Do you prefer to read novels or watch movies?

[chongjasmine]

Which do you prefer? Me? I am a book person.

 

[Bick]

I enjoy both - why would you compare the two? They aren’t mutually exclusive are they? I expect everyone on here loves to read books, and most will enjoy movies too.

 

[CupofJoe]

Neither and both.
They fulfil different needs in me.
A film can move the way I think and change the way I view the world.
A story can create incredible worlds inside my head that live with me for ever.

 

[Foxbat]

Both. Each have merits. Sometimes I just want to sit back, be entertained and not have to think too much. Movies are good for that. If I feel the need for something deeper, I find a book the more immersive of the two.

 

[Vladd67]

Neither and both.
They fulfil different needs in me.
A film can move the way I think and change the way I view the world.
A story can create incredible worlds inside my head that live with me for ever.

The problem for me is if I watch a film made from a book I have read I find it very hard not to think of the films images the next time I read the book.

 

[CupofJoe]

The problem for me is if I watch a film made from a book I have read I find it very hard not to think of the films images the next time I read the book.

Very true. The only film/book combination that really works for me is To kill a Mockingbird. I read the book as a kid then saw the film.
Atticus Finch was as I imagined him. Scout, Jim, Dill, and Tom Robinson all felt familiar. I had Boo Radley as more of a monstrous figure, but that was because I was a child and reading him as Scout was imagining him.
I have the audio book narrated by Sissy Spacek and she has become the voice of Scout as narrator when I read the book.

 

[Rodders]

I have to admit to becoming somewhat bored of movies, especially hollywood. So i prefer to read.

It has to be said though that gaming is a pretty underrated source of great stories.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Both - and to write ‘em too

One thing that’s been depressingly noticeable is when I moved to London in 2004 the Tube was full of book readers but nowadays it’s people on mobiles playing Gem Drop kind of games. (It also stops me from putting my head in all sorts of tortuous angles trying to subtly see what they’re reading.)

 

[Lawrence Twiddy]

They are both different platforms in terms of creative art. I don’t think you can compare them - fairly anyway. Unless you are comparing an individual piece done in both platforms.
And i cannot say there is any movie that I have ever seen that I preferred to the book.
I would be interested to hear any suggestions where someone thought the movie was better than the book? I can’t think of one.

 

[Parson]

For me it's books. I love books and have rarely found a S.F. film outside of the Star Wars or Star Trek universe that I liked. But I always thought that Star Trek and Star Wars were the exceptions because they were "video" before they were books. The movie book combo that probably works best for me is "Flowers for Algernon."

 

[Extollager]

Books.

 

[MartinC]

I'm going to take a deep breath here and accept that I'm going to be in minority here... Movies.

It's probably a strange thing to admit considering where I'm posting this, but I did Broadcast Media at University and there's also an emotional attachment to the medium from my childhood that I don't quite have with books (my sister was the big reader in the family, I was the one happy watching Star Trek).

That's not to say I don't read and don't enjoy books, I just don't read as much as I should!

 

[MartinC]

They are both different platforms in terms of creative art. I don’t think you can compare them - fairly anyway. Unless you are comparing an individual piece done in both platforms.
And i cannot say there is any movie that I have ever seen that I preferred to the book.
I would be interested to hear any suggestions where someone thought the movie was better than the book? I can’t think of one.

Stardust - I enjoyed the book, I loved the film.

 

[Lawrence Twiddy]

Stardust - I enjoyed the book, I loved the film.

Really? I haven’t read or seen either version. But I remember the film it had a great cast and Matthew Vaughan at the helm which can’t be to bad loved x men first class and the first kingsman before it went to commercially cinematic.
I would have to read the book before I give the film ago though, always in that order.

 

[Lawrence Twiddy]

For me it's books. I love books and have rarely found a S.F. film outside of the Star Wars or Star Trek universe that I liked. But I always thought that Star Trek and Star Wars were the exceptions because they were "video" before they were books. The movie book combo that probably works best for me is "Flowers for Algernon."

Yeah video before book works in that direction. I think the origin source is always the best I suppose, that’s where the idea and love for that idea started so always works best when created be the original architect.

 

[MartinC]

Really? I haven’t read or seen either version. But I remember the film it had a great cast and Matthew Vaughan at the helm which can’t be to bad loved x men first class and the first kingsman before it went to commercially cinematic.
I would have to read the book before I give the film ago though, always in that order.

I will admit I saw the film first, but there's this charm in the storytelling in the film that I think elevates it above the book. Maybe it's more in keeping with the kind of film I enjoy as well - it's tone reminded me of the Princess Bride, and who doesn't love that film!

 

[paranoid marvin]

For me it's books. I love books and have rarely found a S.F. film outside of the Star Wars or Star Trek universe that I liked. But I always thought that Star Trek and Star Wars were the exceptions because they were "video" before they were books. The movie book combo that probably works best for me is "Flowers for Algernon."

Yes there are few films that are better than the novel they are based on, and few books better than the movie they are based on. Nothing in written form could describe the thundering star destroyer travelling overhead at the beginning of Star Wars, and no movie could hope to truly encapsulate the inner thoughts or the complex themes of a book like Nineteen Eighty Four.

There are certain exceptions, where this isn't true. or where the movie is able to deviate or expand on the original novel to better the experience. For example 2001 or Blade Runner.

 

[Lawrence Twiddy]

Yes there are few films that are better than the novel they are based on, and few books better than the movie they are based on. Nothing in written form could describe the thundering star destroyer travelling overhead at the beginning of Star Wars, and no movie could hope to truly encapsulate the inner thoughts or the complex themes of a book like Nineteen Eighty Four.

There are certain exceptions, where this isn't true. or where the movie is able to deviate or expand on the original novel to better the experience. For example 2001 or Blade Runner.

What novels @paranoid marvin do you think are bettered by it’s version in film? Only ask because I’m intrigued.

 

[paranoid marvin]

What novels @paranoid marvin do you think are bettered by it’s version in film? Only ask because I’m intrigued.

Hi, as I mentioned above I think that 2001 expanded and improved upon Arthur C Clarke's 'The Sentinel', and Blade Runner on Philip K Dick's 'Electric Sheep'.

There's also 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' and 'The Shining'. Jack Nicholson took both of the stories to different places.

 

[Elckerlyc]

The question, I think, was whether you in general prefer reading book or watch a movie. Well, for me that's books. A good fat door-stopper can keep me entertained for a few days. A movie will perhaps keep me busy for 2 hours or so. It's more of an 'in between' thing, a time-killer, where a book is more of an immersing experience.
Also, there are very, very (did I mention 'very' already?) few movies lately that can make me putting my book down to watch a movie in stead.

About movies better than the novel they are based on; I found the film-version of 'The Name of the Rose' more interesting than the novel was.