Rating: 4 stars
Shelf: Reading Now
Incredibly, incredibly surprising. I really never count on the books that are the inspirations for chick flicks to be very good. The only one I can think of actually enjoying reading was Bridget Jones. Other than that, Under the Tuscan Sun was pretty disappointing and I preferred the movie. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was another one I couldn't get through. Yet, I love the movie so much.
So, when I saw this calling out to me at the bookstore, I carefully skimmed the first few pages just to make sure I liked the language. I could tell immediately that it was very unlike the movie (which I love). And I could tell that THAT fact was entirely to the novel's benefit. The story is gorgeous and well-told. We get a bigger picture of who each character is. Each is much better fleshed out.
In the movie, there are lines and situations which annoy me about some of the characters. These lines were often stolen straight from the book - but removed from the context so that instead of flowing as beautifully and having as much impact as it does in the book, it falls flat.
So, in essence, I don't know if I'll ever be satisfied with a movie I had once loved so much in the past.
At least both put you in the Austen state of mind!
Purchase Now from Amazon: The Jane Austen Book Club (movie tie-in)
What a fun post to read! I agree that with a lot of "lite" or chick lit fiction that the books sometimes make better movies. The Notebook is one that comes first to mind for me. I suppose because those books are often more about story and emotion than they are about the writing or literary content, it makes sense that they'd translate to a 2-hour condensed visual version of themselves.
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