Do your read book first or watch movie first if the movies is based on a book?

[Bhole]

Last year I spent 4 days finishing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Le Carre before watching the movie. And I must say I loved the book a lot though I had read it before. It can beat any modern literature in the way it has been written.

I also read The Girl with Dragon Tattoo before watching the movie. Will do same for other movies that are based on books

[rpw]

I read the book first. If a movie comes out that I want to see and I haven't read the book ie Hunger Games I don't see the movie.

I did see a movie based on a book first. That was Coraline. Hadn't been introduced to Neil Gaiman at the time and didn't realize it was based on a book. LOVED the movie. Have the book on my Kindle now but haven't read it yet.

[Denicemarcell]

I try to read the book before I see the movie or I might decide never to read the book so I don't know what I've missed those tend to be graphic novel or comic book based.

[Bob]

I read the book before seeing the movie as the movie does not have all of the details and subtleties of the book. Sometimes I will see a movie based on a book and am intrigued enough to read the book.

[Anshuman]

I read the book after I stumbled upon it in a nearby bookstore. I stumbled upon the movie while lazily strolling up to the entry gate of a movie hall. These incidents happened in that order and I am happy about that.

[Kamakana]

Sometimes read the book first, especially thoughtful, conceptual work that intrigues more by ideas than spectacle: eg Name of the Rose by Eco, Periodic Table by Levi, or is primarily within a character's senses, eg. Jane Eyre
Sometimes see the movie, maybe read the book if you want; eg 2001 a space odyssey- if you want to understand what you just watched, by Clarke, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- it takes a lot less time than Larrson
Sometimes if makes no difference: eg Never Let Me Go, by Ishiguro, beautiful either way

[Melinda]

I always read the book, someitmes see the movie. I find that most of the movies aren't worth my time and are never better or even as good as the books!

[Jim]

I tend to read the book after I've seen the film, but usually regret it afterwards.

[Susan]

It depends. If I've read the book first, I sometimes get frustrated with the movie.

With Tinker, Tailor, I saw the movie first (LOVE Gary Oldman!) and then I read the book. It didn't decrease my enjoyment of the book, at all, to know the plot before I read it.

[Bob]

I usually read the book first. I have Tinker, Taylor on DVD with Alec Guiness as George Smiley. I did not see the movie as Alec Guiness was the definitive George Smiley for me and the PBS production was faithful to the book.

[Joseph]

Could the movie be worse than the book? Hard to imagine. This may be the most overrated "thriller" of all time. Repetitious writing style, boring, insufferably "British" characters, not even a semblance of a plot. My only response after reading it was, "who cares?" In general, though, I think it's best to see the movie first. That way you're amazed by the richness of the book. (See my review of Winters Bone.)

[Patrick]

I read the book first, and then watched the excellent BBC adaptation with Alec Guiness. Over the years, I had read the book again several times. Recently I had a chance to watch the television adaptation again, and enjoyed it even more than I did the first time around. This is, for me, Le Carre's finest novel.

[Angie]

Normally I want to read the book before the movie.

When I see the movie first, it can be because I didn't know about the book's existence before the movie (ie The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Cirque du Freak, The Pianist, Angela's Ashes).

If the movie is very good (or excellent), it can motivate you to find and read the book.

[Joseph]

More often than not, a movie is a disappointment after you've read the book. Best strategy is see the movie to whet your appetite, then go to the book to see what the movie leaves out. I just did this with Gone, Baby, Gone. It worked. Once in a while, a book can be a disappointment after the movie. Most obvious example for me was The Silence of the Lambs.

[Julia]

I try to read the book before I see the movie, but it doesn't always happen that way. I don't necessarily think it's bad to see the movie first either, even though a lot of people seem to live by that. I saw Tinker, Tailor in theaters before I read the book as I'm a big fan of most of the actors that are in it. I loved the film, so I decided to go ahead and read the book.

[Steve]

I watched Tinker Taylor when it was first broadcast by the BBC in a series and I was smitten. I bought the book and the TV series was pretty much to the script of the book. Then I went to see the film version and I was thrown by it.

Yes the plot was the same but it was odd not seeing Alec Guinness playing Smiley although Gary Oldman does an admirable job. And even though overall the theme was the same the film seem to go about it in a different way. I think I need to see the film again to get use to the new thinking on the book.

[Angie]

Synopsis wrote: "I watched Tinker Taylor when it was first broadcast by the BBC in a series and I was smitten. I bought the book and the TV series was pretty much to the script of the book. Then I went to see the f..."

I know what you mean. It reminds me when I read Death Note and then I watched the anime. In the second part, some passages were changed, however, the problamatic reached the same solution with the same explanation of how it was solved.

[Steve]

Angie wrote: "Synopsis wrote: "I watched Tinker Taylor when it was first broadcast by the BBC in a series and I was smitten. I bought the book and the TV series was pretty much to the script of the book. Then I ..."

Thanks for your reply, but I should have also added the the detail had also changed in the film, the location and the way a shooting was carried out, kept faithful by the BBC, was nothing like the book in the film version. If I had seen this film first then read the book I would have been perplexed.

[Angie]

Synopsis wrote: "Angie wrote: "Synopsis wrote: "I watched Tinker Taylor when it was first broadcast by the BBC in a series and I was smitten. I bought the book and the TV series was pretty much to the script of the..."

I read the book first and then I watched the movie. I agree that many things changed although the main problem had the same culprit and how did he do it without explaining every detail.

First of all, for instance, the country where Prideaux was taken as prisioner wasn't Hungary.

[T.B.]

I read and re-read Tinker, Tailor regularly. I find it oddly comforting.

I thought the movie was a stinker. The work of an angry adolescent mocking the world of grown-ups. I especially was galled at the portrayal of Smiley and Guilliam as triumphant careerists.

[Steve]

T.B. wrote: "I read and re-read Tinker, Tailor regularly. I find it oddly comforting.

I thought the movie was a stinker. The work of an angry adolescent mocking the world of grown-ups. I especially was galled ..."

LOL I had to laugh at your post as I do the same, and Smiley's People, at the moment I am trying to read other Le Carre books and although intriguing I do not get the same satisfaction as I did with Tinker Taylor and Smiley's People, so I take your point.

As for the film, I think it was Le Carre himself who did not want a re-make of the BBC version but a totally different perspective, it did that alright as for periods during the film I was puzzled following the plot as I know the original quite well.

[T.B.]

I really like Smiley's People, too. But for different reasons. The scene where Smiley "turns" the Russian dude with Toby's help is masterful.

I wonder why no one will make a film of The Honourable Schoolboy. Other than the expense.

[Steve]

T.B. wrote: "I really like Smiley's People, too. But for different reasons. The scene where Smiley "turns" the Russian dude with Toby's help is masterful.

I wonder why no one will make a film of The Honourable..."

Actually its an odd story based around the drunken newspaper hound Gerry Westerby escapades in Hong Kong. Gerry had been pillerised by Toby Estahase in Smiley's People but exonerated in this story. The book seemed an infill between Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People as there was no apparent connection with the novels either side. Still an enjoyable read though.

[T.B.]

Yeah, Westerby was a bit of a mess. Still, it would make a rollicking book. Westerby is an interesting, flawed character: strong, smart in many ways, but a hopeless romantic boob, drinks too much, in love with precisely the wrong woman. It would be a really expensive movie to make: Hong Kong, SE Asia, Tuscany, London.

[George P.]

I don't generally have a preference on whether I 1st read a book or see the film. In the case of "Tinker..." I saw the film a year ago and just read the book (audiobook actually, mostly while on a 2000 mile drive). I wish I had done it the other way around in this case, because I found the movie very confusing and it was hard to generate much interest in the characters. The 13 hr (10 disk) audiobook was much clearer and I felt as if it were a different, better story.

[Bryan]

I almost always read the book before seeing the movie, be it Steven King, Tom Clancy, or John le Carre.

I think there are half a dozen times in which I watched the movie first.

[Lauren]

If possible I tend to read the book before the movie...for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I read the book, then watched the miniseries with Alec Guinness and then the new movie.

[T.B.]

I think it's always a good idea to read the book first. Loved the Alec Guinness version. Wish I'd never seen the movie. Smarmy it was. And the end was just execrable.

[Steve]

Well I've been brushing up on the books, I got hold of a compendium, if that's the right pronunciation, of the 3 Le Carre books all under one cover. Tinker Tailor, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People. And I am struck by the detail left out of the on screen versions, being it the BBC, cinema or otherwise.

The books are the only way to get the full feeling of these stories, and although the on screen versions are welcome I am reliving the original stories that had me memorised in the first place, I think I may be wary of filmed versions in the future, although The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was a gripping version.

[Vera]

I usually don't want to see the movie when I have read the book. It spoils the whole setting and the way characters look that I have in my mind and I don't like that.
There has been one exception and that was The Name Of the Rose, written by Umberto Eco. I've read the book several times and have seen the movie and I have to admit that I have never seen so many ugly men together in a movie, I could never have made that up in my mind. Not Sean Connery of course :-) but all the other monks.

[T.B.]

Synopsis wrote: "Well I've been brushing up on the books, I got hold of a compendium, if that's the right pronunciation, of the 3 Le Carre books all under one cover. Tinker Tailor, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smil..."

I dearly love the Karla trilogy. Don't know why exactly. May have to do with it taking place in a time never to return, even though that time was not the best of times. A lot has to do with the Smiley character. I think he is a type who is rapidly disappearing off the face of the Anglo-American earth.

[Dinah]

Just a note for buffs. LeCarre researched The Honourable Schoolboy rather quickly, I think, during the same time I was working out in Hong Kong. He was ably assisted by a revered local reporter, Bing Wong of Time Magazine, who had worked for many years as their permanent bureau researcher while the Americans came and went on their tours. I'm sure Bing steered him right, but I don't think you can parachute into a story like that and equal the matchless feel LeCarre had for his own espionage MI6 culture at home.

[Enrika]

Well... i think its a good idea to read a book first than to watch a movie

[Adrianne]

Since I went on kind of a binge of reading John Le Carre's novels, I have tended to digest them each as they come out.... faster than the movie comes out. I believe I probably enjoyed the movies, too, but this genre of novel is one that I always enjoy much more reading than watching on a screen.

[Feliks]

With regard to John LeCarre the only way to proceed is chronologically. Books first, then movies. You're missing out if you skip over some books, or read out-of-sequence. This is because LeCarre has a special way of tying background characters and incidents together across separate novels. Its a beautiful thing; delectable literary stuff, and quite startling.

When you work your way through his output in order you will see that in his own way, he is the premier English novelist of the century and gives the reader one of the richest contemporary experiences possible.

Once you get to 'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'--watch the superb Martin Ritt movie. One of the best book/movie pairings in history.

When you get to 'Tinker, Tailor'--afterwards watch the standout BBC mini-series starring Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, and Ian Bannen.

Forget about the bogus, recent re-make. Cripes. They can't do it right; you can't trust them. You can't top Alec Guinness. Its totally insulting when they attempt these craven, money-grubbing re-hashes.

[Ted]

As others have said, I prefer seeing the film first and then reading the book. The other way round is always disappointing.

I also agree that the recent film with Oldman wasn't great. I much prefer the BBC series even if that dates me. Guinness inhabits Smiley perfectly. You can watch it here if that was before your time.

[Phil]

I prefer to read the book first, since the book is usually the original story and reading the book often helps me understand the truncated storyline presented in a movie. For example, I just saw several posts of opinions on the latest film version of Anna Karenina (which I read as an undergrad Russian major). One reviewer said she preferred the 10-hour BBC version, because, in addition to being well done, it captured all the complexities of the novel. If, therefore, someone sees a two-hour film version of Anna Karenina, they will not be able to appreciate all the depth of the novel, whereas if that person reads the novel first, they will appreciate the complexities of it and will be able to recognize the shortcomings and truncations of the movie.

[Feliks]

I prefer to read the book and not watch the movie at all! Ha! Okay..sure: the general, overall excellence of the Alec Guinness version I happened across by accident as a lad; but any BBC production in the 70s ..heck, it didn't matter how you encountered them, they'd prove always to be capably done. Even the most innocuous title. After a certain point in time though--there's little chance they're gonna 'get it right' no matter who's in charge. Neither the filmmakers nor the audiences are up to their jobs anymore. Especially for any work of LeCarre's. It mystifies me as to why they even thought they needed to re-do a series which originally paired together Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Alexander Knox, and Ian Bannen. It gets even better when you see Guinness in the subsequent 'Smiley's People'; another BBC gem-- includes Michael Lonsdale and Patrick Stewart (as Karla). You just can't find top talent like that.

[Tom]

Feliks wrote: "With regard to John LeCarre the only way to proceed is chronologically. Books first, then movies. You're missing out if you skip over some books, or read out-of-sequence. This is because LeCarre ha..."

The main character in Honourable Schoolboy is Gerry Westerby, who has a small but very crucial part to play in Tinker Tailor.

The way he is portrayed very ably in the BBC version is very different from the way he is in Schoolboy. In Tinker Tailor, which precedes Schoolboy, he is much older and more burned out than what he is in Schoolboy, where he's younger.

Anybody have any thoughts?

[Feliks]

Yep, I remember that as well. It a problem. One just has to overlook it, in cased like that. Production and casting and writing will differ from project to project.

Good observation, keen eye there. Thanks for posting this!

[Phillip]

I saw the movie, then read the book. I thought the movie made more sense after reading the book. But both are confusing on their own. Together, they make a complimentary pair.