I LOVE Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi action movie Children of Men. I’ve watched maybe six times and every time, the ending always almost brings me to tears. So when I learned it was adapted from P.D. James’ book of the same name, it was a no-brainer deciding what my next book would be.
After finishing the book, it wasn’t difficult to reach to the conclusion that I enjoyed the movie better.
While James’ book gives a more in-depth look at how human infertility and humanity’s slow death march towards extinction affects the sexual dynamic between men and women and almost demented ways humans try to cope with a world without children or a race of dead men walking, I feel the book dedicates WAY too much time describing the failing of human civilization and the Regrets and guilt of Theo Faron. It’s not even until after 2/3 through the book where it feels like the plot and story are properly paced and stuff of consequence actually begin to happen.
The film’s adaptation by, comparison, feels consistent in its pacing and the world building and woe-is-mes of Theo feel more compact a take up less of the audience’s time.
What books do you feel were worse than its film adaptation and why?
fight club, the book is not bad its more so that the movie overshadows it, the only thing I will say that the book does better is the relationship between the narrator and Marla
a clockwork orange, same not bad does have its own style in its own way its more about how the ending differ with the last minute Alex redemption arch.
the shinning, (I will likely get some hate for this one) the ghosts play a larger role in the book with a couple frightening scenes but the climax and ending is where it falls short with jack torrance chasing around his family with a croquet mallet it crosses the line from scary into absurd and stupid.
Ready player one, the book is one pop-culture reference after another about what the author thinks if cool or hip with one chapter being basically a list of all the cool stuff in his fantasy world that he created and is basically good at everything, most male Mary Sue character I have read in a long time. The film is a fair amount better and does humanize the characters much better then the book
I could never bash Palahniuk.