Bookish Discussions: Books and Their TV Show/Movie Counterparts

Today's topic is books and their TV show/ movie counterparts.  Sometimes, the movie is better than the book but sometimes, it's the book that's better than the movie.  Let's expand on this shall we?



Lately, I've been watching both The 100 and Pretty Little Liars both based on book series' (in fact Sara Shepard - author of PLL - made an appearance on the latest PLL episode!) and I've been thinking about the differences between the two and the liberties both mediums take with the stories.

So obviously, the book and the movie/TV show are going to differ a lot because the author and the producer and director just aren't the same people and haven't had the same experiences so they have different visions for the story!  That's all find and dandy with me unless they take one too many liberties (*cough* Percy Jackson *cough*).  Making some kid 16 when he's supposed to be TWELVE was kind of a big change that I don't agree with (considering the entire SERIES rested on his age).  But I digress.

For Pretty Little Liars, I'm actually happy with both the books and the TV show (although the books really should have ended at book 8 and not continued to like 14 or whatever it's on now).  I think they're both going on a bit too long.  Pretty Little Liars is on it's... 6th? season and it's really getting repetitive.  I really hope that doesn't happen with The 100 and they'll end it when the time is right.

Have you guys seen any TV shows that just went on too long?

As for movies, if you haven't been living under a rock, most people in the bookish community have a love-hate relationship with Hollywood.  They either make such a good movie that follows the book where it counts (The Fault In Our Stars) or they deviate from one or more of the founding principles which totally ruins the story for the people who read and loved the book first (Percy Jackson).  There are also those movies that something else went wrong.  For example Vampire Academy.  I've been watching that movie over and over again (there will be a review coming!) and am finally pinpointing what went wrong.  First off, the marketing.  Look at these posters people!

Are you for real right now??  This is just beyond cheesy and trivializes the whole story (totally my opinion not meaning to offend anyone).  Also, the relationship between Rose and Dimitri was extremely stiff and out of nowhere due to the actors ages and stiffly delivered lines etc. etc.

Another example of a movie I didn't like: Eragon.  The book series was absolutely stunning and I loved every minute of it.  But the transformation to the big screen was a bit too much.  Take a look:

They changed basically the entire plot and tried to condense several books into one movie.  I understand why they might have had to change the plot a bit (the books are crazy long) but this wasn't just a bit.  They also did a good job with creating Saphira but in general, I don't think this book series was cut out to be on the big screen.

What's your favorite and least favorite book-to-movie adaptation?

There are those instances though where the movie might be better than the book.  I've heard this is the case with If I Stay.  I haven't seen the movie yet but people tell me it's much better than the book and more cohesive in it's delivery.

Let me know what you guys think!