Book better than movie

My rule of thumb is that if the book came first, it's usually better than the movie. If the book comes afterward, and is adapted from the script, the reverse tends to be the case.

"Silver Linings Playbook" was a recent exception, though the book was very different from the movie. "Cry Freedom" was also a fabulous fictionalization of Stephen Biko's biography, though I'm not sure it was based on a single book.

I still believe Gerry Conlon's biography "In the Name of the Father" was far better than the film, though I loved both... and I think in that case the Daniel Day-Lewis movie came first.


(Aside: I thought I owned at least the latter two books... and I can't find them on my shelf. Guess I'm overdue for a Barnes 'n' Noble visit!)

 

Yeah, switch the concept and it'd be a much tougher thread.

Two of the fun ones to debate are The Wizard of Oz and Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I loved the Baum and Dahl books so much as a kid and always stuck up for the books. There are good arguments to be made on both sides in those two.

 

Also Misery, which had a terrible movie adaptation.

 

I know I'm alone on this, but I hated the book - put it down after almost 300 pages. His writing of her accent drove me nuts. When the movie was lousy, I just attributed it to another bad movie like hundreds of others. The book was disappointing.

 

I had a similar experience with Back to Blood back in 2012. I wanted to throw the book into a lake and scream every time he tried to write the dialogue between the Cuban-American characters.

 

I'm with X-hack. I thought Bonfire of the Vanities was exceptional but Wolfe's only great novel. Man in Full was very good. The rest are abominations. I struggled to finish Back to Blood recently and now wonder why I wasted the time.

 

The Silence of the Lambs was a very good movie but an even better book. Same with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

A close call for me might be LA Confidential but I think, overall, the book wins on that one, too.

 

Shoeless Joe is better than Field of Dreams.

There. I said it.

 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Funk John-Boy Depp.

 

For Love of the Game

I've said it many times, so I'll keep it simple. No kid. The girl is much more interesting. Billy isn't such a selfish jackass.