Cloud Atlas Comparing movie to the book

[Trisha]

My husband just requested it from Netflix, so I haven't seen it yet, but I'd like to get a discussion going for those who have seen the film and read the novel. Does it stay true to the book? Is it less confusing? More confusing?

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Haven't seen the movie, I'll have to ask my kids -- they love to go to movies.

[Trisha]

Sadly, I found the movie to be an even bigger disappointment than the book. It was much more choppy than the novel, and was not told in the same order as the book. Also, they not only left out giant parts of the backstory, but they changed things around as well. My husband (who had not read the novel) gave up halfway through the movie and started playing Candy Crush on his iPhone. It was soooo much more confusing than the novel and it made even less sense because so much of the backstory was missing. Double disappointment with this one :-(

[Antonio]

I started reading the book but I gave up after the first chapters. I couldn't follow the story or simply, I just couldn't get into it. More boring than confusing, though. What do you think, should I give it another chance? Is it worth retrying? I didn't see the film either, but I've heard it's visually stunning, not enough for me anyway ;)

[Trisha]

Honestly, I would not recommend giving it another try. I found it a combination of boring and confusing :-(

[Antonio]

Definitely, that's a bad combination...

[Kat]

I thought the first few chapters were boring, but by the time I finished it did give me some interesting things to think about in relation to genre, authenticity, plagiarism, and plot device. For me, it was worth finishing.