you have adaptations you enjoy more than the books? If so, which ones?
What I wrote this week
Draft 2 of the second Enorians book – Prologue through Chapter Two
What I’m reading right now
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patrice Caldwell
The Artful Edit by Susan P. Bell
A.M. Sӧtemann 