Re: the book was....

["Peter T. Chattaway" <petert at interchange_ubc.ca>]

On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, l. harnish wrote:
> who reads books before watching movies?

I sometimes do, if I know I've got to review an upcoming movie.  I think
the last time I did that was when _A.I._ came out, though -- I made a
point of reading Brian Aldiss's _Supertoys Last All Summer Long_ anthology
(which has the original short story, two sequel short stories, and an
essay on working with Kubrick) *plus* Carlo Collodi's _Pinocchio_.

> who views films before reading the novels?

I rented the 1950s film version of _The Brothers Karamazov_ (starring Yul
Brynner and William Shatner!) *before* reading the book when it was
assigned to me in first-year university -- the book was soooo long, I
figured I would let the film give me the basic outline of the story, and
then I could go and read the book and dig into the meat of it.

And of course, I have often read books *after* the movies stirred my
interest in them -- T.E. Lawrence's _Seven Pillars of Wisdom_ (the basis
for _Lawrence of Arabia_), Carl Sagan's _Contact_ (the book was better),
Richard Vetere's _The Third Miracle_ (the film was better), etc.

FWIW, I was a history-and-religious-studies double-major in university,
and it's interesting to see how *some* films will make me want to read
more about certain historical events, while *other* films will concern
historical events that I already know about.  _Gangs of New York_ is kind
of in-between, since it climaxes with the New York draft riots of 1863,
which were something I was dimly aware of because of a couple of books I
had read a few years ago on movies and the Civil War (both books make a
point of noting that the 1989 film _Glory_ does *not* mention these riots,
even though they took place just a few days before the attack on Fort
Wagner at the end of that film, and even though one of the men killed in
the riots had an uncle who is in the 54th Regiment).  So when I saw the
film and the riots began, I found myself thinking, "Oh, are these *those*
riots? -- well of course, how many major riots could there have been in
New York during the Civil War?"  But I also didn't know anywhere near
enough about the riots to pick holes in what was portrayed (though the
Army's use of cannons was pretty obviously implausible).

> furthermore, which is your favourite film based on novel?

Hmmm.  Now that you mention it, it occurs to me that none of the films in
my official Top 11 favorite films of all time are based on novels.  
_Lawrence of Arabia_ is based on an autobiography, _The Family Way_ is
based on a play, I don't know what _The Adventures of Robin Hood_ is based
on but it's probably just a loose assortment of legends and not a novel
per se, and all the rest (including _The Purple Rose of Cairo_,
_Koyaanisqatsi_, _The Empire Strikes Back_, _When Harry Met Sally..._,
_The Court Jester_ and _The Thin Blue Line_) are original (though _Monty
Python's Life of Brian_ and _Jesus of Montreal_ *are* inspired by the
gospels, to some degree -- though those, too, are not novels).

> any particular one where you liked both book and film?

Oh, lots, probably.  To cite just two obvious examples, it has been years
since I read _Gone with the Wind_ and _The Godfather_, but I think the
books and films still hold up in both cases.

> any particular one where book and film were very different but you liked
> both much?

A few Bible epics come to mind.  :)

--- Peter T. Chattaway --------------------------- peter at chattaway_com ---
 If true love never did exist how could we know its name? -- Sam Phillips
          Happiness happens but I want joy. -- Marjorie Cardwell

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