Should you read the book or see the movie? Part 6

Part six of whether or not I preferred the movie or the book of things I've recently read...

The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan vs. The 39 Steps (1935 film)-  I've gotta say that I was disappointed with the book and while it isn't his best movie, Hitchcock's film version is still pretty good. Verdict: See the movie.

Fletch by Gregory Mcdonald vs. Fletch (1985 film) - The book was really fun so I was disappointed when I finally saw the film version and realized how unfunny Chevy Chase can be at times. The book was both funny and serious and the film was neither. Verdict: Read the book.

Dune by Frank Herbert vs. Dune (1984 film) vs. Dune (2000 mini-series) - Dune is a pretty dense book with a lot of stuff going on. Trying to condense it into a single film is probably impossible. At least the movie has some good performances and David Lynch makes it memorably weird at times. The mini-series is a bit more faithful to the book but the production just looks too cheesy at times to take seriously. Verdict: Read the book.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling vs. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009 film) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 (2010 films) - Verdict: Read the book and see the movies.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler vs. The Big Sleep (1946 film) - Both the book and film are rightly considered classics but I have to give an edge to the book. Verdict: Read the book and see the movie.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John le Carre vs Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011 film) - A few years after seeing the movie I realized I couldn't really remember too much of it even though I remember thinking that it was okay. The book is okay if a bit dull. Verdict: Umm... either or neither

Book # 15 Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Going into Lord of the Flies I remembered that I had to read it in high school and that I really enjoyed it. Then I got to thinking about the different book covers I had seen for it.... and then it hit me... I had actually read this book a second time sometime after college. I had totally forgotten that I still owned a copy of this book from before we started this project. The only thing that reminded me was the memory of the cover of a really old paperback copy I found at a used book store. That got me thinking about how boring most of the book covers are that I see at book stores now. Anyway about Lord of the Flies...

A bunch of English children get stuck on an island and they slowly turn into savages.  The end.

Reading it again it reminded me a bit of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I'll have to keep this in mind when I eventually reread that book for this project. The whole books seems filled with possible essay topics... that's probably why everyone has to read it in high school. Still I enjoyed it for what it is and if somehow you haven't read it already I'd recommend it. I'll give it an A.

This is the cover I remember from high school... memorable and hints at the overall story.

The cover of the version I read... ok I guess.

The cover of the old used copy I had... it hints at the themes and emotions without any trace of the plot of the book... probably my favorite cover for this book.

Book # 48 Remembrance of Things Past (Part 6 of 7)- The Sweet Cheat Gone by Marcel Proust

I can't wait to be done with Remembrance of Things Past.. This volume picks up right after the last one with Albertine having broken up with the narrator. He spends the first 100 pages or so obsessing over Albertine's possible affairs and trying to figure out how to get her back. She writes him about reconciling but his response is to say no in the hopes that she begs him to come back. Yeah I'm tired of this guy. So then *spoiler* he receives word that Albertine has died in an accident and still he mostly obsesses about her past affairs and sends a friend out to investigate whether or not they happened. He then spends the last half of the book talking about whatever happened to Gilberte... and her story isn't particularly interesting. Well only one more to go... C+.

Book # 92 - The Ambassadors by Henry James

The most positive thing that I can say about Henry James' The Ambassadors is that I liked it more than the last couple list books I've read (The Captive and To the Lighthouse). Still.... it isn't a book that I'd really recommend.

The book follows a man, Strether, as he goes to Europe in the hopes of talking his fiance's son, Chad, into returning to America. However he sees that the young man has been improved by living in Europe and the good influence of a woman that he has met there. Strether also begins to feel that he's wasted his life so far and that he would be better off in Europe also. So then he must decide if he should really try and convince Chad into returning or not and what effect this would have on his own engagement.

The book started out kind of interesting and established the main plot quickly, but then it just started to drag and go over the same stuff over and over. By the end I was pretty bored with it. Basically imagine the plot of The Talented Mr. Ripley but replace the sociopath with a well mannered widower. Yeah... that isn't quite as interesting now. I'll give it a B-.

Book # 48 Remembrance of Things Past (Part 5 of 7)- The Captive by Marcel Proust

I've had enough of this book series.... Volume one I enjoyed. Even volume two was interesting. But it just goes on and on and on and nothing happens in volumes three four and five. It has not been a fun read. Sure some passages are really thought provoking and beautiful but it is surrounded by so much inconsequential stuff that I don't care. In this volume the first 250 pages are so is just the narrator thinking about how jealous and suspicious he is of his girlfriend... even though he is pretty sure that he doesn't even love her. The next 150 pages is just the narrator talking about his friends lives which is boring because they are all pretty unlikable and are mean to each other. The last 150 pages or so is just him and his girlfriend arguing and finally breaking up. I'm dreading the last two volumes... C+. On a side note the book mentions both War and Peace and Crime and Punishment.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

I've always been a bit curious about Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. There are just so many of them though that it makes it look kind of intimidating to dive into. So after reading a couple of interesting articles on the Onion's AV Club (one of which served as a handy guide on where to start and the other comparing the author to Kurt Vonnegut) I figured I'd give one a shot.... And you know I liked it. The series is set in this fantasy world called Discworld but the books follow several different characters. This particular book, Guards! Guards!, is about the City Watch of Discworld. Basically they are the bumbling police of the city that nobody pays any attention. In an attempt at a political coup someone magically summons a dragon so that it can be slayed by someone pretending to be a descendant of an old lineage of kings who would then act as a puppet king for the person that summoned the dragon. However things go wrong and the City Watch has to figure out a way to save the city. I laughed several times which must mean that I liked it. Sometime soon I'll have to try reading another book from the series... this one gets a B+.

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

This is the second time I've read Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert and my opinion pretty much remains the  same. It is a bit of a weird book in that the first Dune book is full of action as it follows Paul Atreides from a teenage boy to leader of the Fremen people to inter-galactic emperor, while in the second book Paul does very little even though he is the ruler of pretty much everything and has led a jihad across the galaxy that has killed billions of people. The book starts out twelve years after the previous book and follows a plot that attempts to get rid of Paul by various factions that have it in for him. It actually seems like a bit of a bummer since it mostly shows how the ending of the first book wasn't really all that happy after all and now Paul has to deal with remaining emperor and his life really doesn't turn out all that great. Still I enjoyed it even though it is nowhere close to being as awesome as the first book. At least this time while reading it I knew that much of the book is really just setup for what follows in the series. B+