Booking Through Thursday–Books to Movies

btt2

hosted by Booking Through Thursday

This week’s question:

Do you find yourself thinking that the books you read would be good on film? Do you wish the things you watched on TV or in the movies were available as book?

Some really can’t be converted, of course, but some definitely can (and it’s not always the ones you think will work). There’s something to be said for different forms of media, but a good story is universal … or is it??

I frequently read books and think they’d make great movies. I feel that way a lot about fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian books because the setting is usually amazing and would translate really well (if done correctly) as a film. I get excited about books becoming movies, like this year’s Perks of Being a Wallflower, despite my reservations about how well it will adapt to the screen. I’m reminded by great adaptations, such as Speak or Harry Potter or the HBO show Game of Thrones that books can be made into movies or TV shows quite well.

220px-Speak_filmimagesMV5BMjExNDYxMzc0OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwODIxMjQ1Nw@@__V1__SY317_CR0,0,214,317_

With that being said, I also dread books becoming movies and almost wish none of them would become TV shows or movies. I’ve read somewhere about some screenwriter becoming a novelist and he was opened up to new ways of writing because he no longer had to be concerned about what was possible to do on screen. He didn’t have to fit a budget or try and keep his imagination contained. I think there tons of books that are simply hard to execute. I worry about it looking too fake or relying too much on CGI. I worry about everything from the actors to how the story plays out or what gets changed to fit a movie. There have been terrible adaptations of books and comic books on the screen and you just never know how it will turn out.

Also, a book becoming a movie creates a lot of hype. And if that movie doesn’t turn out quite well, people who haven’t read the book assume the book must be crap, too. I always think back to the Twilight series. It’s not the greatest book and I think that is obvious, but the movie made it a thousand times worse. Not only was it absolutely terrible, it made the story look stupid. Now, everyone knows what it’s about and thinks the story itself is useless, when there is something about the book that I love and can’t quite explain.

MV5BMTQ2NzUxMTAxN15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzEyMTIwMg@@__V1__SY317_

I think a good story is not necessarily universal. Sometimes, a book transports you in a way that a movie just doesn’t do for me. I think there is some sort of magic in books and even if you read the synopsis and don’t think it’s quite right for you, sometimes reading the story changes that opinion. After all, it’s not just a plot that makes us love books, it’s how it is written and narrated and the small moments in books that just open up our minds. I think back to all the times some stranger has noticed me reading and asks me what the book is about. 9 times out of 10, I think I’m not doing it justice by summarizing it. It sounds stupid most of the time and I trip all over myself trying to explain it. I think even if you were describing a well known classic that is well written and awesome to someone completely clueless, you’d run into the same issue.

stack-of-books

At the end of the day, I think you just have to read the book to make a decision. I’ve read so many books I didn’t think I’d like and I’ve fallen in love with some element of the story that I can’t quite put my finger on and sometimes a movie or show adaptation isn’t able to capture it.

What about you?