At the Library

Don?t judge a book by its movie, and vice versa. When a movie is made from a book (and in rare cases, the other way around), it?s opened up to ridicule from avid readers and fans of the book it was based on.

In 1900, the movie Sherlock Holmes Baffled became the first movie adaptation of literature. Even though I wasn?t there, I?m sure there were people who left the theater the same way we leave the theater after seeing a movie like Mockingjay Part 1: ?The book was so much better!?

Even I?m guilty of it, but it isn?t fair to the makers of the movie.

Art comes in many different shapes and sizes, and it?s always meant to entertain us, but each medium has its own limitations, including movies and even books. They?re different media, so it?s unfair to compare them, even when they?re portraying the same story.

Consider the things that might hold a movie back. The first of these would be length. Upset that they cut out one of your favorite scenes or characters? Consider how much extra time would have been added to the movie had it been put in. You might wonder what the harm would be in adding an extra 15 or 30 minutes to a movie, but directors have to consider their audience. They might get bored with a three hour movie.

Even though it can be frustrating to find differences between the book and its movie adaptation, it?s important to keep in mind that the causes of those differences may have been out of the production crew?s control and, most importantly, that books and movies are different forms of entertainment and can?t be compared so strictly against each other.

I have a long history of reading a book and then watching the movie adaptation of that book. One of my favorite pairings was The Princess Bride by William Golding and the movie, The Princess Bride, both of which I?d recommend to anyone with a sense of humor and a taste for adventure. Come check them out at the library!