Book vs. Film: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

One of my goals this year is to do more Book vs. Film reviews. I'm not sure about you, but anytime I see a new movie coming out that says it's based on a novel I buy the book right away and then plan on reading the book before seeing the movie. Sometimes that means I refuse to see the movie for a very long time since, you know, it takes me FOREVER to get through all the books I plan to read. So one of my 2017 reading resolutions...get to those books sooner so I can finally see the movies!

 

I read and reviewed The Girl on the Train back in November 2016 and just saw the movie that came out to rent recently. See what I thought about both below....

 

 

 

The Book (originally posted November 2016) 

 

 

Publisher: Riverhead BooksPub. Date: January 13th, 2015
Pages: 336

 

I went into reading The Girl on the Train with some trepidation. So many people have read this book and lauded it as the "next Gone Girl", a book I really enjoyed, so I was prepared to be disappointed. I also read a number of reviews stating the characters were just horrible and not worth caring about, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I'm so glad I set my concerns aside and picked up the book because I absolutely loved following along with Rachel as she tried to decipher her memories and figure out what really happened to the "Jess" girl she had been watching from the train.

The set up of the novel was great, with each chapter going back and forth in time and being told from the point of view of one of three characters: Rachel, a sad alcoholic with a tendency to not only make up fantasies within her own head but black out and lose whole stretches of time; Megan, the girl Rachel sees from the train that goes missing one day; and  Anna, the new wife of Rachel's ex-husband and neighbor of Megan. Each character's point of view gives us bits and pieces of what has happened not only currently (with Megan's disappearance) but in each of their pasts. This sort of tentative release of information built a delicious anticipation, and this combined with seeing Rachel's lost memories of the night Megan goes missing slowly resurface, made for a wonderful whodunit.

While I will agree that there are no "innocent" characters in this story, whether that be these three women or the men in their lives, I never felt like I didn't care what happened to them. This is especially true with Rachel, who I couldn't help but root for and hope she would get the help she  needed to stop drinking and move on from the dreams of her past "happy life". I've never been one to discount a whole story based solely on unsympathetic characters and I loved how complicated and real (if highly dysfunctional) the characters in The Girl on the Train were.

Now, the big mystery regarding Megan's disappearance. I'll admit I somehow guessed what really happened and who was involved pretty early on. With so many characters having a myriad of issues and dislikeable characteristics I channeled my inner Scooby Doo and went with the character I thought seemed the least likely and, lo and behold, I was right! Even with guessing the inevitable outcome I still very much enjoyed watching how the story would unfold and how the various clues would eventually fall into place. And there were still some elements I didn't even think about that make the ending that much more interesting.

I found The Girl on the Train to be a quick and enjoyably twisty tale. I can definitely see why this has been compared so often to Gone Girl as our main character and her memories are about as unreliable as they come. After finishing this one I've definitely been put in the mood for more mysteries like this, and I'm now on high alert for the next book by the author.

 

 

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

 

 

 

The Movie

 

 

Release Date: October 7th, 2016

Distributed by: Universal Pictures

Length: 112 minutes

 

 

 

I love Emily Blunt so was excited/wary to see her play the sad sack that is Rachel. She's so pretty and vibrant in most of her movies, so I wasn't really sure how she'd pull off someone so dejected and pitiful. Now, having watched it, I think she did an okay job as Rachel, although I'm not sure if she was "just right" for the part and, truth be told, I feel that way about most of the actors within the movie. They all did a good job playing their parts and advancing the story, however none of them blew me away even though they have in other parts. I'm not sure if this is just due to the nature of the story and the way it's presented or not, but either way I would say the acting was good but not great.

As to the story, I think what worked so well in the book - the alternating perspectives and going back and forth in time - made for some confusion in the movie. I watched the movie with my husband, who didn't read the book and doesn't understand why I would want to read/watch something with characters that aren't very good people, and he kept having to ask me who was who (the actresses who play Megan and Anna look a lot alike), when the particular scene was taking place during the overall storyline, etc. As the realization of who the killer was started unfolding I kept asking him who he thought did it and he had no clue. Frankly he didn't really care! I already knew who it was, obviously, but I can see how the unfolding of the story might prove difficult for someone who hasn't read the book to follow.

The Girl on the Train was a good whodunit sort of movie but definitely doesn't stand up to the book.  The time constraints inherent in a movie made for less development of the characters' backstories and personalities and, therefore, made them less sympathetic than even in the book (I found this particularly true for Anna). I enjoyed it for the entertainment that it was, however I would definitely recommend the book over the movie!


My Rating: 3.0/5.0   

 

 

 

So what do you say? Have you read the book and/or seen the movie? Which did you prefer?

 

 

 



 

Book vs. Film: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My son, unfortunately, is not as big a reader as I am. He's a good reader and does it every night for homework, however he never actively seeks out reading for entertainment even though he sees me doing it every single day for that very reason. We've read together since he was little, but from the very beginning it was at my request and not his. I've come to realize that he's more like my husband in this respect and I can appreciate our differences. However, that does not mean I'll give up trying to convert him!

To this end, I recently made him a deal: if he would read Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children with me than I would take him to see the movie version that he was excited to see. We would then compare the two and see which we preferred. The lure of an afternoon out with a movie, popcorn, and soda swayed him and he agreed to my deal. So, we set out to read 20-30 minutes a night, taking turns reading aloud. Below you'll find our opinions of both the book and the movie version. In case you haven't heard of either, here's the synopsis:

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs.

A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Book

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #1
Publisher: Quirk
Pub. Date: June 7th, 2011
Pages: 352


As I stated above, the reason my son agreed to read this particular story with me was because he wanted to see the movie and I said I would take him only after we read the story first. I'm shameless in my pursuit to make him a bigger reader! As we started to read the story I quickly realized that this book was targeted towards an audience a little older than my son (he's eleven). There's quite a bit of cursing and crude humor that I wasn't expecting which, probably not surprising to anyone familiar with preteen boys, my son found HILARIOUS! I made a deal with him that, although we don't allow him to curse, I would allow it in the context of reading the story. Needless to say, these aspects of the story were possibly his favorite parts, along with the humor that the author naturally and effectively incorporated into the storyline and within the various teenage characters. All of the characters are so unique and well drawn that it was easy to visualize them throughout this fantastical story, helped along with the fascinating and sometimes eerie photos sprinkled amongst the narrative (something else my son very much enjoyed). We laughed quite a bit while reading to each other, which is always a pleasure when reading together!

On the downside, it did take quite a bit of time for any real adventure or action to occur (about 100 pages). For a reader like my son, this slower progression became somewhat daunting and there were a few times he almost wanted to throw in the towel. With a little persuasion we kept reading and were pleasantly surprised once the main character, Jacob, discovered the mysteries behind Miss Peregrine's home and the wonderful friends he discovered there and, towards the end, fought to protect. There are some frightful creatures that add danger and depth to the story and towards the end we often read past our 30 minutes allotted to reading just so we could see what would happen.

Overall this was an interesting, uniquely told story that both my son and I enjoyed. The photos, sometimes crude humor and language, and fantastical world created were by far my son's favorite aspects and I found the whole story different than my typical read and quite entertaining. The story left off on a cliffhanger, making for the perfect stepping off point for the upcoming book in the series. However, after much discussion, we aren't completely sure we want to continue with the series, at least not right now. The fact that the writing styles is slightly too old for my son and YA isn't something I naturally gravitate towards myself, we've decided to hold off for a while and pick another book or series to read together. But I'm sure we will return to Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children in the future!


Rating: we both rated the book 3.0/5.0

The Movie

Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: September 30th, 2016
Length: 127 minutes


The filmmakers did an outstanding job of bringing this story to life. Some of the harder concepts for my son to understand within the story - such as time loops and the female Peculiars who protected the children, called Ymbrynes - were easier for him to process when explained and shown visually. The graphics were phenomenal and some of the more fantastical creatures were quite scary (they didn't frighten my son but I mention this as they might scare younger children).  

As with any movie there were changes and cuts from the story due to time constraints and story flow. There were some changes that I found unnecessary, however, and I always prefer when they keep the story and the characters as close to the original story as possible. My son, when asked, much preferred the movie (which didn't surprise me) and was only disappointed that the crude language and humor was dulled down in the movie (also not a surprise).

As with the novel, the movie left off on a cliffhanger and perfectly sets up the story to continue in follow up movies. I can definitely see my son pressuring me to take him to the next film long before he volunteers to read the next novel. However, I enjoyed both forms of the story even if neither blew me away. Maybe by the time the next movie is set to come out my son will be that little bit older and will enjoy the next installment in the book series that much more!


Rating: 4.0/5.0 (my son)  3.0/5.0 (me) 

Has anyone else read the story or watched the movie? If so, what did you think?

Book vs. Film: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

One of my goals this year is to do more Book vs. Film reviews. I'm not sure about you, but anytime I see a new movie coming out that says it's based on a novel I buy the book right away and then plan on reading the book before seeing the movie. Sometimes that means I refuse to see the movie for a very long time since, you know, it takes me FOREVER to get through all the books I plan to read. So one of my 2017 reading resolutions...get to those books sooner so I can finally see the movies!

I read and reviewed Me Before You Back in March of 2016 but didn't get a chance to see the movie until the end of the year. See what I think about both below...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Book (originally posted March 2016)

Publication Date: July 30th, 2013 (Paperback Edition)
Publisher: Penguin Books
Pages: 369

When I saw the trailer for the upcoming movie adaptation of Me Before You I knew I had to FINALLY find the time to read this book! I've had it sitting on my shelves for a while now and knew that just about everyone I've spoken to about the book has loved it, so I cleared my reading schedule and dove right in. And, while it definitely brings up quite a lot of difficult questions and feelings about love and sacrifice, I am so happy I did.

First off, Lou might be my new favorite character. She is so funny and caring and complicated and I loved the time spent with her. The way she interacted with her family had me giggling more than once and the deep-seated love they had for each other, even while they bickered and threw verbal jabs at each other, felt very real and relatable. Beyond her family, the way that she was able to pierce through the wall of anger, disappointment and grief that Will had built up around himself and touch his heart was breathtaking, and the fact that she did it with what I think of as her trademark self-deprecating wit and unwavering kindness made me love her even more. Only someone like Lou would be able to put up with Will (in the beginning...he got nicer as the story went on) and his haughty family and come out the other side with everyone a little better for knowing her. But don't let this lead you to believe she was all bouncy sunshine. She had quite a bit of heartache in her own past and only Will was able to help her get over that hurt and realize she was worth so much more than she believed. They both brought out the best in each other, and I absolutely loved that.

Now to Will's "shocking plans of his own". While I'm pretty sure most people already know what those plans are and whether or not they come to fruition, I am going to try and step lightly just to try and make sure I don't give too much away for anyone who hasn't read it yet. What I will say is I can see how this would be absolutely devastating for anyone to experience, on both sides really, and I think the author did an exceptional job of letting the reader see into the hearts and minds of a variety of characters, giving a well rounded view of the situation. It was really easy to empathize with everyone involved and the myriad of emotions and actions they all went through. I also think it ended the only way it possibly could (or maybe that is just the talent of the author) and, while I did get a little misty, I will say that I feel such satisfaction in knowing the characters made the hard choices needed and the ones that I hope I'd be brave enough to make if it was me.

Me Before You is so much more than the unusual romance I was anticipating. Yes, it is about two unlikely people coming together and finding love in a most unusual circumstance, but it is also about two people being able to bring out the best in each other and support each other in making their own choices and being the best versions of themselves, even if that doesn't involve a happily ever after together. It begs you to ask yourself so many hard questions, namely who has a right to decide how someone else chooses to live, or die, and how much we should be willing to sacrifice for the ones we love. I'm now really excited to see where Jojo Moyes takes some of the characters in the sequel, After You!

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Movie

Release Date: June 3rd, 2016

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Length: 110 minutes

I am a HUGE fan of Emilia Clarke's, so as soon as I saw that she was going to be playing Lou I knew she would be perfect for the part. It was a pleasant surprise to see that Sam Claflin was spot on as Will as well. Emilia is just magical and her face is so expressive, and Sam is superb at being a complete snob and completely charming, depending on the scene. Without these two playing their parts as wittily and emotionally as they did the movie could have really fallen flat. However, these two hit it out of the park and I found myself laughing and crying along with them even more than I did in the book.

On the downside, with the limited time given for a movie, the secondary characters weren't able to be as well developed as they were in the book, which was a little bit of a disappointment. The conflicts between the characters weren't as well developed either, especially when it came to the conflicts between Lou and her sister, the marriage problems between Will's parents, the real reason Lou is scared to go out into the world, and Lou's mother's strong convictions against what Will planned to do (I don't want to give anything away!). These conflicts seemed somewhat sugar-coated for the movie, however I do understand that, given the time constraints necessary for a movie, that some aspects needed to be cut. 

I feel a little silly saying this, but I was so convinced by the chemistry between Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin that I kind of hoped the ending was going to be different than the book.  I found myself getting angry at Will for hurting Lou and the pain expressed by Emilia was so palpable I cried - the ugly, snotty, puffy-faced kind of crying - as the ending unfolded. I was kind of shocked by this as I had read the book and knew what was going to happen and come to terms with that ending, but the movie hit an emotional nerve that the book, while wonderful and emotional, just didn't hit. I was so blown away by the movie that I instantly bought it and have re-watched it numerous times since then.

I'm not a huge romance reader/watcher but, as I mentioned in my book review, this isn't your typical romance. Both the book and the movie were wonderful, but the stellar acting by the main characters pushed the movie ahead of the book (which surprised me...I always prefer the book!). I recommend both the book and the movie to anyone looking for an unconventional romance and one that challenges the standards of what people do for the people they love.

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

So what do you think? Have you read the book or watched the movie? Which did you prefer?

Gone Girl: Book Vs. Film

Yes, I know, I must be the last person on the planet to read Gone Girl. I've had the book for a while but just hadn't had the chance to read it yet. With the movie coming out on DVD I figured this was as good a time as any. Why not read the book then watch the movie and see how they compared? So that is exactly what I did!

Gone Girl: The Book

 

 

Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages

Publisher: Broadway Books (August 26, 2014)

ISBN-10: 0553418351

ISBN-13: 978-0553418354

 

 

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

 

What Did I Think About The Book?



 

I think it's fair to say that Gone Girl might be one of the most twisted books I have ever read! Its motely crew of unsympathetic characters - running the gambit from mildly offensive and unlikable all the way up the ladder to downright sociopathic - somehow made me care enough about their lives to want to keep turning the pages to see what happened to them and how they would react to the next ball that dropped in the continuous mystery of what was truth and what was illusion. Now how could they do that? Quite simply because the writing and story structure were phenomenal.

 

The story started out somewhat slow, showing this couple of good looking, seemingly enviable people, at a place where they have grown apart and are now more playacting at marriage then anything else. After only five years of marriage this couple have gone from being completely enamored with each other and living an idea life in New York City to living a shell of a life in Nick Dunne's hometown in Missouri. Then Nick comes home the afternoon of his anniversary to find his house in disarray and his wife, Amy, missing. And at this point, when the story begins to spin a little faster, my attention was peeked.

 

My very first instincts about this couple were that Nick was an uncaring, indifferent jerk of a husband and Amy was kind of a hyperactive, spastic wife. They seem about as different as two people can be: Nick comes from working class stock, always bottling up his feelings and trying desperately not to become his emotionally abusive father; Amy is a spoiled rich girl who is always going a million miles a minute and is disappointed when the world can't keep up with her. Seeing these two people as they had become and watching how Nick deals with Amy's disappearance and the mounting evidence that seems to point towards him having a hand in it, I thought I had a handle on what was really happening. And then about half way through the novel we find out what REALLY happened to Amy and I had to throw out everything I thought I had figured out. And it is at this point in the story that things get really good!

 

I don't want to say too much about the second half of the novel because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but be prepared to either want to keep reading no matter what you have to give up in order to do so or to keep putting the book down and starring at it because you are a little (ok a lot) freaked out about what is going on within the pages. I battled against these two feelings for much of the novel and was just in awe not only at the depths of crazy going on but at this wonderfully involved and plotted story.

 

The writing is just brilliant, with all these witty quips and a natural flow that seems so effortless when I can only imagine the thought and planning that had to go into its twisting and changing storyline. There are so many little points that have to be taken into consideration in order for the rest of the plot to keep working, much of it dealing with criminal evidence and the legal system, and when you think you have an "a ha" moment you realize how  many balls are stilling spinning in the air and how  much you still don't know. Getting the story from the minds of both Nick and Amy and from Amy's diary entries allows the reader to feel a part of the inner turmoil while those characters on the outside have no idea. But even being right in the thick of it only those with a mind as distorted and perverse as the ultimate sociopath in the story would be able to fully see the final outcome. 

 

Gone Girl is a frightening insight into just how much you can't know a person and how anyone can pretend to be whomever they choose, at least for a while. I'm still slightly stunned by the ending, which I can't say I found satisfying at all but which does seem to fit into what the reader learns about these characters.  I am whole heartedly impressed with Gillian Flynn's writing and will be sure to read her other novels as well to see how they compare.

 

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

 

 

 

Gone Girl: The Movie

 

 



 US Release Date  (in Theaters): October 3rd, 2014

US Release Date (DVD): January 13th, 2015

Director: David Fincher

Starring: Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike

 

 

What Did I Think About The Movie?

 

Let's face it...any reader knows that the book is usually better than the movie. Being able to create your own images of the world going on within the pages allows the story to appear in your mind  just as you like it. Having that world adjusted and edited down by someone else in order to create the cinematic version inevitably has your favorite parts left out or your favorite scenes or lines altered.  I found the movie version of Gone Girl to fall into this same trap, but even with that being said I did enjoy the movie.

 

Ben Affleck's portrayal of Nick Dunne is EXACTLY what I pictured the character to be: charming and handsome yet smarmy and devoid of many of those sensitivity traits machismo men seem to be missing.  Yes, he's kind of a jerk but does that  make him a killer? Ben Affleck played this part perfectly and I think his performance as well as the interactions between him and the actress who played his sister were the most realistically played parts of the  movie.

 

Much of the rest of the acting left something to be desired. I found Rosamund Pike's portrayal of Amy a little harder and uncaring then I initially got from the book and found the actor's playing Amy's parents more manipulative and demanding as well. This could be somewhat due to the fact that I already know the direction the story is going in but either way they veered somewhat from my view of them in the book.

 

For much of the first half of the movie there are slight changes to the storyline but no omissions or additions that I found too glaring. Then the second half unfolded and the differences became more pronounced. One of my favorite scenes from the book, an interaction between Nick and an old friend of Amy's named Desi (played by Neil Patrick Harris) was completely cut out! It is an uber creepy scene and I think Neil Patrick Harris would have done an excellent job playing it. I can only assume it was cut for time, but in my opinion that cut was a mistake. There are also some changes to Amy's internal dialogue that I found disappointing, especially between Amy and Desi and, most notably of all, the final lines of the novel. If these would have been included it was have ended on such a creepy vibe (which is perfect given this story) but instead it just ended well.

 

All in all the movie was very good but just can't be compared to the book. I watched the movie with my husband, who had not read the book and knew nothing of what was to come, and he really enjoyed the movie with the exception of the ending (his reaction to the ending was hilarious...he just looked at me and said "what the hell just happened?!").

 

My Rating: 3.5/5.0  

 

 

 

Have you read or seen Gone Girl? What did you think? I'm dying to know how my view compares to others!