Posted November 22, 2021
Generally I am a read first watch second sort of person, but it hasn't always turned out that way and sometimes it doesn't matter to me.
My preference with most movies for instance, is get my own visuals in my head in first, and not the budget constrained visuals of a film maker. Similar with interpretations of various elements too, especially where the author is not really consulted in any kind of controlling way.
Because of that, I still haven't watched some things. Like the Game Of Thrones. I've read all the books released thus far, but as many know the TV Series went beyond the books, as the author could not keep up. I did watch the first episode of series one, just to get a feel for what everyone was raving about, and it was impressive enough, and I will eventually watch the rest, fate or luck willing. I have heard from many sources that the latter seasons of Game Of Thrones is much weaker, some say rushed, than the first few seasons that kept inline with the published books. That's not surprising I guess, as clearly the author got ahead of himself, bit off more than he could chew, did too many other things in his life at that point, and then lost his writing mojo.
I started reading the novels of Val McDermid after watching some of the Wire In The Blood TV series, which did not impact anything negatively, and I am fine seeing the lead actor etc in their roles, in my head.
I was a bit less happy with The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies, even though I had read them a few times before their advent. Personally I wish they had gone full CGI for those movies, so they could stick closer to the books, and give me less realistic visuals (people etc) etc ... as I hope to re-read the books again one day, and not everything I saw in the movies was agreeable with my original interpretations etc.
That said, I am not someone who thinks a movie should stick religiously to a book. In fact, I'd rather they didn't, because that makes it easier for me to separate the two in my head. I am quite happy to see a great story, but as seen through the eyes of a different person ... providing it is different enough. The Hobbit movies were a bit more like that.
My preference with most movies for instance, is get my own visuals in my head in first, and not the budget constrained visuals of a film maker. Similar with interpretations of various elements too, especially where the author is not really consulted in any kind of controlling way.
Because of that, I still haven't watched some things. Like the Game Of Thrones. I've read all the books released thus far, but as many know the TV Series went beyond the books, as the author could not keep up. I did watch the first episode of series one, just to get a feel for what everyone was raving about, and it was impressive enough, and I will eventually watch the rest, fate or luck willing. I have heard from many sources that the latter seasons of Game Of Thrones is much weaker, some say rushed, than the first few seasons that kept inline with the published books. That's not surprising I guess, as clearly the author got ahead of himself, bit off more than he could chew, did too many other things in his life at that point, and then lost his writing mojo.
I started reading the novels of Val McDermid after watching some of the Wire In The Blood TV series, which did not impact anything negatively, and I am fine seeing the lead actor etc in their roles, in my head.
I was a bit less happy with The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit movies, even though I had read them a few times before their advent. Personally I wish they had gone full CGI for those movies, so they could stick closer to the books, and give me less realistic visuals (people etc) etc ... as I hope to re-read the books again one day, and not everything I saw in the movies was agreeable with my original interpretations etc.
That said, I am not someone who thinks a movie should stick religiously to a book. In fact, I'd rather they didn't, because that makes it easier for me to separate the two in my head. I am quite happy to see a great story, but as seen through the eyes of a different person ... providing it is different enough. The Hobbit movies were a bit more like that.
Post edited November 22, 2021 by Timboli