Recently I've been discussing on Facebook what I've read. I just finished reading “The Help,” by Kathryn Stockett, which is really good. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie (which I might do tomorrow).
It got Mom thinking back to when she read “Not Without My Daughter,” by Betty Mahmoody, in which a woman and her daughter escape from Iran in the mid-1980s. If you haven't read it, please do. It is very well-detailed, and very thick. Mom read the book (which she could barely put down), and then saw the movie. She wishes she had done it in reverse.
I'm not knocking the movie. The acting is good. They cut out some stuff; I know that's what you have to do on a budget, time constraints, simplicity, etc. I liked the book, too. You have to give the filmmakers credit for making it 2 ½ hours long, when a lot of films were just 90 minutes during that decade. I think a remake would be warranted, but it would probably never happen.
A friend of mine had a similar complaint with “Water for Elephants.” It's another richly written book, but the film version cut out one of the main characters, something I hadn't realized until after she brought it up. I thought the movie was pretty good.
That's the concern with “Breaking Dawn” fans (yes, here's my Twilight mention!). A lot of people are wondering what scenes from the book are going to be in the film, what's going to be cut. From what we've heard so far, it seems pretty faithful with the book. So far. Good thing it's in two parts. It's another stinking long book (but sooo worth it). [No tomatoes, please!]
There is a movie in recent memory where it is very similar with its' written counterpart: “The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.” If you haven't read this book, please do so. It is one of the most delightful books I've ever read. (And I don't throw around “delightful” very often.) The movie was cute, although they left out a scene from the book that I would have loved to see. (An absolutely hilarious scene where one of the older daughters baby-sits.)
Which would you rather do? Read the book first, then see the movie? Or see the movie, and be surprised by the book? I am curious to see how they treated “The Help.”
PS: I'm currently reading Stephenie Meyer's “The Host.” It's kind of confusing. :-/
PPS: We're now into the double-digit days of the "Breaking Dawn" countdown, folks! Yay!
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