Why the Book seems better than the Movie
You might have heard many people saying that
“The book was better than the movie”
Almost all the readers I know have said this to me after watching a movie based on a book.
I always wondered why it was like that and the only conclusion that I came up with was
When we are reading a book, we imagine everything in its glory or despair (depending upon the scene of course),
Every scene, every glance, every battle we indulge the powers of our imagination to relive that particular scene, to experience it, to observe it, to cherish it in all its glory.
Every character introduction, every metaphor related to the appearance of that particular character, we really do experience it all in our mind.
A beautiful woman introduced in the book by a cliched metaphorical line — her skin simmered like molten gold and her eyes, oh it’s always the eyes etc etc. You get the point.
We would run the engines of our imagination imagining a woman relating to those characteristics mentioned above and, the best part is everyone would have a different interpretation for the woman, for the same woman.
The woman may vary in ethnicity, in their hair, in their facial structure, everything!
But in movies,
That woman would be played by someone constant. There was really not any immediate need to imagine as you have seen what the woman look like.
Similarly, in say a thriller scene
He immediately dismounted the horse and withdrew his narrow dagger proceeding towards the wounded Mammoth, he put his dagger next to the broken tooth of the saber toothed tiger which had inscribed onto the knee of the magnificent mammoth and removed it.
Realising that the mammoth is bleeding even more, he proceeded to call the paramedics and that’s how Grey’s Anatomy: Ice Age began.
I might have gone carried away with the plot mentioned above but just think — How differently would everyone see the scene in their imagination?
The colour of the horse, If the protagnist is wearing armour, if yes then of what colour?
Is it a leather armour or metallic?
What type of dagger is it? What kind of metal? Does it have a cross guard? What colour is the grip? Is the dagger curved?
All these answers would have a different answer for everyone who imagines this particular scene.
When we imagine things we read about we get a vivid sense of satisfacation.
We feel more indulged in the story and from my observations that’s probably one of the reasons why people usually say that
The book was better than the movie
I mean its either this or either this. ( I wrote a story a while ago on how different books and the movies based on those books are, read it here.)
Signing Off.
AA.
