Book vs Movie – Jurassic Park and others

I love my reading and I love movies and when the two intersect in the right way it can be a creative overload of epic proportion. For instance, Jurassic Park, had Spielberg at the helm and Crichton writing one of the most spectacular books ever. It was a written story that was popular and then converted into a movie which captured the essence of the film, including thrills and screams quite well. The author, since passed away, was a genius. All of his books, which I have read, including his earlier works such as Airframe, contain the same element of deception, physical danger and  risk taking, on the part of the main characters. I love that!

The movies were in line with his thinking for the 3 movies which they produced. Part 3 was not based on a book but was entertaining nonetheless. I would have been curious to see what his reaction to JP 4 would be.

The Devil wears prada is an example where I could not comprehend how the movie was made with so many significant changes from the book. I had watched the movie and loved it. But then I read the book and was severely disappointed that the movie had left out so many important pieces of the story which impacted the development of the characters significantly. I still do love the movie, but the derivation from the movie is very thin. The level of bitchiness in the book , in all the characters, was toned down so much. And the Andy character had a better growth period and life changing experience in the book than in the movie. 

Tommyknockers by the master Stephen King was a great meeting of the minds, as the movie got the scare factor down really well. It didn’t matter that the effects were not the best, because the acting was great and the storyline was so captivating. I enjoyed both but the book took me into the world, and I was seriously scared every night when I was reading my chapter or five before bed.

I watched Silence of the Lambs many moons ago and got the book recently. It is a shorter book than I thought and the movie , thankfully, was very true to the book and did not change the impacting lines, and important story. I love the movie because the casting was so perfect and the directing had such a ‘light touch’ , I could sense how the actors were absorbed by the characters.

Gone with the wind is a classic novel and a classic movie. The book took me 2 months to finish and I relished every southern accented word. I was reading in a southern accent ,which I got from the movie. The movie is by far one of the most beautiful pieces of film I have ever seen. I love the wardrobe, the casting and the stunning backdrop moments, which were spectacular for their time.

I love reading books, and will never give it up! But when an adaptation is done correctly , and the book was read before, there is nothing better than seeing your imaginations vision of characters and scenery perfectly represented on screen to delve your senses into a story once more…..

2012 books so far

I have been completely absorbed in Vanity Fair and it has really taken a while for me to get into it but now I am hooked and sad that I am almost at the end of the story. The copious amounts of reference footnotes adds quality to the story with historical references and cute little stories about the author and his personal stories. I am thoroughly enjoying all the language which is so convoluted and intense that it requires such commitment to the story. I am quite keen to see the movie when I am done to see how it was caught on camera and the time span of the story is achieved.

In other reading news, I am paused mid-Wizard and Glass as I am awaiting my copy of the next part of the Dark tower series and would rather read and start the next chapter asap instead of waiting for the next one so it has a special place on my bedside table awaiting a continuance. 

I also real the In-between world of Vikram Lall which was stunning and very well written. I finished it quite quickly. The story was relevant as it was about an Indian family living in Kenya and their story of being locals who were not African.  I was glad to find a new author to add to my collection.

God of War by Marisa Silver was an interesting read. I had won it in the Exclusive Books spree of 2011 and was not sold on the cover but then I read the premise of the story and got into the entire story quite quickly. It is deserving of its awards and reminds me ever so slightly of  House Rules by Jodi Picoult as the autism aspect was covered in the same intensity.

I managed to read Eat Pray Love this year and was consumed by the amazing story. I then decided to read some reviews of the movie and they completely convinced me to not scar the memory of the book by watching it so I did not and will not unless forced to.  I loved her writing style and will check out her other books if I come across them.

Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice has got my back in her world and I loved it! I  used to read her books through highschool until my mother decided it would turn me into a Satan worshipper! I picked up again and now this book of hers with Lestat is so amazingly beautiful, I have bought more of her books. I will love to get her entire collection.

Dennis Lehane is now also one of my favourite authors. Mystic River was so hauntingly beautiful, and unfortunately I had watched the movie ages ago so I had Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon in my mind but that was ok! I think the casting was done really well and the story was captured fantastically. I enjoy Lehane’s writing style as well as his portrayal of Boston. His other book Any Given Day was also very inspirational and had a captivating story which solidified his standing with me as an author of note.

The rest of the years books for me to read are the Millenium Trilogy as I am awaiting the 1^st part to return to me so I can start. 

Then I have a few more books lined up including Zorba the Greek and Doctor Zhivago and Christine by Stephen King.

Will do a post as soon as Vanity Fair is done and the next book is started.

My chicklit experiences

I was never into foofy female writers who made every single book have a happy ending. I enjoyed male writers when I was younger, and delved occasionally into a Patricia Cornwell and a few classics by the Bronte sisters. The my English teacher Mrs MacDonald let us know that she used to be friends with a famous Irish author, Maeve Binchy...  I thought, well if she was her friend, lets see what type of writer she is!

I ended up devouring 'Circle of Friends' and then every other Binchy I could get my hands on! I loved the Irish quirkiness, mannerisms and writing style! It really did make me laugh so much that I found myself astonished that a female writer had actually linked with me!

I still love Binchy's novels, but one of my favourites has to be 'Tara Road', just in that there is something about that story which tugs at my heart and makes me want to visit that house on Tara Road!

I enjoyed the film adaptation, but truthfully Ria should  have been a little less glamourous in the beginning of the movie and then the makeover would have worked more.. Loved Andie McDowell as the American!

It is a beautifully told story about friendship. family ( annoying and lovable), houses that become homes, internal power and love at the basis of everything.

Welcome to Booklashed!

I am entering the world of reviewing my author choices and their literary contributions! I intend to do a posting on books which have moved me, stayed with me and impacted how I see myself and  my life. This is not a reviewing blog , because I generally read 4 books at a time and somehow end up finishing them all within the same week.. so no!!

I will start with a book, that I read once and love eternally and have not had the courage to pick it up again for a re-read, for fear that it will consume me once more and not let go...

I truly was enveloped by this story of a woman dealing with the loss of her husband, a writer of truly horror stories.. Stephen King proved his worth in this story which made me scared to put the lights out and pull the covers over my head at night. I love knowing that the words on a page can come to life so vividly in my mind and stay there.

I am intending to re-read this once I have a few days of uninterrupted time in December. But I know what it felt like reading this the first time. It made me cry, laugh and sit still in fear so incredibly that when I think of the story I am almost brought to tears. It is a story of love, insanity, worlds beyond our knowledge, fear and strength.

I love King for writing this story....I know that his soul speaks to me as it does to all his Constant Readers

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