THE BOOK or THE FILM? Judith D. (1r batx B)

Books or films?

Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, “Como agua para chocolate”, The diary of Ana Frank, The child with the striped pyjama… these are just some examples of many cinematographic versions of books. It’s also the reason why we often pose the question: BOOKS OR FILMS?

The sentence “The film is good, but it hasn’t got point of comparison with the book…” it’s very typical.

If I have to put myself in the point of view of a reader I would say that books are better than films because the psychology of the characters and the details of the argument are more deep in the novel than in the film. Moreover novels give to the readers the opportunity or chance to imagine and create.

I’m this kind of persons who don’t like reading or simply prefer the convenience of seeing a film than reading a book. However, I have to say that the books that I read on my own, fascinated me so probably I only have to search these kinds of books that I like but I’m very strike to do it. So in the point of view of a super viewer I would say that if you don’t want to be unhappy with a film, don’t read the book.

Despite this mythical and typical phrase, some stories are better on film than on books for example “Como agua para chocolate”. I can’t give a lot of examples of that because, as I said before, I don’t read many books but I’m sure that some films could be better than books because of the special effects or because it makes the story easier and understandable.

For me, cinema and literature are two different languages.

I think that a film adaptation of a book is only one version of a reader, who is the director.

They are simply different genres with different readings and different public, but neither is better or worse than the other, may even they can be complementary.

Judith Doral Vall

1r btx B