I think my lifestyle is too media saturated. This afternoon I caught myself thinking what a shame it was that the book I read yesterday will probably never be made into a movie, because it would be wonderful.
But why isn't it good enough for it to just be a wonderful book?
My answer is that it is good enough. Shouldn't the two art forms be allowed to stay separate? I'm a huge fan of book-to-movie adaptations, but why? A book is a book and a movie is a movie. Completely different.
I wonder if the real reason I like movie adaptations is that it deepens my fan status. You've had this experience right? The one where you read a book you love, and then you go on a binge, trying to track down every other word the author wrote. When you've read everything, the only course left to satiate your appetite for your author-love is to watch a movie adaptation.
But if Charles Dickens were still alive, I think the honest truth is that I would probably rather go hear him do a public reading than go see a film adaptation of one of his books.
Everytime I read your blog I feel like having a long chat with you about the new ideas you've got me thinking about. Love this "On Books" series of posts. And LOVE the new background. How did you do it?
ReplyDeleteFor the background, I went to my dashboard, hit the design tab, and there at the top it has "template designer". There are lots to choose from. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat kinds of ideas are you thinking about? I'm sure they're much more brilliant than mine. Do share.
I don't know, wanting to deepen my fan status doesn't make me like the Harry Potter movies anymore (not that I dislike them, I just don't care much). I like seeing a take on a story that will make me think about it differently. It's also easier to get an emotional fix 2 hours than in the time it takes to read a book, which is the only reason to watch Keira Knightley's P&P!
ReplyDeleteBut really, when I think about my movie collection, most of the overlap is with classic English Lit. If anything else is based on a book, I usually haven't read it. A good book doesn't necessarily make a good movie, and vice versa. There are plenty of amazing films based on books that no one cares about anymore, or on short stories.