Books, TV and Movies

I started watching a new show on TV last week - "Legend of the Seeker". The story is based on a fantasy series by Terry Goodkind. While I've not read the books, my middle son has. They are among his favorites and since he and I tend to like the same kinds of books, I assume I'd like them as well. Based on his recommendation, I'm looking to read them - eventually. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the story on TV, although I do understand it is not true to the original books.

But then, what stories made from books are?

There is no way to put all the information from a book into a movie or TV show. For one thing, the film would be far too long or would be boring beyond belief. Take, for instance, the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The movies were incredible. But ask how many people read the books. I've tried. Several times. I never finished them. But I enjoyed the movies. Or the Harry Potter books and movies - there is a lot of "stuff" in the books that never makes it to the screen, yet both are immensely entertaining.

Does it take anything away from the story to have parts cut when making it into a movie? For the most part, I'd have to say no. If you've never read any of the Harry Potter stories, only watched the movie, you still know the basics of the story. You know the problems Harry faces, the things he has to face and overcome. And you know how the story comes out (eventually). But I do believe you're missing the richness of the full story by not reading the books. Yes, you will know the story, but only the highlights. In the Tolkien trilogy, I didn't enjoy the books, but they contain a wealth of information that's not in the movies. One should at least make the attempt to read the story that goes with the media.

One thing I do recommend, though, is, if possible, read the stories *after* you've seen the movie or TV show. I've done it the other way several times and never enjoyed the movie as much as I did when I saw it first, then read the book(s). I've heard this from others as well. "The movie wasn't as good as the book." "They cut out too much."

And that takes us back. In order to make a movie fiscally viable and popular, you can't put in everything that's in the book. It's a shame, but it is an unfortunate fact.

But if enjoying a movie or show leads you to pick up a book, and another, and another, then that's all good.