Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is an acclaimed piece of literature that is adored by fans in book and movie form alike. Personally, having experienced both versions, I can safely say that I have more appreciation for the story as a novel. I found that I was able to analyze the characters and understand the storyline better with direct, detailed descriptions as opposed to scenes that were up to interpretation. The format that the book used, splitting the stories into vignettes that related to a parable/theme, was easier for me to understand than the format that the movie used, retelling the stories as thoughts. I also felt that the book was easier in terms of following and connecting with the characters. It provided an insight into each character’s …show more content…
Although the acting in the movie was good and the adaption of the story into scripted lines generally went quite well, the majority of descriptive writing was lost and that’s what really helped me connect with the characters and their situations in the book. The fact that the stories were still authentic in the movie, and the characters still served as narrators for their experiences Considering how many stories are intertwined into the general plot, the book moves quite naturally. But the film seemed fragmented to me, with the constant flipping back and forth between time periods and narrators. I think the movie did a good job of organizing the different tales in an understandable way, but the book did a much better job of really conveying each character’s story. I found that the book really easy to follow but the movie was a little confusing because all the stories just flowed into each other, sometimes without much explanation or background information. The movie doesn’t spend as much time on the history of Chinese superstition and folk tales (which plays an important role in all the stories) so the contrast between the mothers’ past and the daughter’s present isn’t as strong, making the conflict harder to
To begin, there are many similarities and differences in the characters personalities. One similarity would be Aunt polly not having the hear Tom when he was being naughty in both the book and the movie. Another similarity would be Huck and Tom always acting michiviouse they’re always going on adventures and causing trouble for adults. One difference would be Huck in the movie seemed a little self centered, he seemed that way because when he had the chance to help Muff he didn’t want to because he was scared he would be killed by Injun Joe. Another difference would be Muff seemed more caring in the movie like when he was telling stories to the kids and he took them in the cave which made you feel a little sorry ...
The book had a lot of thought put into it by the author and it appeals to many audiences of different ages. The book put me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole book, and it was one of those books that you never want to put down. The way the author wrote it had quite a suspenseful, eerie, dramatic feel to it and that is what made the book so great, on top of the plot. The plot of the book was also very well thought out and put together, and I enjoyed reading it. Although the movie was great, I don’t think that it did the book enough justice. There were so many great aspects of the book that they left out, that would’ve made the movie just that much better. They should have put in some of the missing scenes and still portrayed the characters the same as they were in the book. However, I think that it would be hard to create the same feel as Ray Bradbury did in writing the book. It was the way that he connected with his audience that made the book appealing. Both the book and the movie were fantastic ways of portraying the story. If they had kept all of the scenes and properties of characters as they did in the book, the movie would have appealed to me more. But, the movie version of the story could appeal to others more than the book
All in all, it was a pleasure reading the novel and watching the film. They were distinctive in the manner how they portrayed the story but they were unique since they managed to get the idea of the story across in two disparate ways. My feelings for the story have overgrown because it is such an attractive and innovative piece of writing, with a glowing sense of grief and helplessness and reality, which force the reader to involve with the hauntings of Arthur.
At this point, the readers create their own movie in a way. They will determine important aspects of how the character speaks, looks like, and reacts. Whereas, in the movie, the reader has no choice but to follow the plot laid out in front of them. No longer can they picture the characters in their own way or come up with their different portrayals. The fate of the story, while still unpredictable, was highly influenced by the way the characters looked, spoke, and presented themselves on screen.
The movie is, most likely, done well enough to intrigue its intended audience. It captured the theme and story line of the book. It falls short, though, when compared to the beautiful, sensitive and contemplative prose of Natalie Babbitt. One could only hope that a viewing of the film will lead the watcher to try the book and be delighted all the more.
There are obvious differences within our two cultures and the way we depict gender roles. These differences show themselves in the work force, the distinct tasks performed in the home, and the privileges one receives in society. In the work force, the women of America hold many positions of importance, relatively speaking (I know that's a whole other essay). They are usually treated as equals with men and there are few jobs from which they are excluded, again for the sake of argument. In China, women are expected to stay at home and are not permitted to be in a work force that is held exclusively for men. They are assigned the role of housewives and must stay at home to clean the house and raise the children. Women in America receive education that will prepare them for the high paying jobs of a professional, all while the women in China are obeying the orders from their husbands and culture. The films portrayal of these particular gender roles are very evident. We can't forget however, that this was a western made film and in my opinion I feel that it tends to exaggerate the gender roles. I'm not saying that they are not present, because there is a definite inequality. I just keep in mind that it is a film and has to have an audience appealing theme.
Another conflict that we discovered was a language barrier between Chinese American children and their parents. Many Chinese American children do not know how to speak Chinese, and those that knew it as children lose much of their knowledge of the language as they try to fit in to school in America. This makes communication between parents and children very difficult. We saw an example of this in the beginning of the movie when all the elders were speaking Chinese while playing mah jong and one of the daughters could not understand what they were saying.
The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of the book. The amateurish style of the book gives it some appeal as a more sleek and sophisticated style wouldn’t evoke a sense of angst’ desperation and confusion that the novel does.
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
The novel Speak, written by Laurie Halse Anderson is about a girl, who gets raped in the summer before the start of her freshman year in high school and the book follows her as she tries to cope with the depression that comes that kind of violation. This book was turned into a movie; and released early in the early 2000’s and when adapting books to film, a lot of information and details are lost in the process. When comparing Speak the novel and Speak the movie, the noticeable differences are; the character relationships, Melinda’s character, and Andy Evans and Melinda’s dynamic.
I like the reading book better than watching the movie because there are more facts in the book than the movie. Maybe I just like reading books better than watching movies. That’s my opinion. What’s yours (if you’ve read the book and seen the movie)?
The movie lacks a lot of insight onto the other characters in the book, it mostly focuses on Ponyboy. For example, in the movie there was a lack of detail on characters such as Darry and Sodapop even Dally. Dally was a major character in the book but his death in the movie seemed a bit minor because there wasn’t much detail for viewers to get attached to his character. I felt as if his death was glazed over and easily forgotten in the movie while in the book it was described for at least two pages.
In the book, every step to solving the case was explained in detail and in a way where it kept you hooked and wanting to read more. In the book it was very different, the mystery was solved very quickly in a way where it was hard to keep up and understand. With that being said the whole movie was very fast paced and undetailed, but it is understandable because the book was very long and it would have been extremely difficult to try and fit it all into such a limited time. Even so, I really enjoyed watching the mystery unfold and watching the twist on the already twisted
This was because they both were grown in different times and adapting different values too. In the story the Chinese grandmother has a strong opinion on how her daughter Natalie should care for her
The book and the movie were both very good. The book took time to explain things like setting, people’s emotions, people’s traits, and important background information. There was no time for these explanations the movie. The book, however, had parts in the beginning where some readers could become flustered.