Page to Screen: Better Than The Book

Page-to-Screen

Page to Screen is a new original feature I’m experimenting with where I talk about film adaptations of YA books


Do your favourite actors influence your viewing choices?

If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)When I read If I Stay, I thought it was a perfectly nice, perfectly sweet, perfectly bland story about a girl with the perfect life trying to decide whether or not to stay alive after her entire family dies in a car crash. Not the best thing I’d read, but by far not the worst. A perfectly OK 3 stars.

And then they went and made a movie, and I thought, OK, I might go see it. In my opinion it probably translates better to screen than it does on the paper anyway, because music plays a huge part in the plot.

And then they cast Chloe Graze Moretz as Mia, and I told my husband, he was like, OK, let’s go see it! Because we are both Moretz fans. She is perfection.

And when I saw the film, I couldn’t stop crying. This somewhat bland, saccharine story was turned into a masterpiece of emotion and feeling. It certainly helped that I knew what was coming, but Moretz was phenomenal and I even think I understood the story better now that it was in the film medium. Previously, I hadn’t quite grasped the communications fallout between Mia and Adam, but the film brought all the important points to the front and trimmed all the fat.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film far more than the book.

There’s a somewhat similar book that’s been released this year, a kind of If I Stay meets The Fault In Our Stars called All The Bright Places. You can check out my review here. Like If I Stay, I wasn’t particularly impressed. It was an OK book.

But they’ve cast my absolute favourite actress as Violet.

elle fanning
Source

So even though I feel quite lukewarm about the book, I will probably go and see this film, too. And not because, unlike If I Stay, I think it will translate well to screen. I want to see it purely because I love Elle Fanning, the tremendously underrated (and perhaps more talented?) younger sister of Dakota Fanning.

What do you think? Do you let your heart rule your head when it comes to viewing films? Do you think films can be better than books?

Nemo
Nemo

About Nemo

A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.

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6 thoughts on “Page to Screen: Better Than The Book

  1. Clodagh

    I haven’t read or watched If I Stay, but the movie can definitely be better than the book! The music and visuals just make a story come to life, and I often prefer the characterisation in films rather than books. *glares at Lord of the Rings, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Eragon, The Kite Runner, and possibly others*

    1. Nemo

      I agree with you on Lord of the Rings being better than the book. Now that I think about it Bridget Jones’ Diary may have been better as a film, too, but I did really enjoy the book.

  2. chucklesthescot

    Lord of the Rings was spectacular on screen. Peter Jackson did an amazing job of turning great books into fantastic films-which proves that a film can be better than the book. Ther examples for me are The Bridges of Madison County, Brokeback Mountain and Jaws.

    chucklesthescot recently posted: To My Bloglovin Followers!
    1. Nemo

      For me it’s Silence of the Lambs – a much better film than it was a book. Didn’t enjoy either of them, though. And Cold Mountain too, I think, although TBH I’m struggling to remember details as to why I thought that.

  3. Hebe

    For me Stardust made a much better film than the book – I watched the film first and was really disappointed by the book. Though that may just be because I watched the film before reading the book, which I don’t usually do. The Lord of the Rings is also a fantastic film adaptation of the books: I love both versions!

    Hebe recently posted: Call the Midwife: Ep. 3
    1. Nemo

      Oh yes, Stardust! I thought the ending was so much better in the film. It just kind of fizzled out in the book. I remember the bad guy was like, “Oh, I can’t get what I want after all. OK, I’ll let you go.” Thanks for reminding me!

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