Book or Movie?

Do you prefer to read the book or watch the movie based on it? We all have our opinions.

I was brought up on books. I learned to read before I saw my first movie. In fact, I was in grade school when I first visited a cinema. Of course, I lived on an island off the coast of North Carolina, and until I was a teenager, a trip to the mainland was by boat until someone finally decided to build a bridge.

Reflecting on that time, over half a century ago, I recall being thrilled to hop in a car and drive across the bridge to town. I didn’t realize that it was a two-way bridge. Strangers began coming from the mainland to the island. Then the tourists came, and the island was no longer ours, so to speak. The best comparison I can make is to imagine waking up in the mornings to see a group of rowdy people standing in your backyard. But that’s beside the point. I finally went to the cinema.

Sitting in the theater was an unforgettable experience for someone who had only seen black and white television. The movie screen was huge. Friends could join us without having to sit on the floor. And POPCORN! We could pay a dime for a whole bag of popcorn coated in butter and have a soda with it. It was magical, and after just one trip, I couldn’t wait to return. Some of the movies were even in color, something I couldn’t have imagined as a child.

Fast forward to adulthood, when the movies I went to see were often based on books I had read. Oh! The disappointment. I will never forget thinking That’s not how it is supposed to happen. And the characters I imagined never looked like the ones on the screen. Of course, there is always an exception.

Years later, my younger stepson and I went to the movie one Saturday afternoon to see a film based on a John Grisham book. He was in high school and an avid reader. Often, I would read or reread whatever he was reading, and we would have lengthy discussions about the books, such as Atlas Shrugged, The Great Gatsby, and Catcher in the Rye, among others.

We had both just finished The Firm by John Grisham when the movie came out. We enjoyed the book. (My husband, his father, was a lawyer.) We decided to see the movie. I will never forget him leaning over to me during the movie and asking, “Is this the book we read?”

And there you have it! Screenplays are not always faithful to the book. In fact, I have seen very few movies based on books that accurately reflect the writing style of the book’s author or the book’s content. Often, I feel cheated.

On the other hand, I saw a movie named “The Ninth Gate” starring Johnny Depp years ago. I noticed that the credits mentioned the film was based on the novel “The Club Dumas,” written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. I enjoyed the movie, so I decided to read the book. I loved the book! It was a great introduction to an excellent Spanish author.

The story centers around a book collector and a mercenary book detective hired to find a rare edition, and that’s where the similarities ended. I still like Johnny Depp movies and I have read every book written by Arturo Perez-Reverte. But I no longer expect a movie to reflect the book upon which it is based.

It’s my opinion, but to put it simply:

If I were a published author and received a serious inquiry about turning my book into a movie, I would jump at the opportunity if the terms were satisfactory. Let’s face it, movies generate money and name recognition. I read somewhere that when Lee Child was asked about Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher in a movie named for and based upon one of his books. he agreed that Cruise had nothing in common with the character of Jack Reacher — not size, not looks, nothing — but the movie made his name and his books known around the world. (Potentially more readers and buyers of his books.) That’s good business. Whether Lee Child said it or not, it’s a good point.

It’s been said that we should not judge a book by its cover. I say, “Don’t judge a book by the movie.”