Bart's review
A Good Year (MTI)
by Peter Mayle
Bart's review
A Good Year (MTI) by Peter Mayle
Bart's review
rating:
recommended for: People who haven't seen the movie
Here's something you don't often hear said by readers: The movie was much better than the book.
I'm afraid in this case it's absolutely true. And the movie - which received lukewarm reviews - wasn't just more entertaining; it was more complicated, more sophisticated, and dare I say, more literary than the book.
About the only thing the screenplay kept from the book were the characters' names and the French vineyard. Sure, there were a number of other bit players who remained the same - but the main characters, and the plot itself, were altered considerably.
The book had its moments, and for the most part was the sort of light fare that works perfectly in airport terminals - where I read A Good Year - but it made no meaningful commentaries on the human condition, took no interesting chances with the language and left the characters very much the same on the last page as they were on the first.
Admittedly, the movie is heavy-handed in the transformation it sub...more
I'm afraid in this case it's absolutely true. And the movie - which received lukewarm reviews - wasn't just more entertaining; it was more complicated, more sophisticated, and dare I say, more literary than the book.
About the only thing the screenplay kept from the book were the characters' names and the French vineyard. Sure, there were a number of other bit players who remained the same - but the main characters, and the plot itself, were altered considerably.
The book had its moments, and for the most part was the sort of light fare that works perfectly in airport terminals - where I read A Good Year - but it made no meaningful commentaries on the human condition, took no interesting chances with the language and left the characters very much the same on the last page as they were on the first.
Admittedly, the movie is heavy-handed in the transformation it sub...more
