Book,Movie,or Both?

It's the ago old question of should I watch the movie, read the book, or even do both? Nowadays almost everything was a book before it was adapted to the big or small screen. They say the book is always better than the movie but that isn't always true. So I thought I'd start a series and showcase a few books every month that dive into whether you should watch the movie or just read the book. Let's dive into to our first three in this brand new series!

It by Stephen King

I love Stephen King's work. It normally amazes me, scares me, then makes me think. Not in that order but something close to it. But It is a book that in 28 years of life, I just can't seem to finish it. It's one of his longest works and at some points I think it drags at bit. Here's the thing...most people I meet who love to read can't seem to finish It also. So when I heard of It Chapter 1 coming out in 2017, I was pretty interested. I've seen the mini series made in the 1990's and it was okay I suppose. But I was waiting for something better and more true to the book. Which is exactly what I recieved with the 2017 movie adaptation of It. It gets right to the plot points of the book and it skips over the dry, rambling parts of the book I couldn't get through many a times. It chapter 1 also captures those feelings of being young, naive, but terrified of something you can't explain just yet. I definitely think It is book you can skip and just watch the movie!

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Little Women has been adapted into movie form seven different times! That seems like a bit much but I've seen at least five of those adaptations, so I certainly can't judge too much. Little Women is a timeless classic that I don't see going away anytime soon for good reason. This book was once labeled a "girl's book" but that undersells the book by a long shot. Little Women deals with themes that everyone can relate to such as death, war, love, family, jealousy,and so much more. Little Women was given to me by my dad when I first started reading more complex books. I always read over my reading level but I remember being a tad bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of pages Little Women had in its text. That quickly faded away once I started reading the book because I fell in love with it. So when I saw another Little Women adaptation was coming out, I didn't think too heavily on it because one comes around every ten years. But boy was I loud and wrong. I saw the Greta Gerwig adaptation with a group of friends and by the end almost all of us had cried. It quickly shot to my number one Little Women adaptation of all time. Greta Gerwig made subtle changes to the movie such as making Jo the author/narrator of Little Women and changing the end of the movie by giving the women more agency over their lives. This adaptation made me love Amy ,who is normally my least favorite sister, which shocked me. I can easily say you should watch the movie and read the book. You're missing out on a lot by just limiting yourself to a book or a movie. Do yourself a favor and do both!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Crazy Rich Asians is a trilogy where I read every book the day it was released. I loved the books that much and they were something that I hadn't seen before. Reading about an insanely rich, Chinese family hadn't really been done before. I remember constantly laughing out loud while reading them. So I was extremely excited to hear about a movie adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians being made because I knew while reading it someone was going to make it into a movie. The book is beyond detailed and I could just picture so many of the details coming to life. The movie is a very true adaptation to the book. They really don't change too much and oh my gosh that wedding scene?! I watched it with my best friend and we had to rewind it to watch it again because of the pure beauty of that wedding! I loved both the movie and book, so I struggle to say pick just one. But if I had to choose, I say read the book. The first one ends on cliffhanger to set up the trilogy and they just get better as the series goes on. Watch the movie once you've at least read the first book though!