In a previous post I talked about a rule of mine, which is to read the book before I see the movie.
And I think I’m half-way there to breaking the rule.
I try to avoid movies that I know will be hyped up. After reading one review of how teenage girls would be crying in the movie aisles after watching The Fault in Our Stars, I was determined to wait until the hysteria had passed.
John Green seemed to be the flavour of the month so I decided to read Paper Towns instead. I enjoyed it, particularly the road trip, but the book didn’t grab me like I thought it would.
So how would The Fault in Our Stars fare? The book ended up in the ‘to be read’ pile. The months passed and one night The Fault in Our Stars was the feature movie on TV. I was at a crossroads. Read the book and then watch the movie? Or do I break out of my comfort zone and watch the movie first?
I caved in and watched the movie. It pulled me in; it had an emotional impact (OK, so I cried) and even though I knew someone would die it wasn’t who I was expecting.
The movie left me feeling a little wrung out, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
So the question is now: Do I still read the book? Is the movie different to the book? Will the book make me cry or deliver that emotional punch I look for in Young Adult books?
Casey Fae Hewson 
Honestly, I think it depends on several things. I read the book the day before I saw the movie and was not impressed very much either way. I think this is because I knew who would die very early on so there wasn’t a big shock factor for me. I never cried, and it didn’t have a huge emotional impact on me. To be honest, the character I had the most emotion over was Isaac and his whole subplot story. It’s still my favorite aspect of the book (I say book because I seem to recall the book includes more on Isaac than the movie does, but I may be wrong). Everything else, I’m rather ‘meh’ about. I don’t know if this is because I don’t like the writing style or because I don’t often stray from my comfortable place in the YA fantasy section or what. But this is actually the one instance that I thought the movie was better, and that severely pains me to say because I also live by the rule to read the book first and then see the movie because the book is always better. You mentioned Paper Towns, and to be honest, I think I’d watch the movie and just forego the book if I ever decide to watch it since TFIOS seemed to be pretty identical between the book and the movie. So, that’s a plus if you like the accuracy aspect.
As a side note, I actually think this I have this opinion because I don’t find myself reading contemporaries very much. I think the ‘book before the movie’ rule is most helpful with fantasy or science fiction because the book usually includes so much more world-building that you miss in the movie for time’s sake. With contemporaries, I don’t feel that that is so much of a problem.
So, I would say that I would personally not go for the book. However, if you really enjoyed the movie, I’d say go for it. Especially if you want to re-experience it. The difference between visual and written mediums may make your experience with the story even better.
Thanks for your opinion. You’ve made some really good points. I think I’ll forgo reading the book for now. I’m sure it’s great but I’ve got a whole pile of other books that I really want to read 🙂
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