Is the Book Always Better? The Big Adaptations of 2018

I agree with Precious, Ready Player One's film adaptation watered down OASIS. Plus, the real world is a dystopian wasteland of hopelessness; Halliday''s Easter Egg Hunt is what brought Wade hope to change his future. He went against Sorrento and IOI's Sixer's because of their ruthless means to win; yet, the movie refuses to show the truth.

Alexis wrote: "A Wrinkle in Time was SUCH a disappointment of a movie. I absolutely love the book, but the movie is extremely boring and has no soul."

Did the plot change from the book?

Autumn wrote: "It’s a shame that the critics trashed “The Darkest Minds” adaptation, because the audience review was vERY high, especially among the book community. It’s a problem we’re seeing more and more of la..."

Agreed!!!!

Same with Mortal Engines

I have read crazy rich asians a long time ago and I hated it, some characters were just infuriating and I suffering trying to get threw the book. But the movie was absolutely wonderful, I loved the actors, the soundtrack and the cinematography.

All movie adaptions are terrible- Hollywood, in order to make money, takes a writer's prose, makes it commercially sellable by molding the novel into 1 .45 hours so can air for 2 hours on TV with commercials which totally changes what the writers book was about.

I’ve read Annihilation, A Simple Favour, and The Hate You Give, but haven’t gotten around to seeing their adaptations yet.
But I have read and seen, Simon Vs/Love Simon...and both were equally as good.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before the movie was enjoyable enough, the book was terrible. And while both Ready Player One and Red Sparrow’s adaptations were good, the books were better.
In answer to the question: most times I find the book to be better, but there are the odd occasions where the movie is on equal par or better than the source material. 😊

I loved the movie version of A Wrinkle in Time. A lot better then the past versions. I would say the movie did a wonderful job portraying this story. I don’t think it was better than the book but it was equal with it.

Two books I can think of off the top of my head where the MOVIE is BETTER than the BOOK are: Phantom of the Opera, and The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride has the annoying rambling author tooting his own horn, plus the racism. and Phantom had the old-fashioned, stilted language that I'm not a fan of. I think many people rating these books here on Goodreads are rating the films and not the books.

Two books I can think of off the top of my head where the MOVIE is BETTER than the BOOK are: Phantom of the Opera, and The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride has the annoying rambling author tooting his own horn, plus the racism. and Phantom had the old-fashioned, stilted language that I'm not a fan of. I think many people rating these books here on Goodreads are rating the films and not the books.

That is the point to this news section which is better book or movie. The Phantom of the Opera which are you referring to the musical or the horror movie? I have never read either but have seen both versions of the film. I saw the film of the musical didn't like it at first but has grown on me since.

Under the Tuscan Sun was a great book. Movie in my opinion was lousy!

Bice wrote: "Under the Tuscan Sun was a great book. Movie in my opinion was lousy!"

Were they similar?

I adore the book for Ready Player One so I thought I'd watch the film, which is rare for me as I'm not a film person at all and it was so bad. I struggled to even finish it; everything that is good about the book, is removed from the film.

Harley wrote: "I adore the book for Ready Player One so I thought I'd watch the film, which is rare for me as I'm not a film person at all and it was so bad. I struggled to even finish it; everything that is good..."

That is interesting isn't it?

I generally try to read books before I see the movies. I am equally bookworm to movie buff so I don't think the book is always better.

Ready Player One - I loved the movie! I was surprised as the trailers looked terrible. I liked the book as well but there were parts that annoyed me to death (ie- describing gear for a page and a half)

Crazy Rich Asians - One of my favorite movies of the year!!!!!!! I watched it first. Read the book in November and I didn't hate it but I really didn't care for it either.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Completely different animals but I enjoyed them both a lot!

A Simple Favor - Listened to MOST of the book on audio but had to stop because I couldn't listen to Stephanie talk anymore. Read the rest of the book which was a complete dumpster fire. I don't know how it got a movie. Doubt I will be seeing it anytime soon.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - All the love for both. Listened to the book on audio. (view spoiler)[ I was so scared that the movie was going to change who Blu turned out to be. The party seen literally had me freaking out like "hell no!". Thankfully they brought it around for a even more satisfying end. (hide spoiler)]

Bird Box- Haven't seen the movie yet but I am pretty excited. I really liked the audio book. Can't wait to see it. I can tell from the trailer though that changes have been made so time will tell.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before- Haven't read the book. Absolutely adored the movie. It was so cute and sweet. I intend to read it in 2019.

I know "Wrinkle in Time" had its critics, but I really loved the movie adaptation. Granted, it's been many years since I read the book, but I thought the movie was so magical!

I would go as far to say that my favorite book-to-movie adaptations this year were: "CRA", and "A Simple Favor". I'm biased because I love both Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, but I really thought "Favor" was a great departure for each of them, from their usual roles. That said, I have not read the book, and do not plan to...

Can I add one more adaptation? I know "The Handmaid's Tale" isn't technically brand-new, but I think I like the series more than the book. The book is an important and appropriately-horrifying read, don't get me wrong, but I just think the series is working with more, somehow.

Ready Player One was A quality.
The movie was B-

Jessica wrote: "I generally try to read books before I see the movies. I am equally bookworm to movie buff so I don't think the book is always better.

Ready Player One - I loved the movie! I was su..."

Jessica, I agree with almost all your comments, as I consider myself a movie nut too. :)

I heard from others/read reviews, that the original "Simple Favor" (book) was pretty bad in overall quality. I don't know if your already-meh opinion of it will color your takeaway from the movie, but I really liked the movie, personally, and I would recommend it if you like light mystery movies.

All in all, I thought it was a good, twisty movie. They did make a lot of changes from the book (Apparently). But if the book was as bad as I heard it was...maybe the changes would morph it into something improved? We're coming at it from opposite ends! At the very least, I think it's worth the $3 rental from Redbox, or free rental from your library, if you're ever interested. :)

Melissa wrote: "Jessica wrote: "I generally try to read books before I see the movies. I am equally bookworm to movie buff so I don't think the book is always better.

Ready Player One - I loved the..."

My husband and I had bought tickets to see A Simple Favor before I read the book and for some reason the theatre was doing maintenance so we didn't get to go. Then I read the book. I do have it on my request list from the library so when I get it I will check it out. It HAS to be better than the book. lol

Ready Player One... I guess if I had watched the movie first, I would have liked it a lot better. I was so excited before and so disappointed after... The Haunting of Hill House is not really an adaption in my opinion

To all the boys i’ve lov Befor is the best!!!

I loved the actors, the soundtrack and the cinematography
دريم بوكس

I did not like RPO when I read it. It was full of badly constructed sentences and the main character was very whiny and unrealistic (a teenage boy who is so very in touch with his feelings and is able to express them in words!) There was a lot of repetition (especially about the whiny stuff). So I suppose the teenage "voice" came across well, but I did not like this voice; it annoyed me. The film, therefore, for me, was a huge improvement! I went in with low expectations, having kind of hated the book, and was pleasantly entertained by the film (in fact, this was my logic in going to see the film: it has to be better than the book!) The changes in plot did not bother me. Some even seemed like improvements in the film. The book dealt with the romantic relationship better, though (neither, very realistically.) Of course, it would be revolutionary if they were able to make the love interest truly unattractive (rather than a pretty girl with a scar, gasp!)

A Wrinkle in Time is problematic as a book (just read it this year for book club, and we all agreed that it just had a lot of issues in pacing, weird choices, things that did not make a lot of sense, etc.) It's probably great to read as a child, but not as an adult. The film was also problematic, but interestingly, they managed to find other things to screw up. The book was at least memorable. The film was not. Both left me a bit dazed and confused.

Blue wrote: "I did not like RPO when I read it. It was full of badly constructed sentences and the main character was very whiny and unrealistic (a teenage boy who is so very in touch with his feelings and is a..."Dazed and Confused? hmm.. I read the book but didn't see the movie. It looked interesting and had a lot of good actors in it. Visually appealing was whata I got out of the previews but didn't see the movie Is the storyline about the same in both movie and book?

Theresa wrote: "My husband and I have a deal, I read the book and then we watch the movie together. This is super interesting to see if he likes and understands the movie without reading the book, and of course, I..."
What a cool couples thing to do. U should switch it up though and have him read some books, then u see the movie and compare notes.
I’m going to try this with my friend. We’ll each choose 5.

I've only seen Love, Simon/Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and A Wrinkle in Time from this list and enjoyed both the movie and book versions for different reasons.

That said, very few movies are better than the book because of time/plot constraints, casting choices, etc. in my opinion.

The Red Sparrow series was amazing! The movie was absolutely the most embarrassing thing I have ever watched. I was psyched that Jeremy Irons was playing Marble. The film adaptation was nothing like the books.

It’s funny I just came across this article. I just watched Night Train To Lisbon again and having read the book a few years back I felt the film was a better telling of the core story. However. It’s making want to read the novel again to see if I gain a new perspective on it I liked it enough on the first read but didn’t love it. Movie adaptations are often their own thing and that is fine. The book is always there too. I’m curious to see if I gain new insights and feel a new perspective about the book once I read it again.

Ella wrote: "Don’t forget bird box"

What about Bird Box? I loved the book, but I don't know anyone who as seen the movie--

Interesting to see other people's thoughts about the Crazy Rich Asians movie adaptation. Personally, I thought the book was better because what I really enjoyed in the book was almost impossible to translate to screen. The book was part satire on Singapore/Asian values and beliefs which made me laugh because most of it is true. The length of the book also allowed for the inclusion of more characters so that we could see more Singaporean-ness but these things were likely cut for time reasons in the movie adaptation. Though I agree that the movie was more emotional than the book, I think this is mainly because the movie was more a family drama than a comedy while the book was comedy through and through.

I liked the “To all the Boys” movie a lot more than the books. The characters felt more developed in the movie to me and the sister dynamic seemed a lot sweeter. I love the Gurnsey movie and book equally. I think the adaptation did amazingly well when it came to staying true to the characters as necessary changes were made.

I read Ready Player One far before the movie came out and I was amazingly underwhelmed. The book was average to the point I almost didn’t like it. But the movie? I was completely blown away. I remember seeing the trailer and thinking how awful it’ll be (as movies are usually worse so you know, okay book= bad movie), but when I saw it I couldn’t get over how good they made it. The plot was nothing the same and somehow that was the best part.

I’m as much of a movie buff as I am a bookworm so I’ve never really agreed with the idea that the book is always better than the film. I don’t think people realise how many classic films were based on not very good books that are completely forgotten today and just remember the less good film adaptations of well loved books. I would say the book tends to be better than the movie but the proportion is more like 70/30 or even 60/40 rather than some overwhelming truism.

As for the 2018 movies vs the books that I’ve seen and read:

The To All The Boys I Loved Before film was better than the book simply because Lara Jean is more likeable and actually acts her age in the film.

I ‘liked’ the Ready Player One movie more than the book but that’s not saying much as the book is one of my least favourite books I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading. Spielberg added some really fun set pieces to a terrible story.

I enjoyed the Crazy Rich Asians movie much more than the book thanks to a really charismatic and funny cast and tight script which brought to life a book I found mindnumbing with zero likeable characters. I think visually seeing the opulence was an advantage as opposed to the author having to run through every single designer outfit, piece of jewellery, inheritance and lineage for what felt like pages and pages.

Love, Simon and Simon vs are both enjoyable but have different strengths and weaknesses (the movie does a better job at keeping Blue’s identity a mystery but consequently the Blue character ends up less developed, for example). I’d give the slight edge to the book just because I care more about Simon, Blue and their relationship in the original.

The Annihilation book was quite different from the movie but I liked them both a lot. I think the movie has stayed with me more just because the imagery was so striking and also because I found the book sequels to be a bit of a let down.

With both The Hate U Give and A Wrinkle In Time the book was much better than the film.

So that’s 4/3 in favour of the films and I’ll just delete my goodreads account in shame!

katrina wrote: "I’ve never really agreed with the idea that the book is always better than the film..."

I usually enjoy miniseries/movies more than their corresponding books. (I read, but mainly non-fiction.) For fiction, I mostly read classic novels, and those have often been adapted to T.V./the silver screen many, many times, so there are really good adaptions in the pile.

A Series of Unfortunate Events (season 2 came out this year) is one of the greatest adaptions of literature that has ever been made. It includes world-building pieces of information from Lemony Snicket's All the Wrong Questions books and weird songs that are similar to the songs on the A Series of Unfortunate Events audiobook. It also updated the progressive messaging. When the books came out in the 90s and 00s, they were progressive but views back then on feminism, intersectionality, etc. are outdated by today's standards.

The only downside is that a lot of the riddles in the books are impossible to definitively solve (They can only kind of be solved, if you look at fan theories online. Think Twin Peaks.), so the final book doesn't solve anything and adds more questions (Huge questions!). There are things in it that even seem out-of-character, because we don't have enough information to understand them (we only get clues/hints). I'm nervous about how the show will handle it. If it's by the book, people are going to flip their lids.

The only one of these I’ve watched both the movie and read the book was Simon. I loved both and the only major thing I would critique is how they portrayed Leah. Otherwise both were fantastic. Loved them, so much.

Jaime wrote: "Interesting to see other people's thoughts about the Crazy Rich Asians movie adaptation. Personally, I thought the book was better because what I really enjoyed in the book was almost impossible to..."

I agree. I liked the books as well but also was surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie. Obviously, the didn’t go into the depth of the characters and their various stories as in the books. But I thought it was a good job of encapsulating the story into the romance b/w Rachel and nick. I’ll be curious to see what they do with the story for the 2nd/sequel film.

Heather wrote: "katrina wrote: "I’ve never really agreed with the idea that the book is always better than the film..."

I usually enjoy miniseries/movies more than their corresponding books. (I read, but mainly n..."

I usually go by the rule that “yes, the book is always better than the movie (b/c u get more depth/ length) but it’s easier to see the movie than read the book.” That’s what my grams said. She said if u can do both but if not do whichever interests u more

Mattiem wrote: "I liked the “To all the Boys” movie a lot more than the books. The characters felt more developed in the movie to me and the sister dynamic seemed a lot sweeter. I love the Gurnsey movie and book e..."

Agree. I thought the film did a good job equal to the book “ to all the boys”

katrina wrote: "I’m as much of a movie buff as I am a bookworm so I’ve never really agreed with the idea that the book is always better than the film. I don’t think people realise how many classic films were based..."

Good points.
What I have found recently is how many movies I saw and liked when I was a kid only to learn they were based on books now thought of as classics.
I.e. Rambo, Mary poppins, topper, Gigi, auntie mame, etc...

Jenna wrote: "katrina wrote: "I’m as much of a movie buff as I am a bookworm so I’ve never really agreed with the idea that the book is always better than the film. I don’t think people realise how many classic ..."

Interesting and true

The only notable exception that the movie far out shown the book was Dr Zhivago. The last 50 pages of the novel were poetry and Lara who Julie Christie beautifully portrayed in the movie was a desperate whiner in the book- totally different from Christie's portrayal.
The movie was made before the shows were tailored to be on TV and watch on TCM with no commercials as a classic cinema masterpiece.

I hated the book Ready Player One and loved the movie! Also, Crazy Rich Asians was better as a movie. There are too many characters to keep them all right in the book!

Annihilation was boring and ugh. Book was weird and boring.
Ready Player One, book blah, movie tolerable.
Meg, book was better, movie... jaws all over again... boring, bloody and pointless...
Hill House, I actually loved the feature film that came out long before the television series, which is eh... the book was better, the film was fantastic and creepy

The Snowman, although not a new Jo Nesbo, was a thrilling movie but panned by the critics. Haven't read the book but read a summary that was enough to tell the book and the movie were quite different. For one, a character was killed off in the movie yet is in the next two books in the series. Loved Michael Fassbender as Harry Hole.

Crazy Rich Asians movie was done pretty well despite some differences here and there from the book. The book was pretty good, too!

Agree!