Friday, March 21, 2014

It's Too Close to Call



Today I move into gray area.  I want to discuss books and movies that are so good I can't pick a favorite.  The three that stand out to me are all classic books, but their movie counterparts are also excellent.  Maybe the movies aren't quite the same caliber, but I love them anyway because they hold their own without greatly compromising the integrity of the books.

The discussion is the fun part. I want to hear your opinion, too.  Do you agree with my choices? What books or movies hold a soft spot in your heart?

Too Close to Call
{All book and movie titles are Amazon affiliate links.}



The one that quickly comes to mind is Anne of Green Gablesby L. M. Montgomery.  I fell in love with the movies first.  I can't even begin to imagine how many times I've seen them. When I was in highschool I invited a few friends  over and we had an all-day Anne movie marathon.  When I was gifted the entire Anne series of books as a teenager, the books became some of my all-time favorites.  Obviously, the books have far more detail and they go beyond the timeline of the movies, but it is hard to discount the near-perfect performance of Megan Follows in the movie series.  She is Anne Shirley.


Many people may disagree with my second pick.   For years, another of my favorite books has been Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott.  I've seen several movie adaptations, but nothing compares to the 2000 versionstarring Winona Ryder. A 2-hour movie cannot include every detail of a 500+ page book, but I loved that the movie incorporated much the book's dialogue.



I'm really taken with Sherlock Holmesby Sir Arthur Conan Doyle right now.  I've read 1 of his full-length novels and 3 of his short-story collections and I plan to read more. I also have a slight obsession with all 3 seasons of the BBC's Sherlock series, though after the original episode, none of the following 8 have been able to top it. I also love both  Sherlock Holmes moviesstarring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. I have a difficult time rewatching movies, but these movies are so mentally fast paced that I discover something new each time.

An odd little tidbit: when I read the Sherlock Holmes books, I picture Benedict Cumberbatch (from the BBC series) as Sherlock Holmes, but I imagine Jude Law (from the movies) as Dr. Watson.





How about you?  Can you think of a book-movie combo that you like equally?

Come back next week for a book review.  I saw the movie years ago, but only got around to reading the book this month. 








9 comments:

  1. I agree with all three of your choices. I watched the Anne movies and Little Women before reading the books and while I love the extra details in the books, I still love the movies (except for The Continuing Story).

    I read The Hound of the Baskervilles in high school and two of the short stories collections in college so I was excited when the Sherlock Holmes movies came out. I like the BBC Sherlock series (Tim and I watch it online), but I really enjoyed the movies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I agree. The Continuing Story does not make my love list. :-)

      Delete
  2. Little Women...swoon! One of my favorite childhood books, and I adore the movie.

    Anne of Green Gables...swoon! I saw the movies first and fell in love with Anne. But I also loved Anne of Green Gables completely. (Confession: I haven't read the other books in the series. I need to do that!)

    Sherlock Holmes...not so much. I enjoyed some of the short stories, but the movies have my head spinning and I am not a fast-paced movie kind of girl. At. all.

    P.S. Allyson and Kristin, I totally agree with you about The Continuing Story.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Agree on all of these! I actually like some of the older movie versions of "Little Women" as well.

    I think I'd add "Pride & Prejudice" to the list. I LOVE the book. But I really love the newest version of the movie as well. I thought they did a great job of interpreting the story and characters considering you only get about two hours to tell the whole book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I almost included that one on my list, because I agree. I thought they did an excellent job incorporating the story into a short running time and I love that they included dialogue from the book! I actually watched the movie first before being inspired to read the book. Knowing the movie helped me follow the book better.

      Delete
  4. I'll second Pride and Prejudice (although I LOVE the BBC version) and I also enjoyed both the book and movies of Sense & Sensibility and Emma.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe I need to rewatch the BBC version. I haven't seen it since high school. I was burned out on all things Jane Austen at the time and I barely made it through all 4 hours. I think I might appreciate it more now. I'm not sure if I've seen the BBC Emma, but I did really like the Emma version with Gwyneth Paltrow, too.

      Delete
    2. I liked both of the earlier versions of Emma, the one with Gwyneth Paltrow and the one with Kati Beckinsale, so I doubted I would enjoy the "new" one as much. But I loved Romola Garai as Emma. I thought she captured the essence of Emma completely! It is now my favorite version.

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...