The film of the book or the book of the film?

[Yeah I know, it’s been a while since I blogged. Sorry! Went on holiday, then my laptop broke and other stuff was going on]

So…the film of the book or the book of the film?

We all know the answer to that one: it’s the book first, then the film or TV series, but what if you haven’t got round to reading the book and they make the film? There’s a dilemma! It’s got rave reviews, tipped for Oscars or BAFTAs, but you feel you can’t see it until you’ve read the book first; then what if you’ve read the book and you see the film or TV series and you think ‘What a let-down!’

It’s a pickle, all right. Most people believe that dramas and films don’t do justice to the books and for the most part they’re right. I’ve read lots of books that have been turned into dramas. Sense and Sensibility is a favourite of mine. I read the book first and noted the omissions from the dramatisations: the younger sister Margaret was missing from the 1980s TV drama and Lady Middleton from the film version starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. I read Gone With The Wind before seeing the famous Clark Gable/Vivien Leigh film and noted omissions there, but I thought it did pretty well in getting as close to the book as possible. I didn’t know anything about the American Civil War until I’d read it and I was very impressed with the historical account. I’m glad the Wuthering Heights film ended with Cathy dying. To me that was the natural ending. What was the point in the book banging on about Heathcliff’s and Cathy’s kids? None as far as I could see, so yeah, I thought the film was better!

But I believe watching the dramatisation first inspires people to read more. There are 12 books in the Poldark series: I want those for Christmas this year! I want to see if George Warleggan is as much of a git on the page as he is on the telly and if Demelza really does punch Ross into the middle of next week when she finds out he’s been playing away with Elizabeth!  I’ve been inspired to read The Count of Monte Cristo, North and South, Wives and Daughters, Cranford and many other books I might have got round to reading eventually, but not so readily if it hadn’t have been for watching them first. I’ve struggled with Dickens’ novels, however, although I loved the story of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations on the silver screen.

There’s one book I might never get used to, though, and that’s Far From The Madding Crowd! I have painful memories of snoring through that at school!

So don’t feel guilty seeing the film or TV show first and thinking, ‘Now I’d like to read the book!’