Movies whet the appetite ... books sate the hunger
You’ve seen the movie ... would you buy the book? Here to examine that question, and others, is our guest blogger, Honolulu writer (and reader and moviegoer) Sally Sorenson. Welcome, Sally!
"You’ve seen the movie; would you buy the book? Did Clark Gable uttering Rhett Butler’s classic “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” leave you satisfied—that ending said it all—or, like millions of romance junkies over the decades, did you want a sequel? After all, tomorrow was another day.
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"More importantly, you might invest four hours (!) of your time watching Gone with the Wind, but would you take days to read a book of more than 1,000 pages? According to the frontispiece on my (very old) paperback, Margaret Mitchell’s masterpiece was first published in 1936 and sold more than 176,000 copies within the first three weeks of publication. It’s still available to this day.
"Moviegoers have been mesmerized by Scarlett O’Hara since she first flounced across the screen in 1939. Readers know Scarlett as an impetuous teen rather than the stunning vixen Vivian Leigh. The opening line: “Scarlett O’Hare was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm…”
"Actors, no matter how good, can only interpret the character the author created. It’s this weakness of movies that motivates readers to pick up the original work. A good author takes us inside the character’s head to see the world from his or her point of view. Within the book covers, there are no time constraints, and special effects don’t try to dazzle. You can curl up with fictional characters and get to know them as you would friends. Hear their thoughts. Ponder at leisure what makes them tick. Share the delicious attraction that grows between hero and heroine.
"Do romantic movies spur sales of the books from which they’ve been adapted? One need only look at the current vampire phenomenon Stephanie Meyer's series is fomenting among viewers and readers. Writers dream of spending that many weeks on bestseller lists.
"Covers featuring the stars and scenes from the movie suggest they help sales. Chocolat, the sweet tale by Joanne Harris, could only benefit by having Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche wrapped around the outside. The same might be said for Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. So many of Jane Austen’s books have been made into movies that readers feel like they are reaching for familiar buddies when they see Gwyneth Paltrow or Emma Thompson in their bonnets with the likes of Hugh Grant or Colin Firth gracing the bookstore displays and inviting them to take a volume home.
"Imagination, then, needs only a nudge when reading scenes already reeling out in the mind’s eye. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet never seemed so believable until Franco Zeffirelli directed young lovers Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. High school students should be forever grateful for that 1968 production. Wuthering Heights¸ Emily Bronte’s love story for the ages, has been made and remade through the ages. It hasn’t hurt book sales. The marriage between books and movies endures.
"But to readers, the last word goes to the author, not the screenwriters or the director. If you loved Keira Knightly and James McAvoy in Atonement, read Ian McEwan’s novel. Savor the language that first lulls you from the elegant English countryside to the acrid, smoldering disaster of the British retreat from Dunkirk. The movie was merely an appetizer."
Tags: Atonement, Chocolat, Emily Bronte, Franco Zeffirelli, Gone with the Wind, Ian McEwan, Jane Austen, Joanne Harris, Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates, Romance, Sally Sorenson, Stephanie Meyer
