The Book Wench

Now, before I get blasted off the internet with a resounding diatribe of “Book Before Movie!!!” please hear me out.

I’m honestly not picky about which media I engage with first. Sometimes I’ll read the book first, and other times I’ll happily watch the movie first. I think that both options have their merits.

With the book first, you, of course, know the source media before watching the adaptation, so you know the actual, full story. No adaptation is able to perfectly include everything from the source book (not even my beloved Lord of the Rings) and, so, if you read the book(s) first, then you get to know every nuance, every facet of the story before watching the inevitably pared down adaptation.

If you watch the movie first, however, you get (hopefully) the bones of the book and the vibes it was going for and then get the treat of getting a fuller story when you then proceed to read the source material. Not only that, but you have a better chance of seeing the movie as a separate entity. I generally have little issue with adaptation (except one or two, like Eragon) as long as they get the gist and sense of the source novel(s). I understand adaptations will never be the same as the book 100% and so I can see them as separate entities. But not everyone can do that, especially if they read the books first.

So, honestly, I am happy to do whichever. Just as long as I get to read the book eventually.

All reviews on movies/tv shows done on this blog, however, will be with the movie/tv show having been watched after the book was initially read so that I can discuss the adaptation aspect of the…well…the adaptation. For instance, I recently watched, for the first time, a new(er) adaptation of Dracula with some friends but because I have not read the book yet, I will not be doing a movie review because I can’t speak to the adaptation portion/process and how accurate it is (or isn’t).

What about you, friends? Which do you prefer to do first? And which adaptations are your favorites, even if they differ from the books.

Also, for what it’s worth, both The Martian book and movie are excellent and I devoured them in that order. But both are amazing on their own.