December "Books Made Into Movies" Discussion Help

For December 2015, we will be reading Books Made Into Movies.
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Gravy
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Re: December "Books Made Into Movies" Discussion Help

Post by Gravy »

hsimone wrote:Aww...Nicholas Sparks...I've been meaning to re-read A Walk to Remember. I love both the book and the movie, even with their differences.
That was the first Nicholas Sparks I read. I've fallen behind with his newer books, but have read all up to a point. I love Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, and A Bend in the Road.
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Post by DennisK »

I had scheduled myself to read Contact by Carl Sagan and watch its movie staring Jodie Foster, but I am still floundering around with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. What I mean by 'floundering', is that I am finding it difficult to get the time to read this month. It is already the 20th and this month will be over before I know it – life, and all of its demands. I'm not even getting the full effect of Cloud Atlas as my reading has only been in 5 to 15 minute spurts – I'm losing the flow of the story. Hopefully, I will fulfill all of my chores and obligations after tomorrow, and I will have the time to settle down and enjoy these books.
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Post by Gravy »

DennisK wrote:I had scheduled myself to read Contact by Carl Sagan and watch its movie staring Jodie Foster, but I am still floundering around with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. What I mean by 'floundering', is that I am finding it difficult to get the time to read this month. It is already the 20th and this month will be over before I know it – life, and all of its demands. I'm not even getting the full effect of Cloud Atlas as my reading has only been in 5 to 15 minute spurts – I'm losing the flow of the story. Hopefully, I will fulfill all of my chores and obligations after tomorrow, and I will have the time to settle down and enjoy these books.
I added Contact to my to read shelf. I really enjoyed the movie, so why not? And it's Carl Sagan, it's bound to be an interesting read, no matter what. I look forward to getting your opinion on it.
Also, good luck with your reading!

Thankfully, I've gotten two books read, and am on a third, for this month's genre (this is miraculous for me as this is my slow reading season). I'm hoping to post about them soon :mrgreen:
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Post by DennisK »

Graverobber wrote:
DennisK wrote:I had scheduled myself to read Contact by Carl Sagan and watch its movie staring Jodie Foster, but I am still floundering around with Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. What I mean by 'floundering', is that I am finding it difficult to get the time to read this month. It is already the 20th and this month will be over before I know it – life, and all of its demands. I'm not even getting the full effect of Cloud Atlas as my reading has only been in 5 to 15 minute spurts – I'm losing the flow of the story. Hopefully, I will fulfill all of my chores and obligations after tomorrow, and I will have the time to settle down and enjoy these books.
I added Contact to my to read shelf. I really enjoyed the movie, so why not? And it's Carl Sagan, it's bound to be an interesting read, no matter what. I look forward to getting your opinion on it.
Also, good luck with your reading!

Thankfully, I've gotten two books read, and am on a third, for this month's genre (this is miraculous for me as this is my slow reading season). I'm hoping to post about them soon :mrgreen:
I've made a complete mess of Cloud Atlas. I'm half way through it, but with so many interruptions, I have no emotional investment in it. I will put it down and start from the beginning sometime in the future. It is raining today, and rain is forecast for tomorrow; so this may be a chance for me to start Contact with the time this book deserves. Contact is one of my favorite movies and I am curious to see how the producer, Robert Zemeckis, interpreted the story as compared to Sagan's creation. It will be interesting to read your impressions, Graverobber.
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Post by kio »

For this month, I read One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

In this book, Stephanie Plum has been out of a job for six months. With her sparsely furnitured apartment and her car getting repossessed, she knows she has to make some changes and get a job fast. Desperate, she goes to her cousin Vinnie's bonds office. The filing job she thought he had open is filled, but she decided to give skip tracing a chance. Unfortunately, her first case is also someone she has a history with: Joe Morelli. Joe is a Trenton cop who is accused of killing an unarmed man. He doesn't show up for court and now, if Stephanie can bring him i, she can make $10,000. Too bad he's an expert at avoiding detection and she's just really bad at picking up her new profession. Will Stephanie succeed?

This book is really funny and has some great action scenes. These all seem to translate well on to film, which is probably why it was mad into one. Of course, its popularity doesn't hurt :) . The descriptions and the quirky characters make it a light, enjoyable read. Of course, seeing cars get blown up helps :) . I think what translates best on to the film is Stephanie and Joe's personalities and character dynamics. There wasn't too much changed in the movie, which was nice. Some of the foul language and sexual innuendos got left out for rating purposes on the movie, which was a little sad. Although I was glad to not have to watch it, it took some of the magic of the plot away. Overall I'd give it 4.5 out of 5 stars and would recommend it.

-- 22 Dec 2015, 21:51 --

That kind of give you an idea of what to look for while reading :)
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Post by Heidi M Simone »

Graverobber wrote:
hsimone wrote:Aww...Nicholas Sparks...I've been meaning to re-read A Walk to Remember. I love both the book and the movie, even with their differences.
That was the first Nicholas Sparks I read. I've fallen behind with his newer books, but have read all up to a point. I love Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, and A Bend in the Road.
I've also read his books to a certain point. I always enjoy them. One of my reading goals for the next year will probably be to catch up on Nicholas Sparks books :).
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Post by Gravy »

hsimone wrote:
Graverobber wrote:
hsimone wrote:Aww...Nicholas Sparks...I've been meaning to re-read A Walk to Remember. I love both the book and the movie, even with their differences.
That was the first Nicholas Sparks I read. I've fallen behind with his newer books, but have read all up to a point. I love Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, and A Bend in the Road.
I've also read his books to a certain point. I always enjoy them. One of my reading goals for the next year will probably be to catch up on Nicholas Sparks books :).
I should do the same. I believe the last one I read was The Choice :oops:
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Post by azrarafiq »

Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini . The book was exquisite, brimming with wild and raw emotions. The movie was good but it has to be said that the film couldn't capture a half of what the book offers.
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Post by DennisK »

azrarafiq wrote:Kite runner by Khaled Hosseini . The book was exquisite, brimming with wild and raw emotions. The movie was good but it has to be said that the film couldn't capture a half of what the book offers.
I remember reading The Kite Runner a few years back, and I also rented the move from Netflix. I agree, the movie didn't come close to what the book offered. I also read Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. What brought me to this writer wasn't because of his craft with prose; rather it was due to the subject about which he wrote. With all of the trouble that part of the world is in, I wanted to understand more about the people who live there.
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Post by Gravy »

DennisK wrote:Contact is one of my favorite movies and I am curious to see how the producer, Robert Zemeckis, interpreted the story as compared to Sagan's creation. It will be interesting to read your impressions, Graverobber.
Yours, as well :)

Contact is also one of my favorites, so I look very forward to reading it.
Hopefully the movie stands up to the book.
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Post by fari30 »

I haven't watched many of the movies, though I have read the books. I think the creators of the movie need to find a balance in cutting out stuff from the book because while it is true not everything from a 500-page book can be put in a 90-minute movie, it is incredibly annoying when the movie is completely different from the book. (looking at the PJO movies here)
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Post by DennisK »

Gravy wrote:
DennisK wrote:Contact is one of my favorite movies and I am curious to see how the producer, Robert Zemeckis, interpreted the story as compared to Sagan's creation. It will be interesting to read your impressions, Graverobber.
Yours, as well :)

Contact is also one of my favorites, so I look very forward to reading it.
Hopefully the movie stands up to the book.
I saw the movie, Contact, before I read the book. I thought the movie and the book are real works of art - both beautifully done. There is more depth to the story in the book, of course, but they handled the inherit limitations of a 90 min movie very well. The movie was a well crafted story about faith. So wasn't the book, except its ending carried a startling discovery which, I think, science fiction fans would very much enjoy. I believe the movie catered to those more inclined to faith based themes.
I lent my DVD to a friend who's family attends church two or three times a week. I though they might enjoy the story, but it was returned with a stoned faced expression. I think they were insulted because the story contained examples of how some religious organizations pervert the subject of faith. I don't believe they even finished watching it - a shame, I thought, but I didn't press the issue.
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Post by TamSan »

I love watching movies made from books. Most of the time. Drives me nuts when they are nothing alike! When Bourne Identity first came out, I wanted to read the book first. The book was awesome!! Then I watched the movie, and it had nothing in common with the book. I was so mad! Books are always better in my opinion, but still like watching the movies. ☺️
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Post by themistymountain »

I like The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien.
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Post by Wy_Bertram »

A bit off topic here, but I really enjoyed Looking for Alaska, which was adapted into a miniseries, but the novel was also written by John Green.
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