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The Book Was Better Than The Movie

Thoughts on successful adaptations.

Hannah Kass

Mar 21, 2016

Smith College

Harry Potter Wikia

“The book was better”

“Maybe I’ll read the book someday”

“Both are different but have things that are great”

“I want to read the book first”

In the realm of adapting a source material to another medium (i.e. book to movie, book to TV, TV to movie, etc.) criticism is inevitable.However, this article will not be focusing on such contentious adaptation as “The Golden Compass” or “The Last Airbender” but on adaptations that are met with acclaim.

“Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones,” “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” etc.

While acclaimed for their presentation of the source material, the criticism is not invalid in any way.

From execution and focus of certain characters to changes in plot points there is a lot to be critical.

A more recent example I have noticed would be with "Harry Potter." While the films are for the most part praised as mostly faithful adaptations, I have seen some people offer criticism over how certain characters could have been approached on screen. In the case of Ginny Weasley, she still has a presence in the films and does get some moments to show her capabilities as a witch, but otherwise she is still simply Harry's love interest. The books however offered plenty of opportunities for the film to allow her to demonstrate her fierce loyalty to her close friends (casting a hex on a classmate for bullying Luna Lovegood) and did more to show her dedication to Quidditch, which is played minimally on screen.

In another instance, I am currently keeping tabs on those differences in the book series "A Song of Ice and Fire". I have watched the TV series and am all caught up, but after receiving a box set of leather back editions of the book series for a Channukah present I decided to give the books a try. Though many are correct in their statements of the first book and first season being most similar to one another, the differences are still hard to ignore. From a narrative standpoint that is likely due to each book chapter told from a different third person perspective of a certain character, while the TV series is able to add scenes that may not have necessarily been described in the books due to said point of view characters not being present for those moments. While I have yet to ultimately decide which I like better as I am still on the second book of the series, I hope to continue exploring the manner in which the TV series and book series execute the narrative of the story, with the book offering perspectives from certain characters, while the TV series is not necessarily restricted to those points of view.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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