August 2, 2013

So of course I found a new challenge to participate in the hopes of proving myself better than the last. I picked up this challenge from The Chronicles of Radiya and very much look forward to 30 consecutive (hopefully, gulp) days of blogging.

Day 1: A Book you wish you could live in

If you have been following me for a while than you can probably answer the question for me. That’s right! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Can you imagine buying snacks from the trolley on the Hogwarts Express? Or waking up in your dormitory every morning? Or learning transfiguration?

When I first read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone I waited for my Hogwarts letter to come. I was convinced that I could simply will it to come.

“It’s just a book Lindsey.”

“It’s a made up world Lindsey.”

To this I would simply mutter, “Muggles” under my breath and walk away, shaking my head. They obviously were afraid of which house they would be sorted in, so hmph.

I’ve read a lot of great books filled with magical worlds that I wish I could get to with a click of my heels but if I had to choose just one, there wouldn’t be the slightest hesitation as I would say, “Why Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone of course. Duh.” (Okay, I wouldn’t actually say “Duh” because that’s rude, I’d say it in my head).

What about you? If could pick only one book to live in (FOR-EV-ER), what would you pick? Comment below and happy reading!

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I stumbled upon this meme at the adorable blog, Tessa’s Wishful Endings. Really it’s as simple as the name; you talk about a favorite book related subject on Fridays. It could be anything from favorite authors, books and genres to favorite reading spots, opening sentences and love triangles. Basically the world of novels is our oyster and with Friday Favorites, we can conquer it.

Friday Favorites #3: Favorite Bad Book/Movie Adaptations

I think that most of us are familiar with that feeling that comes with the announcement that one of your favorite books will be made for the big screen.Your heart starts to pound a little, you start taking short breaths as your mind starts moving at a frightening speed.

A dozen things are running through your mind: will it translate well, what if it’s like [blank] where it was absolutely horrible on film, but then again it could be like [blank] where it was really well done…(and then the most important question of all comes to you) BUT WHO ON EARTH ARE THEY GOING TO CAST?!!!

For me, there’s always more excitement than fear when I hear that a book will be made into a movie because I have a deep respect for cinematography. But I’ve seen some bad adaptations that left me walking out of the theater thinking “Why?” Everyone hates it when the movie completely ruins the book and everyone loves it when ‘the movie people’ (yes, that’s what I call them) get it right and bring the book to a new level.

But what about in between? What about movies that strayed from their novel companions but turned out to be great movies? How can it be some of you might be asking, well let give you my two favorite examples.

Ella Enchanted

The book version is a charming fairy tale. It was one of the first books in which I fan girled over a fiction character; the fiction character being Prince Char. He was so…so….so good at giving girls that feeling in their stomach. And the adventures Ella went on in this novel were so fun to watch: the boarding school, the ogres and of course her cinderella like ending. I was convinced that if ‘the movie people’ strayed from this story line then it wouldn’t be a movie worth seeing.

Well, ‘the movie people’ certainly did stray from the story line completely changing how the ending worked out and even had the audacity to add musical numbers. At first I was so angry. The book was so good and could have made a great movie so why did they stray? Then I watched the movie again and found myself actually liking it. It wasn’t the fairy tale I had come to love but it was a cute movie, full of funny scenes and although Char wasn’t quite the same he was certainly cute to look at. I came to value the movie for what it was, separate from the book and was all the happier for it.

Prince Caspian

I saw the movie before reading the book so granted my opinion might be a little biased. When I first saw the movie I thought it was good, but I assumed the book must be even better. Well I just recently read the book and I can’t believe how boring it was; literally no character development, no mystical journeys and no epic battle scenes. It was a huge disappointment which is a shame because the book had the potential to be something great.

After finishing the book I brought the movie out and watched it again and was amazed at how much better it was than it’s book companion. ‘The movie people’ made the story more realistic. If a new and an old king meet there is going to be some internal conflict no doubt. The movie included everything the novel left out; substance. From now on when someone wants to know the story of Prince Caspian, I recommend the movie not the book (something that could get me expelled from the book lovers club).

So those are my two favorite bad book/movie adaptations. What about you? Are there book/movie adaptations that were bad that you actually liked? Let me know so I won’t feel alone and happy reading!