Rant: Book to Movie Adaptations

I have 2 passions in life - reading books and watching movies/TV series. And these 2 passions of mine cross paths when an adaptation is made of the books on film. And being a human being I have an opinion about it.

Let me answer the fundamental question of what I think of Book adaptations - I am for them. I like quite a few of them actually. I'll explain why.

I know there are a lot of people that do not enjoy the book adaptations that are made. This is mostly because of the strongly held belief that a movie is never as good as the book. I agree with it too. But that has never stopped me from liking the movies that have been based off of books. I try to look at a movie as a different entity altogether. Of course I do not always succeed at this.

Let me take example of what  think are adaptations that suck and get them out of the way before I start stating why I actually like adaptations.

• Let's start off with Eragon. This movie was based off of the series by Christopher Paolini. I loved this series when it had come out. I saved up money to buy the books in this series. I was so excited when I found out there was a movie coming out and then I watched the movie. I hated it. It was nothing like the book. I lost interest in the books too and have till date, not read the last book in the series. 

• Then there's Twilight. A lot of people might say they hated the books but let's not kid ourselves. This series is one of the guilty pleasure reads for a lot of us. It is a series that has made a lot of people start reading or get back in to reading, like it did with me. But the movies did not even live up to the books. The major issue with this adaptation was the acting. 

So an adaptation might be ruined because of the inability to cover the story in 2 hours or because of wrong casting choices or even because the reworked screenplay has very little to do with the book. Sometimes the whole character gets changed or cut from the adaptations.

Now let me give examples of book adaptations that make me say that I like movie adaptations.

• No list would be complete without Lord of the Rings. If ever someone needs to learn how to make an epic fantasy movie from a book, this is how its done. It stayed true to the characters and the world. That is not to say that a few liberties were not take with the screenplay, Arwen did not appear a lot in the book, but that was handled beautifully in the form of dreams/visions Aragorn has. There were a lot of things in the books that were left out in the movie but that was OK because the movie in and of itself was enough. This is a movie which can be watched without having read the books and that is a huge plus.

• Another series that has to appear on this list to make it complete is the Harry Potter series. I have to admit that looking back the movies started getting better from the 3rd one onwards. The first two movies look a bit too kiddy for me now. Nut keep in mind that I am now (for all intents and purposes) a grown up now. But for those of you who like their book to movie adaptations to stick to the story in the books this is perfect. I cannot think of Ron, Hermione the Weasley twins or anyone else without associating them with the actors from the movies. This is a series that I grew up with. It holds a very special place in my heart and the movies did justice to that.

• To Kill a Mockingbird is a movie that made me pick up the book. And this was a beautiful story. There was an element of mystery, drama, familial love and it touched upon racism too. 

•  The Shining was a movie which chose to take a different tack than the one taken in the book. Though the basic premise was the same the story was not completely as the one Stephen King wrote. When it comes to this movie and book I look at them as something that is completely separate and different. I love both of them in their respective mediums.

• The Green Mile and the Shawshank Redemption are other Stephen King books that have been made in to a movie (its actually a lot easier to list books of Stephen King that have not made it to the screen than the other way round)

• 2001 : A Space Odyssey by Arthur C Clarke is one of my favorite Sci-Fi series. I reread this book every couple of years. For a science fiction movie that was made in the '70's it was very well made.

There has been a recent rise in a lot of YA books being made in to movies which is great as a lot of people would then learn of the fact that they are in fact originally books and read them. But it feels like it has become a trend to just make a movie out of the books on the best seller lists. And a lot of the movies are not made in 1 part but are made in 2 parts, especially the last movie in a series. An example being Breaking dawn or even Hobbit. I would love the movies to be made because the content is great and they actually plan on making a good movie, and not to cash in on the controversy surrounding a book or the fact that it is a best seller. 

But all in all, as in all things in life, there are good things and bad things when in comes to Book to Movie adaptations. But I tend to look at the good rather than the bad. 

Happy New Year !

Hello Everyone! Happy New Year! I know, I know... I've been away a long while - 3 months to be exact. I'm not going to make an excuse saying I was too busy, which I was, but I was not busy enough to binge read. The truth of the matter is I was lazy and I just could not bring myself to write. I was just in a writing slump. But I was not in a reading slump, not by a long shot.

I have read quite a lot of books that I tremendously enjoyed. Like the Maria Snyder books, Cinder, Feed by Mira Grant Wonder, Throne of Glass, The Rosie Project, A Monster Calls, Fangirl, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, A Fault in our Stars and I got to reread the first 3 books in the Potter series. 2013 was a great year for a book lover for me. The books I mentioned above are one of my favorite books I read.

There were other books I loved but just was not in the mindset to finish. I loved whatever I read of The Name of the Wind by Rothfuss but at that point in time I just did wanted some time to just marathon through the whole book and I did not have that time. So I put it on hold.

So I plan on reading the Kingkiller chronicles this year along with a few other series. I will hold off on reading a series unless the end of that particular series is near. And I will try and make a dent in my TBR. I have quite a few books on my shelves I've read so I need to read those. I am not saying I'll curb my buying of books. I'm not delusional enough to think I can stop but I've already curbed my book buying just a little.

I've set myself a conservative target when it comes to the number of books I plan on reading this year. I've already made a good start. I've read 5 books and loved all of them except one.The previous year I started with Zombie books and this year I started with Mystery novels.

I might do a joint review for all of them or just a few. But I can promise you that I will try to be consistent in writing posts. So here's to a great year ahead. I hope you find great books to read whose stories will stay with you forever.

Random Thoughts/Rants Contd.

I recently got a hike on my salary (Yaaayyy Me!!!). So you could say I've had a cash windfall this month. So I went a little crazy and splurged on books. In my defense this is probably the 2nd or 3 rd time I have indulged myself the whole one year I have been employed. I usually buy maybe a couple of books a month. But in the past 2 weeks I've bought 24 books. I know, It's crazy. On top of this I have another 7 books in my cart on FlipKart. And my hands are getting itchy again. These are the times when I think 1) Why aren't books cheaper and more available where I am? and 2) Why aren't I richer?

One of the reasons I've been crazy with my online book shopping is, apart from the afore mentioned windfall, is that I have discovered a few wonderful blogs. They are Blog of Erised, Paperiot, Books of Amber. They have great reviews of books. Most of them review YA but these books lead me to other great books. For this I am eternally grateful to Goodreads. I would not have come across so many great books otherwise. I also took part in a Read -A - Thon hosted by Books of Amber. This was so much fun. The rules stated that I would have to read only debut authors. So I tried to complete 3 books but I finished 2. Which is still a great achievement considering the time limit was 4 days.

I read Mila 2.0 and Pivot Point. As you can see both are from the young adult genres. This is something else that I need to  be grateful for. The discovery of great young adult books. after having read these debuts I was really floored. I mean these are debut authors, maybe just a few years older and sometimes even younger than me. And they have come up with such great stories. And it is not just these authors that I am in awe of, but all of them. I mean can you imagine the work that goes into a 250-300 page book?

They have to think up a reasonable storyline, great characters - I mean a story would fall flat on its face if the characters were not well developed. Take the case of Cinder for instance. The basic premise is that of Cinderella, a story that has been around for years and years. No matter that the setting has changed, it is still the same basic story. But Cinder, as a character made a huge difference in this story. And to make Cinder into such a kick-ass heroine, a good background needed to be built for her. I mean part of a persons character is built by the situation in which they have found themselves in life, over time. And the author has to create a world for these people to inhabit. And most importantly in my view, he/she would have to be true to their characters till the end.

This is just unfathomable to me, how one person can come up with all of this. I mean you might think that if you've read one dystopian novel and you've read them all. But that is not true. This is the case with every genre. Yes there are exceptions to this rule but  that is beside the point. One of the authors that I have recently read who has blown me away is Brandon Sanderson. I heard he was finishing the Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away. I did not even know of him. Then I was surfing the net trying to find a good fantasy novel to read and I stumbled across the Mistborn trilogy. I read the Final Empire and I fell in love. It has all the elements that make a great story. And Sanderson's world building skills are A-MA-ZING!

This brings me to another thought that has been niggling my brain. A long time ago I had read a short story where an author could bring to life the world that he writes about. He then goes on to write himself into the story (I think there was an episode like that on the X-Files). Anyways, I suddenly thought what if this happens every time someone writes a novel or a story? I mean there is the multiple universes theory right? So maybe the things that an author writes about are things that are happening or have happened in a parallel universe? Something to think about innit? Anyways, this is the end of this slight mental detour. This is rantception at its best :P A rant in a rant.

The above paragraph of detour aside, what I am trying to say is that I truly appreciate all the authors out there who put in a lot of work and effort in to making characters and worlds for us readers to enjoy. books have always been my avenue of escape. The best part is it is an accepted mode of escape. I mean parents actually encourage you to read, unlike watching television.

And it is not just the published authors I would like to thank but also the would be or aspiring writers. Because without them there would not be these amazing blogs out there. The blogging community is so full of talent. I feel like I am worse than an amateur when it comes to blogging. They actually not only write about their passion but also encourage others to follow their passions. They might not directly do so but with the amount of time and effort and love that they put into their blogs I cannot help but feel encouraged to do the same.

I know this blog does not have a great look or have many followers. For all I know no one might be reading this post. But I will try harder. I have always loved reading books and watching movies. I know I do not have the technical knowledge for seriously reviewing a book or a movie. But I do know what I like and do not like. So I will start as I have with reviews that are based on what I felt while watching the movie or reading a book (this is where I showcase my opinion after all). Maybe somewhere down the line I will get good enough that people will actually listen to my suggestions.

So here is a huge thank you to all the authors (published and aspiring alike) and all the bloggers blogging about their passion.

Random Thoughts

If anyone ever reads my blogs (which I doubt) you will know that I love to read and also watch movies and TV series. Though at this point in my life I watch a lot of movies and series, I still love reading books more than anything else. I do not read non-fiction much (actually none at all). Though I have read the biography of Che Guevara and Mein Kampf (this was when I was very young so I never finished reading Mein Kampf). I just cannot bring myself to read non-fiction. It doesn't excite my imagination as much. And that is what I read for. The images that a book conjures up in my mind.

When I read a book, not only do I imagine the world in my mind but also picture myself in the world created by the author. There are those that say that one day we'll have technology that will make us live through the stories in the books, like the Holo-Novels in Star Trek. But I already experience that now with my mind. I am sometimes just a spectator in the world of the book or I am sometimes one of the characters in the book. It could be the lead or even one of the secondary characters if I think their personality is like what I'd like to think of my own. I mean what is the point in choosing to be a character that you already are? Doesn't it just defeat the purpose of our imagination? Also who would even know when it's all in your mind...

The only way I curb my reading is by differentiating between Fiction & Non-Fiction. Which still leaves me with an unlimited number of books that could catch my fancy. I read almost every sub-genre of Fiction, be it, Crime, Thriller, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult, and many more. I don't know if everybody does this or if it's only me but I start to wonder what would happen if the characters or story-lines of a few books got crossed or mixed. I start making up my own story in my head. It isn't all made up by me. I use elements of both or more worlds that I take the characters from.

My favorite book is Lord of the Rings by Tolkien. I love almost all of the characters in that book. So it is painful for me to let go of the characters after a series is done. So I keep them alive in my mind by bringing them into the world of another book that I love or am finding interesting at any given time. Another magic system that I found had a lot of potential was that created by Paolini. I was fascinated by the relationship dynamics between a Rider and his/her dragon. So I imagine what it would be like if the worlds of Paolini, Tolkien, Robert Jordan (most fantasy novels based in a world or time different than our own) collided with our own world? I could never find a good example to explain to people but I imagine these characters as something like the Q from the Star Trek Franchise. They travel through time and space and dimensions. So do these characters. Though they are better people than the Q we know from Star Trek. I imagine them as the "Q-Jedi" of all dimensions. They uphold justice.

You could call it Fan fiction on a bigger scale as it doesn't just encompass one story or two. But I guess I will not be able to pen it down for 2 major reasons. 1) It would probably be plagiarism as I would be taking elements from a lot of books from different authors. 2) This is the most important reason - I suck at writing. I wouldn't even know where to start. or the technicalities of writing. So all of this will remain a product of my imagination and never get translated into any writings. I will still enjoy my musings on what would happen if Aragorn were alive in this day and age. What if the world of Wizards and Witches  as portrayed in Harry Potter were combined with the world created in Twilight?

I know I sound like a loon. And a little weird (OK maybe a lot weird). But sometimes when I'm sad or even bored I just go in to these worlds that I have created for myself and when I get back to reality, reality is that much easier to handle. Don't misunderstand, I have friends. Goofy friends who are weird, though maybe not as weird as me. But sometimes it's just not possible to dump on a friend. So I think what would Legolas have done? Or Arya? Or Vin? And that just gives me the courage to face whatever it is life throws at me.

All I'm saying is I love books and I'm weird in a way that I create worlds in my head to keep enjoying the books that I love. If there is anyone out there who does the same thing or at least something similar please drop a line to me. I'd like to know I'm not alone or the only one who is like this.