Poll
Do you like reading the book before or after seeing the movie?
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Before film
Both
After film
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Gwen
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Jan 05, 2012 06:52PM

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THIS! I completely agree.





It seems better to get the originally intended storyline/plot/character descriptions than a director or actor's interpretation, which may be different than your own.




I like that!







Exactly! So many people don't get that!




I love giving my characters their own faces and characteristics and not concentrating on an actor.
I also love comparing the book and movie and I can't seem to do that if I watch the movie before reading the book.

I admit in most cases I find that I much prefer the book to the film, going this way, but I find I enjoy READING the book more, before I see the film. Once I've seen the film the book doesn't really have the appeal to me anymore.


I like to read before the film, so I can compare the original with the film, and see what they took out, changed, etc.

Only a few films really stay true to the book (which is one of the reasons that I really love the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice as it's basically the whole book brought to life). However, there are a couple of instances where I saw a film and loved it so much and then read the book and it didn't nearly engage me as much as the movie.





However, one big bonus to reading the book first is that I don't get stuck with the movie actor's face in my head when trying to read it later. When I read Lord of the Rings, I don't picture Elijah Wood as Frodo because I read the book in 1995; if I'd seen the movie first, I'm not sure I'd have that luxury.

However, one big bonus to reading the book first is that I don't get stuck with the movie actor's face in my head when trying to read it later. When I read Lord of the Rings, I don't picture Elijah Wood as Frodo because I read the book in 1995; if I'd seen the movie first, I'm not sure I'd have that luxury.
I agree. I read our library's paperback movie tie-in edition of The Descendants last October. It was very distracting to read with George Clooney's face appearing as Matthew King.


But if you watch the movie first, the book is more likely to let you down. The question is: Which is more important?


I agree. I learnt this young, when I read Mary Poppins in advance of the new film. Although the film was a disappointment at first, I came to like it later and I knew that it would have been much worse if I'd had soppy Julie Andrews in my head messing up the image of 'my' Mary!

So ultimately, I always read the book first. I'm not usually too disappointed with film adaptations, so that's not a concern for me.

My favorite book to movie adaption is The Night of the Hunter. That has been one of my favorite movies for years and I didn't even know until recently it was originally a book. A suspense classic with Robert Mitchum at his evil best... well worth it, I think.

