Would you rather…Read or Watch?

Today’s blog post is going to cover the topic of Book Versus Movie/Television. The reason for this debate (or rather, why I have my panties in a twist) is because I watched the new TV Series ‘Midnight, Texas’ based off the book series by Charlaine Harris.

Let me first give you some background info: I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books and watched one or two episodes of True Blood on HBO.  (I probably would have watched more, but we didn’t get HBO at the time because we’re too cheap to pay for it and now I’m too lazy to rent the series on DVD).  I have read NONE of the Midnight, Texas books.  Evidently there are three books in the series.

So I DVR’d the Midnight, Texas television show and decided I’d give it a chance. I knew I liked the author and I love shows with a paranormal element.  After the first fifteen minutes I was hooked.  The show started with a whopper of an action scene and immediately grabbed my attention.  However, my mind began to wander as the episode progressed and I felt like I was missing out on valuable information that was most likely in the book, but cut out of the television show in order to save on time.  In the end, I decided that I’d be better off just reading the books and not waiting for a whole season of shows to find out what happens.

This brings me to our topic of today…do you all agree with me? Would you rather read a story and picture it in your head as the drama unfolds…or would you rather let it play out on television or at the movie theater?  I would honestly have to say that I prefer the books in 90% of situations.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane for some prime examples of stuff I’ve read and then watched.

Example #1   THE STAND by STEPHEN KING.  This is my favorite book in the history of books.  The man tells a narrative and sets a scene like nobody’s business.  I didn’t feel the miniseries did it justice.

Example #2 The Twilight Series.  By the time the fourth book was released, I had seen the movie and couldn’t help but picture Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as Edward and Bella.  The fact that they were both in the tabloids every five seconds kind of removed some of the excitement of the story for me.

Example #3 Fifty Shades of Grey. I suffered through all the books (yes, Anastasia, please bite your lip ONE MORE TIME) and had no real desire to see Mr. Grey make a brooding ‘I want to spank you’ face for two hours on film.  But…we had free HBO that weekend, so I DVR’d it anyway.  (Yes, I have a problem with watching TV live in real time.  I like to DVR stuff so I can fast forward.  I hate commercials and have a short attention span!)  Wow.  I ended up skipping most of the sex scenes and laughing every time Christian Grey scowled.

Example #4  Harry Potter.  This is the one exception to the rule of my preference for books over movies.  I would have to say that both of them were equally mesmerizing. While it’s true that I prefer to picture the characters in my head, and it’s always a disappointment when the actors cast in the role do not match up, I have no problem with Harry, Hermione, or Ron.  I think JK Rowling did such an amazing job with her world building and stayed true to her characters.

I guess there’s nothing quite like the feeling when you’re totally engrossed in a good book, transported to another world, and get so absorbed that you block out everything going on in real life. I can do that a lot easier when I’m reading than when I’m watching.

That’s just my opinion, but I’m interested to know what you think of the topic.  What movies did you find to be better than the books?

Til next time….

Grace