Tania Zaverta Chance Q&A discussion

Have you ever seen a movie based off of a book that was better than the novel itself? I ask this question because I recently saw Eat, Pray, Love- I thought the movie was great, but I hear people telling me that the book is even better; I've only heard one contrary opinion. I will definitely have to read the novel and answer that question for myself. I took a "Fiction into Film" class as an undergrad and operated under the unwaivering belief that the book was always better than the film until I read The Color Purple- that became the one outlying exception to my theory and I haven't discovered any other anomalies yet. It only took one nay-sayer about Eat, Pray, Love to peak my interest at the possibility to discover another glitch in the literary/film matrix. I felt this would be an interesting question to pose to the group and one that could also help me to gain more opinions so that i may accept or reject my own hypothesis. So, have you ever seen a movie that was better than the book it was based off? Do tell!
~ T

For me, it is the classic - Gone with the Wind. To see the characters of Scarlett and Rhett Butler played out before your eyes is superb! The novel is excellent and you loose yourself in the narrative storytelling. But, to see the Great South come alive in cinematic fashion surpasses the novel for me.

I can honestly say I've always enjoyed the books more than the movies, which is not to say I didn't enjoy the movies. The problem is that there is so much detail left out when a movie is made. To Kill a Mockingbird came close, but not close enough.

Usually the book is better for me as it gives so much more insight to the characters. But the film that came immediately to mind when I read your question was The Godfather...but I'm not sure I could say one is better than the other, perhaps that they are their own entities and that stylistically there was a different element to the film. Better, I don't know? I think I loved both equally. Oh, and I haven't seen Eat Pray Love the film but I quite enjoyed the book.