HOMESPUN LIGHT: Movies Just Aren't as Good as Books...

They aren't. Get over it. Recent examples...Stuart Little, Tale of Despereaux, TWILIGHT!

I'll admit it. I enjoyed all three of these movie adaptations. However, they are just NOT as good as the books.

We thoroughly enjoyed the book, Stuart Little, although we did find the ending surprisingly open-ended. The movie is cute, but it's completely different from the book. I think that was what made it disappointing to us.

The Tale of Despereaux is one of those books that knows how to pull the heart-strings of even the smallest listeners. There are parts of the book that I thought might be too sad for the little ones. One of the main characters gets hit in the ear so many times that she nearly goes deaf.

I was surprised to find that the kids counted this among their favorite stories ever. I really enjoyed it, too. The voice and characters are outstanding.

The movie stays closer to the book than Stuart Little, but there were still many changes. The movie was cute, but it wasn't a story that could change your life like the book.

Moral of the story? Books are more than words. They bring your mind to life. Movies are great entertainment too, but they usually lack the magic that the written word contains.

I'm curious, though. Have you ever seen a movie adaptation of a book that you truly liked AS MUCH as the book? I do love the Pride and Prejudice movies...old and new. That's the only one I can think of.

How about you?

About Deliciously Clean Reads

Don't you hate when you get into a book and then have to put it down because you feel the content is inappropriate? After this happened to me several times in a row, I went searching on-line for a good resource for clean book recommendations. When I didn't find much, I started this blog where anyone can recommend books as long as they are free of sex, profanity, and graphic violence.

Want to send a review copy of a book for possible review? Great. Tell me about it.

Hope you enjoy your visit!

Warmly,

Emily

11 comments:

katieApril 26, 2009 at 11:08 PM
I haven't read or seen the first two books/movies you mentioned. (They are both on my "to read" list with my children) I did devour the Twilight series and the movie is nowhere near as good. I would agree that movies usually don't hold a candle to the book. Pride & Prejudice is pretty close. One other one I can think of is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.
buttercupApril 27, 2009 at 9:22 AM
I agree with you. If I haven't already read the book, I will watch the movie before I read it. But I don't think I have ever found a movie that I love as much as the book.
MeredithApril 27, 2009 at 9:27 AM
One of my favorite movies of all time is Little Women with Winona Ryder. I don't know that it's better than the book, but I like it as much. One movie I liked a lot better was Stardust, based on the Neil Gaiman book. Nothing else comes to mind right off.
AllyApril 27, 2009 at 9:39 AM
I have to agree - the 1995 Pride and Prejudice is the only one I think really comes close...

Stardust is a million times better than most book based movies - but I'd still say the book was better (EVEN with me having seen the movie before the book!)
melissa @ 1lbrApril 27, 2009 at 11:05 AM
The Princess Bride movie was better than the book. But, I still enjoyed the book. The movie is such a classic though.
EmilyApril 27, 2009 at 11:41 AM
I love all the movies you guys have said. I haven't read Stardust or The Princess Bride though, so I can't compare them.
Have you found that sometimes you like a movie better because of the book? I didn't really enjoy the Harry Potter movies until after I had read the books.
joyousApril 27, 2009 at 3:11 PM
I have to agree that the books are better than the movies. However, there does have to be an exception to every rule, right? Just recently I read "Calendar Girls". I had seen the movie awhile ago and was interested to read the book (expecting it to be better) but it couldn't hold my attention. I didn't even finish it. Bummer.
KatieApril 27, 2009 at 10:55 PM
North and South the movie(the BBC version) is just amazing...but I couldn't really get into the book by Elizabeth Gaskell. I am going to try again when I have some more time on my hands, but the chemistry between characters is just amazing. If I the book was better I would truly be amazed. I think the old P&P was close, but the new one didn't have the tone of the book in my opinion. It was good, but different
katieApril 29, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I haven't seen North & South yet, but I read the book last month by Elizabeth Gaskell and it was amazing! Loved it. So similar to Pride & Prejudice, but different too. I highly recommend trying the book again. I can't wait to see the movie...I've heard it's really good.
Ryann PinnegarApril 30, 2009 at 11:55 PM
The recent Lord of the Rings was pretty good (they didn't short change the story as much as many movies do).

On another note, thanks for mentioning Twilight! My dad liked the movie enough to consider reading the book, and my husband is letting me read the book to him and is liking it better than I thought he would!
LauraMay 2, 2009 at 5:10 PM
Hmm... Lord of the Rings complemented the book. I'm hoping New Moon thrills me more than Twilight *cross fingers* (love the books!) I judge movies on whether it invokes the same feelings that I experienced during the book reading, because there's no way a movie can cover every detail in the book. So according to that, I'd have the say the closest for me is Pride and Prejudice.