Books vs. Movies: Which Comes First?

Are you a read-it-before-you-see-it kind of person? Do you have to read the book before you see the movie? Do you care about reading the book? Can you watch the movie and then read the book? Have you ever seen a movie that was better than the book?

Enquiring minds want to know. Really.

I certainly don’t have to read every book that’s been a book before I saw the movie. In fact, sometimes if I’ve read a book and liked it so much, I won’t want to see the movie because it will kind of ruin it for me. I create my own running movie in my head when I’m reading. Sometimes, just for fun, at my book club, we’ll ask who should play the major characters of the book if it were ever brought to the screen. Apparently I’m really out of the loop on younger actors and actresses.

I’ve had a few hits and misses with books and movies but here are some great movie suggestions for streaming on Netflix (which means you can watch it right now) if you’re the kind of person who likes the whole book-movie dynamic (regardless of which comes first).

For the Kids

The great thing about books and movies for kids is that watching the movie can be their incentive for reading the book. And knowing the movie can help make the reading a bit easier by familiarizing them with the story.

	Here’s a good one for the littles, although we still read our Danny and the Dinosaur trilogy every once in a while. I haven’t seen this one and I know the book is pretty simplistic (Danny finds a dinosaur that comes to life and the museum and they become best buddies). So I would imagine this would be a great movie for preschoolers.
	Talk about a movie that totally deviates from the book. The Lorax is like a sacred classic to me and I refused to have anything to do with this movie for a long time. I mean, Danny DeVito as the Lorax? But Mrs. Seuss gave it her blessing and I thought I would too. I have to admit that the second time I watched it was better. I think I was over the shock of modernizing the story!
	I absolutely adored this book as a kid. In fact, I’ve always been a fan of Roald Dahl, who also wrote the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory books. But I can’t say I remember the story well since I haven’t read it since I was a kid. The movie is a bit on the creepy but imaginative side. It mightscare some of the younger kids but Evan loved it when he watched it at 5 years old.
	Did you know this Disney classic was originally a book? I didn’t either. It was first published in 1968 but my generation knew Tony and Tia (who eventually became one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) from watching this movie on the The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. It might be time to introduce this one to Evan.
	THIS IS THE POLAR EXPRESS! I bet you can’t NOT hear that in Tom Hanks’ voice. This is one where I saw the movie before I knew about the book. The movie is a much, much longer stretch of the book and the animation kind of creeps me out but we love the story and we’ll definitely plan on watching this as we set up our Polar Express train around our Christmas tree.

For the Grown Ups

Sometimes, you get control of the remote. But let’s face it. Usually not until the kids are in bed. That’s okay. That’s the perfect time to watch some of these book to screen adaptations.

	I didn’t read this book but I listened to the audiobook and ZOMG is that a long book. It literally took me months of driving in the car to finish. I think it was over 80 hours. So as you might imagine, there is a 2 part movie. I started to watch the first but just felt like it would never be able to capture the nuances of the book. But it might be a good alternative if you don’t have a spare 80 hours.
	I tried listening to this book first. I had heard so much about it so I knew it must be good. But all of the Scandinavian names had me thoroughly confused so I decided to nab it from the library to help. Not so much. Maybe it’s a good read. Tell me if I should give it another shot. Or should I skip the book and go straight to Steig Larsson’s screen adaptation?
	Did you know House of Cards was actually a book? It was written by Michael Dobbs, published in 1989, and based on Parliament, NOT Congress. But this show is so good, I don’t have a reason to read the original book. I’ll take Kevin Spacey’s slick Southern drawl as Congressman Frank Underwood any day of the week.
	I read this book a few years back because I became obsessed with Jon Krakauer, the author. I love his storytelling woven into real events. This was a sad, short read but a powerful story that actually had my husband and I talking about it. I haven’t seen the movie but I trust that Sean Penn would keep the vibe pretty close to the book.
	I’m sorry. I can’t do Twilight and teen vampires. I can, however, totally get into teen dystopian novels like The Hunger Games. I listened to this one as an audiobook and loved the first half of the story. The second half got a little hokey but I still enjoyed it. Not enough to read the rest of the trilogy but still. I haven’t watched the movie. My husband told me not to bother but I kind of want to at least see the costumes! (Also, if you’re a Hunger Games fan, I’ve got something fun on the blog tomorrow involving chocolate!)

So which are you? Book then movie? Movie then book? Movie only? And please weigh in on any of the books/movies I haven’t completed!

This post is part of my role on the Netflix Stream Team. No compensation has been received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own.