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24.Jan.2010 Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge

Filed In: challenge

1 January 2010 – 31 December 2010

You do know that I need to join this challenge, right? Comparing book and its movie adaptation is really my thing. In 2009, I did that with:

  1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
  2. The Color Purple
  3. Silk
  4. A Christmas Carol
  5. Wicked (not a movie, but with its musical)
  6. Dracula + movie (separate post)
  7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince + movie (separate post)
  8. Intimacy (uum didn’t finish the movie because it was so bad..)

In 2008, I read the books and see the movies for The Woman in the Dunes, Atonement, Harry Potter 1-5, The Kite Runner, Wuthering Heights, Lolita, and Persepolis. Then in separate years, Memoirs of a Geisha, Battle Royale, The Joy Luck Club, A Walk to Remember. (I don’t link to the book reviews because I think I just started incorporating movie comparison regularly in 2008.) Really, the options are endless!

Therefore I’m quite confident that I can complete the Saturday Movie Marathon level, which requires four books/movies. Easy peasy :)

I know that I’ll be watching The Road and Burton’s Alice in Wonderland this year. Possibly The Reader, The Lovely Bones, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button–all of which I have read. Disgrace and The Secret Life of Bees piqued my interest too (books read). Hopefully I can squeeze in The Revolutionary Road and The Remains of the Day (books not yet read).

What pair would you recommend? I’m all ears!

The pair I did for the challenge:

  1. Flowers for Algernon (reviewed 01/10)
  2. The Road (reviewed 03/10)
  3. The Good Earth (reviewed 03/10)
  4. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (reviewed 06/10)
  5. To Kill A Mockingbird (reviewed 06/10)
  6. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (reviewed 10/10)
  7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (reviewed 11/10)
  8. The Remains of the Day (reviewed 12/10)

Reviews Jan/Feb | May/Jun/Jul | Aug/Sep

17 Comments
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There are 17 Comments to "Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge"

  • Michelle (su[shu]) says:
    24 January 2010 at 6:38 pm

    It’s more like me coming here to get suggestions from you! =) Great to finally see you post about this, I was just waiting for it to happen. Definitely going to be watching Burton’s movie, but I’m planning on reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass before that, because I think I read somewhere that Burton’s movie is actually an extension of the books, and not an adaptation.. I’m not sure..

    I’m also super keen on doing The Reader and The Revolutionary Road. Looking forward to sharing thoughts with you.

    Reply
    • mee says:
      25 January 2010 at 9:23 pm

      You’re right. I heard from someone that it’s probably gonna be Alice Through the Looking Glass. Well I haven’t read both, so it’s a good idea to try to read them before the movie. The first one is definitely short, but I’m not sure about the second one.

      I’ve read The Reader, but not The Revolutionary Road. Maybe we can read the latter together :)

      Reply
  • JoV says:
    25 January 2010 at 7:00 pm

    DIdn’t know that this challenge exist! I’m a movie buff and love to compare the book vs the movie. Did you try the Slumdog Millionaire aka Q&A book? It’s totally different.

    @mee, love your new blog, and you got some great challenge on your side bars that I have to look through. You said you speak Indonesian, are you Indonesian or Malaysian?
    @Michelle, done The Reader, yet to read Revolutionary Road. Read

    I love you guys, I’m lucky to find both of you from my part of the world and reading similar books!

    Reply
    • mee says:
      25 January 2010 at 9:37 pm

      I’ve been dying to watch Slumdog Millionaire! I’m not sure if I want to read the book though, that’s why I didn’t put it in my list of selection. Would you recommend the book?

      I grew up in Indonesia, yes, but my family migrated to Australia years ago. I lived in Malaysia for 15 months before though, so I do understand Malay. It’s great to have found you too JoV! I keep wondering why we three have similar taste. Is it because we’re originated from close region? How does it have anything to do with book taste? Lol.

      Reply
      • JoV says:
        26 January 2010 at 9:43 am

        Indonesian or Malay language, dua-dua sama-sama. I pretty sure because we are of the same region we share the same pallette for taste of books!

        Don’t bother about Slumdog Millionaire book I say, the movie is much much better. But I really like to try “Revolutionary Road” and “The Remains of Days”. Never let me go was quite memorable, so I am always watching out for Ishiguro’s books. If there is a movie I like to watch now from your list, it would be “Lovely Bones”. I didn’t like the book the Road, no matter how many rave reviews it gets.

        Unfortunately I will not be reading and blogging for awhile. But if I do blog again, I’ll be happy if you and Michelle come visit me. :)
        .-= [JoV´s last blog: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald] =-.

        Reply
        • mee says:
          26 January 2010 at 4:49 pm

          Oh yeah Indonesian and Malay have a lot of common words for sure. But I know that Indonesians generally understand more Malay than the other way around, because Malay is like older version of Indonesian, and therefore has a lot less slank :D. We speak faster too.

          Great, so my intuition is right about Q&A. I’ll just watch Slumdog Millionaire then. I like Ishiguro too and would look for more of his works. Never Let Me Go was memorable for sure. Interestingly, I didn’t like The Road too. If I have only a couple of words to explain it, it would be repetitive and boring. The premise is excellent, really! But it was so awfully repetitive.

          I have added your blog to my reader so will know when you have new posts. I look forward to them!

          Reply
  • mrdes says:
    26 January 2010 at 1:50 am

    “The Revolutionary Road” was powerful as a movie, but I have lost count of the times I failed to pick the book up at the library:P “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” the movie was a huge disappointment, really, in comparsion with the book. I sort of regret not watching “The Road”

    So, you will tell me what you think of them?:)

    I once wrote something about print-to-screen material…I don’t actually remember any movie being better than the novel it is based on. But maybe on par, I can only think of “Brokeback Mountain”. What do you think?
    .-= [mrdes´s last blog: Still Night] =-.

    Reply
    • mee says:
      26 January 2010 at 3:51 pm

      Uum funny, that’s what happens with me with Rev Road too :P. I work at VFX house so I’ve seen many clips of Benjamin Button. I wouldn’t mind seeing it just for the visual :). The short story it’s based on was pretty good I thought. The Road is just out in Australia and I’ve won tickets for it so I’ll be sure to watch it in a couple of weeks! I didn’t like the book though. I reckon I might appreciate the movie more.

      I liked Brokeback Mountain the movie. I didn’t like the short story as much. I’m not sure if I liked Annie Proulx writing, but I have only read that one short. Another movie that I think is better than the book (or on par) is Breakfast at Tiffany’s (though book and film are kinda different). Then Persepolis (both very good), Atonement (book was too slow for me, movie was pretty), and The Woman in Dunes (got bored with the book, movie was much more interesting). Movie that made me rush for the book after reading was Battle Royale :). Movie that made me WANT to read the book (but have not) was The Painted Veil. Most of the time I try to avoid watching the movie before reading the book.

      The thing is there are some movies that I know were taken from books but I have no plan of reading, like The Flight Club for example, then Julie and Julia, Slumdog Millionaire. I’m sure there are many more in this category. The Shawshank Redemption!

      Reply
  • Novroz says:
    28 March 2010 at 1:13 am

    Hey this sounds like an interesting challenge…but it’s going to be difficult the book, finding the movie is much easier.

    I love this movie called Breakfast on Pluto…I really want to read the book but I don’t know where to look for it.

    Reply
    • mee says:
      28 March 2010 at 9:07 am

      Novroz, to be honest Breakfast on Pluto doesn’t sound like something I’d like, but I just checked that the book was shortlisted for Booker Prize in 1998. Mmm interesting. Too bad Indonesia doesn’t have good libraries with English books. I imagine it’d be very difficult to find the book there.

      Reply
      • Novroz says:
        29 March 2010 at 12:11 pm

        Well the movie version of BoP had made it to my list of all time fav movie…so I know the book will not my kind of reading coz I love thriller and suspense…and never read any romance in my life…but the ovie really intrigues me to do it.

        Yeah…you are so right!! most library are filled with translated book, I enjoy reading the original version. The only library I enjoy a lot is JF Library (Japan Foundation)…there, I feel in heaven…but only Japanese Author heaven :)
        .-= [Novroz´s last blog: Jurassic Park] =-.

        Reply
        • mee says:
          29 March 2010 at 9:12 pm

          Aaw you know what, next time I go back to Indonesia, I’ll pass a couple of books to you. It’s easier for me to get cheaper books here!

          Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Bookie Mee | Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  2. Bookie Mee | The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
  3. Bookie Mee | To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
  4. Bookie Mee | The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
  5. Bookie Mee | The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro


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