Sunday, May 25, 2008

So much better than the movie

We're getting geared up over here for the Teen Summer Reading Club - the theme this year is "I liked the book better."

There is a rare case where the movie makes something more out of a mediocre book (I'm thinking The Devil Wears Prada - not that I've read the book - I'm just repeating what I've heard). But the movie made out of Neil Gaiman's Stardust was no exception to the rule. Claire Daines' fluffy frolic through a Disney-style fantasy land wasn't terribly compelling (however, if you enjoy fluffy teen romance, this is definitely the movie for you).

I wasn't terribly interested in picking up the book, but in the spirit of taking one for the team, I gave it a read. Much less fluffy, more interesting and of course more complex than the movie, the book was actually kind of dark. I can see why Neil Gaiman is one of the big names in fantasy writing.

Any other book/movie combinations to suggest?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Harry Potter books were also better than the movie too! They keep out SO much information from the books when they make it into a movie. For example, the Order of the Phoenix, half of the info in the book weren't even IN the movie! The movie was a completely different thing than the book, and it kind of annoys me because it ruins the entire concept of the book, you know?

Cara the librarian said...

I'm with ya.