The BOOK/MOVIE Club discussion

Discuss your thoughts on Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer with us here! If you've seen the movie, feel free to discuss that as well :)

I saw Annihilation the movie last weekend and I Just finished Annihilation the book today. I thought both were excellent. But other than the initial premise of a group of women exploring an occupied territory, I didn't find many similarities between book and movie. Many things in the book, particularly the writing on the walls in the "tower" was very creepy and would have been very interesting to see in the film. I'm curious t I read the rest of the trilogy to see if it bears more resemblance to the movie.

The book was fantastic and the film was also in a completely different way. The other two books are not as creepy or as interesting as the first. I appreciate the way it was handled if the film was not done in that way they would have left it open for a sequel and that wouldn't have been a good thing. The book was weird and haunting and interesting but the film was telling a different story, a story about self destruction. Every books adaptation could be completely different depending on the directors plan of action and I think it was done well here. Like blade runner very little is similar between the book and the film but both are fantastic in seperate ways.

I loved the book and the movie for completely different reasons.

Other than the general premise, the only thing they had in common was the feeling of dread I had while reading/watching it. They were both beautifully atmospheric. I thought both were stunning.

One of the things I loved about the book was how impersonal it was in regards to the characters. Everyone was referred to by their job title and the only person who had any backstory was the biologist.

I think a big part of why they ended up so different was that Alex Garland wrote the screenplay and developed his vision based on a manuscript of the first book. Jeff VanderMeer had an entire trilogy to develop his idea further.

Just finished reading. It was quick, but there was a lot of skimming on my part, maybe because I just wanted answers, maybe because the details bored me. I will definitely read the rest of the trilogy and see the movie, but I was a little frustrated by the ending.

Just finished both the book and the movie.
I loved the book. The uncertainty and mystery, I couldn't put the book down. My reaction throughout the whole novel: WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN

Moving onto the movie, I was slightly disappointed. Thought it was still a good, entertainingly creepy movie, and Natalie Portman was fantastic, the only thing the two had in common was Area X. Even the fact that they knew each others names, something stressed as so essential throughout the entire novel, was changed for the movie adaption and left me frustrated.

I still think both are entertaining and creepy as hell, but I don't really feel like they should share the title Annihilation. They should have just named the movie The Shimmer, and listed it as an adaption of the book.

Dylan wrote: "The book was fantastic and the film was also in a completely different way. The other two books are not as creepy or as interesting as the first. I appreciate the way it was handled if the film was..."

I've not read Book #19, but I agree with you about the screen adaption of Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Blade Runner had many of the book's main characters and gave them the same motivations. However, I believe the "androids" hunter changed dramatically from the book character. Not in a bad way though. I enjoyed them both (twice).

I most certainly am of the same opinion that sometimes when a movie is produced about a book (even a film based on true events), the adaptation can be different and quite enjoyable as well.

Marissa wrote: "Just finished both the book and the movie.
I loved the book. The uncertainty and mystery, I couldn't put the book down. My reaction throughout the whole novel: WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN"

Yes, yes, yes! I have the exact same feelings on the book and the movie!

The book- I love that the book was this slow creeping Sci-Fi that was mysterious yet "slightly' dangerous (not so slightly-it was a pretty dangerous expedition). and that it involves different eerie aspects to it; mutations, creatures, lighthouses in the middle of nowhere, ect. After reading, I'm left with a lot of questions, so naturally, I want to keep reading on through the trilogy. Yet at the same time I feel satisfied reading this as a stand alone.

Alexis wrote: "One of the things I loved about the book was how impersonal it was in regards to the characters. Everyone was referred to by their job title and the only person who had any backstory was the biologist. "

I also absolutely loved that the characters were referred by their job titles, and that we really didn't know (almost close to nothing) about their lives. All the while, I still felt some kind of way for each character (well maybe not so much the linguist).

- Movie: I was hoping so much to love this film, but I too was slightly disappointed. If I had not read the book, I would have enjoyed the film a lot more because I thought all of the actors were fantastic, and I was kind of digging the storyline. However, it wasn't my favorite, and I was a little too eager on hoping it was going to become a favorite, especially because I knew before seeing the film that I like most of the actors who are in it, and I enjoy Alex Garland's previous projects; Ex Machina, 28 Days Later. Unfortunately though, I feel that there wasn't enough details of the book portrayed, and that was a little unsatisfying. I just kept thinking.."Wait a minute"..."Where's this super crucial part?" I love film adaptation also for this reason because a film CAN bring other great ideas into a story, but still I just feel it swayed too far with it's own originality.
(view spoiler)[ I was very much looking forward to seeing the Crawler, seeing the Biologist's discovery of the journals in the lighthouse, and I didn't hate the movies ending, but I wanted to see more of Natalie Portman's decent into madness finding her way out of the Matrix/Jungle/Shimmer LOL (hide spoiler)]

I will definitely read on to book two, and I know eventually (maybe sooner, but probably later) I will give Annihilation movie a second go :-)

Books like Annihilation always lose something in the filming. What I mean by that is the voice they are written in is so central to the book. Other books that I have noticed this with were The Hunger Games and the Percy Jackson film.

Though, I haven't seen the Annihilation film, but I wonder just how they handle the voice of the main character.

I just finished the book (have not seen the movie). I was really expecting to love this book but I had a very hard time getting through this book... the pace was too slow for me and I never felt satisfied with the answers (or lack of). While I thought it was well written and actually a very good book overall with certain elements I really enjoyed or could at least appreciate, it was just too boring for me (I’ve never had to rely so heavily on audible’s sleep timer setting and I hadn’t used their shortest timer setting before this one - on the bright side, this book helped me a fall asleep faster and that’s great for someone like me who typically has trouble sleeping - ha!). I looked around at various discussions to see if I’m just missing some deeper analysis that, if I became aware of it, would make me fully appreciate the book... but I haven’t read anything that has had that effect on me. I’m curious if the other books in the series similar.