Do you think books are more detailed than movies?
By yoyozhou
@yoyozhou (356)
China
May 2, 2009 6:29pm CST
As we all know, movies are made according to books. The actors will do their best to show the characters in the play book.Sometimes I will look for some comments on the movie or read the original edition of the movie after see a certaim movie.I find that the book is more profound and detailed to show the story.Then I can undersand the meaning of the movie clearly. So what do you think of it?
Sometimes I feel I can not use some sentences to express myself or record my experience.Understanding someone is really a hard and complex process.So I think most of us have no quanlification to comment on others beacuse we don't know others experiences and we can not understand others real sense.
But why I think books are better than movies? Because the authors create the book and the book record the author's real thought.How an actor could understand the author's thought after he read the book only for one time? I should say, an actor maybe performance himself.DO you think so?
2 people like this
17 responses
@pawilliams1 (51)
•
3 May 09
I think the answer here is "It depends".
The reason I say this is that a movie made from a book is never as good as the book itself - it can't convey the thoughts, emotions and descriptions that the author was trying to impart. If you read the James Bond books and watch the films you see what I mean.
On the other hand, a book based on a movie is never as good as the movie. Quite often in these cases the author tries to impart too much that wasn't there in the original script and the book becomes quite boring. A good example of this is "Star Trek: Generations" - great film, crap book!!
@captainmorgan (773)
• Canada
3 May 09
This is a great idea for a discussion, good job! I think that books are much more detailed. In a book you know the characters every thought and feeling. You can easily become the character in the book when you are reading it, because you are inside that characters head. While watching a movie you are an observer. You watch what the characters do, and guess their feelings based on body language and facial expressions. You are not in their head and therefore you may not understand the character as well. There could be hidden motives and misunderstandings, ect.
@omiami (412)
• Malta
3 May 09
Yes its true. Its a really great topic to talk about. I have to say that I agree with you 100%. A book is more detailed for the reasons that you just mentioned. You get to know the character so much that not only you can be able to picture the character in mind but even to get to know anything that this person feels. You feel that you are personally living the situation of that particular character especially when you read about someone that you feel that they are quiet similar to your real character.
@dragonpianoboy (39)
• United States
3 May 09
I would say books are much more detailed. The reason for this is because usually directors cut out either important parts or non important parts of the book, that could help the movie watcher understand the movie better. In books though the author doesn't cut this part out, so it's much easier to understand. Like you said it's really difficult for an actor to understand the authors motives in the book, after reading it just once.
@jmlynn (46)
• United States
3 May 09
I think books are way more detailed and always a lot better because it is left to your own imagination. If I read a book and then watch the movie, I am always disappointed in the movie. If I'm going to read a book, now I usually wait until after I watch the movie. That way I'm not so disappointed and feeling like I wasted time.
@stargazer530 (5)
• United States
3 May 09
Books are definitely more descriptive and better, and movies have to condense everything to run in a couple of hours and to appeal to a mass audience, generally meaning they dumb it down. I think the biggest disappointment for me when watching a movie made from a book is that when I am reading I get a certain image in my head of what the characters and places should look like, how things should sound, etc and then the writer and director and actors go with their own interpretation and it always falls short of what I am expecting.
I don't think an actor can ever really fully portray the character as the writer intended because the writer has the same problem with having the image in their head of what everything should be and they try to get it as close as possible, but it can never match exactly.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
3 May 09
Yes, I agree with you on this. I too think books best explain a movie. Many times due to cinematic adaptation limitations, many parts or sequences of a story has to be curtailed in order to fit in with the time or the audience and that to some extent changes the context of the story. Also in some cases I cant follow the dialogues properly or miss out on some important but fleeting sequence which makes it difficult to follow the following scenes but in case of a book that problem does not arise. So I understand the story better if a read it in a book first.
@misshoney (973)
• Philippines
3 May 09
hello yoyo:-) yes like those who replied to this discussion, i also agree that books are really more detailed than movies. that i think is the primary reason why whenever i watch a favorite book made into a movie, i am always disappointed. the book is always the better version. i experienced this when i saw harry potter, the notebook by nicholas sparks, da vinci code, twilight etc. in contrast i always enjoy movies that were once a book which i saw but hadn't read.
@BlueAngelRS (2899)
• Canada
3 May 09
I agree I do believe that books are most definatly more detailed then the movies...I found this especially in the Harry Potter series it wasn't til I read the books that I understand the story!
I believe the reason for this is when making the movie they don't have alot of time to include the whole story into one dialog!
@berrys (864)
• Singapore
3 May 09
books are definitely more detailed because i think only people who care about details read the book. the whole point movies are made are if you're lazy to see the book so of course lazy people see the movies and directors cut it shorter so we wouldn't get bored so it cant be into that much detail. it takes a person on average to finish a book in a day (a proper book that is) if a movie was as detailed as the book, would you wanna watch a movie for a whole day? its no longer a leisure than it becomes just like reading a book boring and no fun. unless of course you find reading fun. its a good habit to read because it makes us work our minds and when you see a movie its just the manipulation of pictures, words and music and basically gives you all the answers so you have nothing to work out. books are more stimulating and movies are just more thrilling.
@aikhong (661)
• Malaysia
3 May 09
Yeah, in my opinion i'll think that books are more detailed than movies. Although some people would prefer to have visual and animation stimulus rather than just reading words, but the descriptions in books in using words provide readers the room for imagination too. This is the one movies can't do.And readers can proceed and understand the content according their own pace, compared to watching movies.
@fengtl921 (46)
• China
3 May 09
I like read books much more then watch movie.I could image the action of all of the role's mind.so many kinds i can image.But an actor just can do one performance.
@sdutta20 (5)
• India
3 May 09
I also feel books are better than movies. Books help us to concentrate and stay focussed. From my experience, it has helped me a lot in developing my vocabulary and speaking skills. Movies I feel are an easy way out, which is like feeding someone.
Also, in a book, you can imagine a lot, which is not possible in movies.
Specially for children, i would recommend that they read more than watch movies.
I always ask my daughter to read books and then watch the movie of that book. It helps here understand it better.
@Weizen (144)
• China
3 May 09
I think the books are more detailed than moives .although the moive give you color imageine .but I think the book could give you more imageine .and the book could give you very detail inforamtion .and about this .ithink the moives don't give you so much detail information .
@astakiller (32)
• Malaysia
3 May 09
Yes ! books are more detailed than movies , it tell us most characteristic of the characters in the story.Movies are fun to watch because we dont have to do it ourself like we have to read books, we only watch it and laugh , scared , happy but it's hard to understand the true meaning of the movie.
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
3 May 09
Of course books are much more detailed, because the author can't show you what's happening in images, he has to create a word picture. However, if the actor is good, he can portray emotions which may take 2 or 3 pages to describe on paper with a single gesture or look, so both have a valid place in our enjoyment.
What annoys me is when directors either miss out vital sections of the book or insert scenes that never appeared in the book just for cinematic effect. As long as the director respects the author's work, the film should be good. The actor is only portraying what the screenwriter and the director want him to do, so he probably doesn't have a great deal of input.
Where I think movies can help with the interpretation of words is in films of Shakespeare plays. When you see actions paired with the words it can be easier to understand Shakespeare's meanings and intentions.
@tzaddi (395)
• Philippines
3 May 09
yes i think that books are more detailed than movies because the authors can't show videos in their books, of course because it's a book and authors need to convince the readers to feel the story, like emotions, fight parts, because when we read books, our imagination starts to work and the details will help us imagine the scenario of that particular part of the book. details are very important in every book, whether it's romance, sci-fi, humor, anything. because it gives more depth to the contents of the book, and for readers to understand more the point of view of the author. happy earning!
