I was seated on an airplane next to a six-month pregnant woman a couple of days ago and our little plane was buffeted about both on take-off and landing by a fair amount of turbulence. She didn’t like it – in fact she reached out and grabbed my arm to steady herself on five different occasions.
Every time she’d apologize, and every time I’d say, “That’s okay.” I figured she could grab my arm all she wanted as long as she didn’t go into labor. At one point she said, “When I was overseas I did a lot of flying on Blackhawks and Chinooks but it was never like this.”
“Were you in the army?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I was in Iraq for 14 months.”
My opinion of her changed in a heartbeat. Up until that moment I’d thought she was (for lack of a better word) a bit of a chicken. Now I thought different. She was much braver than me. 14 months as a soldier in Iraq? No thanks. I’d want to do that as much as I’d want to be six-months pregnant.
On the plane I was reading Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby’s memoir about growing up a fan of the English soccer team Arsenal. She asked me if the book had anything to do with the Drew Barrymore movie of the same name. I had to begrudgingly admit that yes, the movie had a connection to the book, but that Hollywood had totally mangled the job, turning a revealing look at male obsessions into a romantic comedy.
She asked, “Do you always read the book before you see the movie?”
I don’t always do that, but I had to admit that a lot of times I do, and usually when I do I am disappointed.
“I know,” she said, “I wouldn’t want to read the book first – it would spoil it because you’d already know what was going to happen.” That really wasn’t the spirit my remark was offered in, and I was trying to figure out how to re-state my position when she said, “The Notebook – now that was a great book that was turned into an even greater movie.”
She had me at a disadvantage. Although I think there might well be a copy of The Notebook in my house and although the movie has played at my house several times, I’ve never read or watched it. Sorry Nicholas Sparks.
Our conversation did get me thinking about the old “book or movie?” question. In my mind it’s rare for the movie to top the book – my standard answer is there are only two movies that pop into my head as being superior to the book: The Godfather and Ordinary People.
All of which leads me to ask four questions:
1. Would you like to spend 14-months as a soldier in Iraq?
2. Would you like to be six-months pregnant?
3. Do you generally prefer the movie or the book?
4. What movies would you say exceed the book?
My two cents:
ReplyDelete1. No.
2. Not again.
3. Book.
4. "Gone With The Wind" stands pretty well against the book; where "Bonfire of the Vanities" does not.
p.s. a small explanation- GWTW is an epic movie which therefore matches a heavy book in scope, but of course cannot contain the whole story which is quite racist and 'realistic'.
ReplyDelete1. No.
ReplyDelete2. In terms of being pregnant, 6 months is way better than 2 months or 8 months in my opinion. So, yes :)
3. Book.
4. I can't think of a single movie that I've thought exceeded a book, off the top of my head. The BBC has done a pretty good job of filming Austen and Bronte, and so they might be almost on level. I think the best thing about watching movies made from books that I've loved is that I can go back to the feeling I had reading the book, but I only need 2 hrs (or 5-6 if it's the BBC!)
I've been thinking similar thoughts lately as I'm just about to finish reading the Stieg Larsson trilogy and I'm really resisting watching any of the films until I've read the last page. I'm so excited to see the movies but already know that I'll almost certainly be disappointed.
Here's a question: If the majority of people tend to prefer the book over the movie, what leads people to make great stories into movies? Are these noble enough reasons to create something that never has the chance of living up to the imagined place that people had when they read the book?
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