so what the big deal

[whitetrash]

ok i loved all the movies but never read a book ever one tells me i should but they dont say whty all the say is they rock thats not a good enough reason for me to fork over money so what im a missing and why should i read these books

 

[Fantasy Moon]

There is such a thing as a library so you wouldn't have to fork over money for them.

The first two books were pretty well adapted to film, but the latest two movies left a good deal of information out that is essential to some of the aspects of the story. You should read the books if you wish to be entertained. If you don't already wish to read them after seeing the movies though I doubt that there's anything which could convince you to do so.

 

[Dogmatix]

ok i loved all the movies but never read a book ever one tells me i should but they dont say whty all the say is they rock thats not a good enough reason for me to fork over money so what im a missing and why should i read these books

Is english your second language? Perhaps you should read just a bit more...

 

[Libra6Poe]

why should i read these books

The same reason why anyone should read any book that a movie is based on...
You can't tell a great story in only two hours (or three or one...).

 

[TerishD]

Reply

I am borrowing the books from a friend. I only started reading them in order to debate the topic with others. I have only seen the first two movies, and I have now finished the fifth book.

In my opinion:

Book One is a lot better movie than book.

Book Two is a lot better book than movie. So far, it is my second favorite of the books.

Book Three I liked because the ending was nothing like what I expected it to be. This book actually sets a lot of characters and topics necessary for the later stories.

Book Four was about what I expected three to be. If I had read this book when it first came out, I would have predicted the end of the Harry Potter series.

Book Five was fantastic because it CORRECTLY demonstrates civil disobedience. The story itself was very childish, but the characters were handled with wonderful precision. If I were to recommend any of the books, it would be this one.

I won't get back to my friend for a couple of weeks, but I will pick up book 6 when I do. As for the third movie, I will get to it when I can catch it for free (I agree, you cannot do a big book justice in just a couple of hours).

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I'm sorry, whitetrash, but I could barely read your post. Can you please be considerate and use some punctuation? Capitalization? Break the sentances up a little?
The books are a thousand times better than the movies. Movies are great and all, but they're limited. They cut several characters out of the movies completely, changed interesting things, and cut scenes (such as the Quidditch match in the fourth movie, which had me and my friends angry for months).
I say if you only watch the Harry Potter movies and don't read the books, you're not a Harry Potter fan because you don't understand the characters properly. Books get you into a person's head like a movie never could. And as someone above mentioned, you can go to a library and borrow them. They're fast reads; I read the longest ones in one- or two-day periods. Or since your friends seem to own them, ask one of them to lend you one. I'm sure they wouldn't refuse.

 

[veggiedog]

Hi, WT. I'm not a fan, I've only read through book three (I hang my head in shame ) but movies in most cases never compare to books, bewarned. You usually don't get the depth of character, the nuances, the subtle foreshadowing, the author's style and technique, the rhythm and tone and thoughts of the characters in movies the way you do in books. They are not always accurate representations either. I borrowed these books from the library (which was free, last time I checked). If you're worried about people picking their noses and sticking whatever comes out into library books eek:!!!) then borrow them from a friend or relative. Or buy paperback. No need to blow a hundred bucks on book you're not even sure you'll like. And if the majority of the population agrees that they are good books, you can probably rest assured that they are, and just give them a chance. Just start with one--don't buy the whole set right off. If you like it, go for more. If not, never look at it again, or maybe at another time. Give it a chance.

EDIT: Sorry about the redudancy. A couple people already mentioned the library, I guess.

 

[venusunfolding]

I was a fan of the first 3 books. I think 4 and 5 could has seriously used an editor. 6 was okay.

I'm also in the minority in thinking that 4 made a MUCH MUCH better movie. I pretty much hated the 4th book, and everything they cut out of it to make the movie were all the things about the book I didn't like.

As to why you should read the books, They're quick reads, they're entertaining, and for the most part Rowling does a good job of creating a unique world and tackling some social issues in a really interesting way.

 

[Mari]

One reason to read a book even after you've seen the movie is to get more of what you enjoyed. You'll know the plot by then, but if you liked the characters, settings, etc., you'll get to spend more time with them in the book. No movie can include every scene from a book, let alone every joke and every aside.

 

[Sitaram]

Just the other week, I was watching the commentary/documentary on the making of Milan Kundera's "Unbearable Lightness of Being". The question of "why read the book" is raised there, in a sense. I was amazed to hear the director speak of Milan Kundera's open-minded attitude. Kundera said "Do whatever you feel necessary to make the movie, and take liberties with the story" (paraphrased). I thought for sure Kundera would be more rigid on that issue, since he is so particular about his translators. Apparently Kundera had worked with screen plays and movie production, and even taught a course in cinematography, so he understands that a movie cannot and should not always be a carbon copy of a book. The documentary describes the movie as a supplement or enhancement to the experience of reading the novel, rather than a substitute for reading it.

One of my favorite scenes in the novel is at the end, when they startle the moth and it slowly circles the room. The director said that they filmed that scene, and several others, as a potential ending. I realized that I should not be disappointed that the movie has a slightly different ending from the novel.

I found that reading the novel enhanced my enjoyment of the movie, and watching the move added to my understanding of the novel.

By contrast, the television production of Brideshead Revisited was an exact copy of the novel by Evelyn Waugh. I can turn to any page in the novel and remember hearing the dialogue in the movie. I also found that the movie and book compliment each other.

I remember the documentary on "The Shawshank Redemption", which observed that, in the novel, the character of Red was only a page or less, but in the movie, Red was developed into a major character.

Stephen Mallerme once said that a poem is never finished but only abandoned.

In some sense, a novel need not be finished, but may be enhanced by the creativity of a movie director.

Certainly, the story of the Gospels has been "enhanced" over the centuries by people like Kozanzakis and musicals like the Superstar, as have the ancient Greek myths, by writers like Camus with his Sisyphus.

Sometimes, watching movie version can provide motivation for tackling the novel. I know that watching Moby Dick did that for me.

 

[Libra6Poe]

One reason to read a book even after you've seen the movie is to get more of what you enjoyed. You'll know the plot by then, but if you liked the characters, settings, etc., you'll get to spend more time with them in the book. No movie can include every scene from a book, let alone every joke and every aside.

Right on Mari. That's why I read "White Oleander." My mother and aunt had read the novel, but I just watched the movie. And the movie was absolutely wonderful but I wanted to know more... understand the characters a little better, etc. So I read the book and it was just great. I found out everything I wanted to know that the movie didn't provide.

 

[whitetrash]

Thanks for all the feed back.