Why The Book is Always Better - By Kayla Dvorak

Why The Book is Always Better

by Kayla Dvorak

    It happens too often. The book is written, it becomes a best seller, you read it (along with everyone else) and next thing you know it’s going to be made into a Hollywood movie. At first you’re excited because the book deserves this. It was wonderful, and it touched you deeply. Now, it’s going to be brought to life on the big screen. You devour the trailers and patiently wait for it to arrive at your local theater. Five minutes into the film, the main character shows up and she’s BRUNETTE. BRUNETTE! She. Is. Supposed. To. Be. Blonde.

    For the next two hours, you enjoy the movie, but the inaccuracies pile up and gnaw at you. The movie is over and your friends are raving about how cool the special effects were and how hot the villain was. One turns to you and asks, “Wasn’t that awesome?” and you can only offer an unenthused, “Eh,” because it’s happened once again; the book outshone the movie.

    Books are better than movies for more reasons than one. Here are just a few of those reasons:

Books Are Portable

    You can read a book anywhere. It is so much easier to pull out a book while sitting in a waiting room than to try and watch a bit of Netflix.  You don’t have to worry about storage on your phone, wi-fi, or finding headphones. You just have to look at the page and dive in.

Movies have to be Condensed Down to 90 Minutes

    Understandably, movies have to cut out parts of the story, even some important parts. Books are better because the author has no limitations on how long the story is, allowing readers to experience valuable details that the movie can’t include.

Books Improve Vocabulary and Teach

    Movies can teach people things too, but it is easy to miss an interesting word or fact as it passes by in conversation on the screen. Books don’t require you to rewind, you can just reread the sentence again and gain from it what was intended by the author. Not only can you reread the sentence to pick up on new vocab or facts, but sometimes the first time you read a sentence you just flat out don’t understand what’s happened. It’s easy to reread it as many times as you need to. If you run to the bathroom while at a movie theater, you’re surely going to miss some important scenes.

    As disappointed as you are sometimes by movies based on books, remember, my fellow readers, we’ll always have a deeper connection to the story. The next time you’re sitting in a theater full of people watching the film adaptation’s debut, enjoy the deeper understanding you have of the film because of the book. You read that book, and therefore shared the successes, failures, and deep moments of sadness or happiness with the characters. You know them as friends. And trust me, you’re going to know special little bits that don’t fit into 90 minutes and that will make the experience feel all the more special.