RTW: My Huckleberry Friend
Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's
contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question to write
about on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination
and get everybody's unique take on the topic.
What movie have you seen that actually (gasp) IMPROVED on the book?
This was so easy for me. Too easy.
The book is always better than the movie. You know how much I love Gone With the Wind - the movie and the book? I mean, I'm obsessed with that movie. It's my All-Time Number One Favorite Movie in the Whole World. But the book is better than the movie. Of course it is!
Those Harry Potter movies? I LOVE them. I could sit down and marathon those movies in one sitting. The books? Better. Of course!
All Jane Austen movie adaptations: I don't care how much you love Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gwyneth Paltrow, or this guy (and I do) -- the books are better.
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But not Breakfast at Tiffany's.
I love that movie. I love Audrey Hepburn. I love Holly Golightly, the clothes she wears, her style, her elegance, her world view, her love of Cat, poor no-name slob. I love when she sings Moon River on the balcony and I love the last scene when she and Cat and Paul Varjack, the writer, W R I T E R, stand in the alley in the pouring rain.
Breakfast at Tiffany's - it's about belonging. Be. Longing. Longing to Be. Whether you're Lula Mae or Holly Golightly.
The summer before my senior year of college, I watched it again and again. I was searching already, you see, trying to find a place where I belonged. Most of my friends were a year older and moving on without me. I was trying to move past a relationship that had ended before it began (and would circle around again a few months later). I was trying to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. This movie spoke to me.
I found a used paperback copy of the book that summer at a store affectionately known as Chester Molester's. I had read In Cold Blood and Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and liked both.
I finished Breakfast at Tiffany's in one sitting. And tossed it aside. I hated it.
The book made Holly into something I didn't want her to be.
And it didn't end well.
That was a long time ago. My world view has changed a bit since I was 21 and longing to be. I'm a better writer and I read much differently than I did then.
Maybe it's time to give Breakfast at Tiffany's another shot. Even if my opinion of the novella changes, though, chances are pretty good that I will still think the movie is better.
How about you? What movie outshines the book for you?
p.s. If you haven't seen Breakfast at Tiffany's, you should!
Great choice, Sara! I also think the Austen books have been made into great films overall, especially Sense and Sensibility. :-) I also posted today - What http://rachelwritesthings.blogspot.com/2012/07/road-trip-wednesday-what-movie-actually.html
ReplyDeleteThanks! I love your choice of the Princess Diaries - haven't read them but I'd at least like to give the first one a shot!
DeleteI've seen the movie, but I've never read the book. All of the things that you mentioned you liked about the movie, I liked too! :) It's kind of sad that the book isn't as good as the movie. Yikes. Thank goodness for film?
ReplyDeleteYes, thank goodness for the film. It's my favorite Audrey Hepburn movie.
DeleteI'm sure I've seen the movie, but it's been a while. I think we have it on DVD, so I'll have to dig it out sometime. I think, for me, this is one of those movies that have become such classics in their own right, I would probably not give a second thought to the novel (or novella) on which it's based unless I already knew the novel was exceptional, or someone said to me, "Oh, you should read the book--it's amazing!" So, I guess I'm giving this book a miss. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think you will be scarred for life or anything if you choose not to read the book. :)
DeleteThis is so interesting! Breakfast at Tiffany's has come up in some strange places in my life lately (both the movie and the film) though I've never seen either! I've been tempted to give them both a shot, and I think you convinced me!
ReplyDeleteWell, I think all the signs point to you putting Breakfast at Tiffany's in the Netflix queue! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI haven't seen or read Breakfast at Tiffany's, but it's one of those books/movies that I keep thinking about. Maybe, someday... :-)
ReplyDeleteI know, those to-read and to-watch lists can get so long, can't they? And we only have so much time in one day... :) I hope that if you do read or watch it that you enjoy it!
DeleteI've seen pieces of the movie, but haven't watched the whole thing, or read the book. I think I'll go search Netflix now...
ReplyDeleteHere's my answer:
http://rachelpudelek.blogspot.com/
It's worth seeing, for sure! Would you believe I've never seen The Notebook? I read the book but have not read anything else by the author or seen any of the movies.
DeleteLove Breakfast at Tiffany's! I haven't read the book...yet. Have you seen the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice? It's my favorite, though I've only seen clips from the Colin Firth version.
ReplyDeleteMy answer
As much as I love Colin Firth, he's just not Darcy to me. :) I think I've seen just about every version of P&P out there. My favorite is the 2005 (see above).
DeleteI haven't seen the film! I know it's one of those films that I should watch but I've never got round to it. And I didn't know it was based on a book. It's a shame when films you love are disappointing books.
ReplyDeleteIt is. I'd love to see a Road Trip topic of books you love that became disappointing films. It would be impossible to narrow it down to one or even five, I'm sure. That would be a long trip and probably a very humorous one. :)
DeleteLoving your choices! Mine, hands down, is Atonement. The book was marvelous, but the movie… uhhh, exquisite. The way the sounds of the typewriter become a part of the soundtrack is haunting. I probably watch it once every 7-14 days.
ReplyDeleteI'm ashamed to admit that I haven't seen it. Having children really changed the frequency of my movie-watching. Sad. And when we do have time to watch a movie, we typically watch one that we've seen a thousand times, like This is Spinal Tap, and I inevitably fall asleep on the couch. :)
DeleteI saw the movie The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann directing Daniel Day Lewis and Madeline Stowe) before I read the book. You have to characterize the movie as an adaptation from the book, but in a wonderful and better way that movie outshines the book. It has nothing to do with the literary style of Cooper, either. I enjoyed the writing and that story, but the film and story and right/wrong, good/evil, base love, sarcasm, etc. is so fantastic for me.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen it, but I did read the book. I'm trying to recall if it was high school or college. Probably college.
DeleteSara, this is such a great choice. I honestly forgot that Breakfast at Tiffany's was a book -- that's how iconic the movie is to me!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteLove that movie! I never read the book, but *sigh* Audrey... she's so adorbs.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! She's probably my favorite actress from that era. When I got married, one of my old roommates told me that my dress and the overall feeling of the wedding was "so Audrey Hepburn" and it was the greatest compliment she could have given me. :)
DeleteBrilliant choice!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteI've never read Breakfast at Tiffany's or anything by Truman Capote. The movie isn't one of my faves so I've never bothered with the book.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the rest- while I love the HP movies, any Austen adaptation, etc., the books are always better. Though I love the Colin Firth adaptation as much as I love P&P.
Truman Capote is definitely an acquired taste. I've never seen the movie Capote but would like to.
DeleteColin Firth isn't my favorite Darcy but my general rule of thumb is that Colin Firth makes everything better. :)
EXCELLENT CHOICE~ I wouldn't have thought of this one, but you're so right! This movie did for me what it did for you (although after my first year of college, not before). Great pick!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Daisy!
DeleteI can't think of a movie that I liked better than the book. I have to say, that makes me happy. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, not one single movie?!
DeleteThat movie is everything! Here's my picks:
ReplyDeleteDon't Read The Book
That sentence: "That movie is everything!" really does sum it up nicely.
DeleteGreat choices, although I have yet to see The Devil Wears Prada. I just don't get to watch as many movies as I did before I had kids. :)
I've got new blog awards for you because YA writers are the coolest. http://sarahnego.blogspot.com/2012/07/yeah-for-blog-awards.html
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you! I really need to do a post with some of the awards I've received recently. I tend to fall behind sometimes. :)
DeleteThere are two that always come to mind: The Sweet Hereafter (novel by Russell Banks, film by Atom Egoyan) and Rumble Fish (book by S E Hinton, film by Francis Ford Coppola). The books are great, but somehow the film makers manage to take the essence of the book and distill it to its purest essence.
ReplyDeleteI also have to say, the film of Winter's Bone is just as good as the book. Not better though....
Oh, The Sweet Hereafter was a lovely - disturbing - heartbreaking film. I read the book after the I saw the movie and while I enjoy Banks' writing and his other books, there was something missing for me.
DeleteThanks for a great response!
I can't blame you, Sara, for being disappointed with the book Breakfast At Tiffany's, especially after multiple viewings of the movie. I was surprised by the book, too, but I had to admit that the story-line made more sense in the book than in the movie. Capote is a southern writer - I think you could compare some of his work with Eudora Welty's. He is not a romantic writer, but the movie-version of Breakfast at Tiffany's was made into a romantic story - which changed it completely. I love the movie, but I also I appreciate Capote's skill as a writer, which is evident in the book. Have you read Capote's "A Christmas Memory" ? You might enjoy that - it is beautiful, funny and sad, and based on his childhood growing up in the rural south with relatives who were many decades older than himself.
ReplyDeleteOne movie that I think was better than the book is "Chocolat," which is based on the book written by Joanne Harris. If you haven't seen the movie, it stars Johnny Depp, Juliette Binoche and Judi Dench, and is delightful. Helpful Hint: Keep chocolate on hand to eat on as you watch it.
Hi Teri,
DeleteThanks for a thoughtful response! I read Capote during my college years and I too appreciate his skill, even if I was surprised and disappointed by his characterization of Holly. You might recall that I've always been a bit of a romantic (and later, a Romantic) - I have tried to find meaning and inspiration in every situation (even hockey games), for myself and for others. All you need is love and all that.
I have read A Christmas Memory and I enjoyed it. I have not, however, seen or read Chocolat, but I know I should!
Take care - I hope your summer has been filled with great books!