Favorite movies and thoughts

Email response from Debbie

The Namesake is an incredibly good book, one I loved so much that I decided
not to see the movie.... love to all, Debbie

Reply from me:

I'm always amazed when I see a movie and don't even think where the story came from. I'll have to look for the Namesake book.

Which brings up the question of seeing a movie first versus reading the book first or not seeing the movie. I would have thought reading the book would always be an option until I tried reading Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. I loved the movie and tried to read the book several weeks later. I could not make sense of it. Maybe save it for a summer book like I do for Faulkner books.

Coincidentally, the movie was directed by Liev Scribner who I loved in the Painted Veil. He must be a nice Jewish boy who happened to have been raised on the Lower East Side.

Jonathan Safran Foer's wife is Nicole Krauss who wrote the most beautiful book I've ever read, The History of Love. Linda and I read it in turn. I was most of the way done and on a hike in Zion National Park last spring break. The book was in the car and I could barely wait to get back to it. It's been optioned for a movie but no developments recently. Maybe for the best. I've reread it twice since and only recently found out the meaning of the girl's name. Now I'll read it again with that in mind.

How about a list from people of books they would not want to see a movie of and movies they wish they had not seen after reading the book?

I loved Beloved by Toni Morrison and was enthralled with the movie. I've been listening to the soundtrack lately and want to see the movie again. Maybe I'll read the book again first.

Terms of Endearment was a deeply emotional read (a long time ago) but I hated the movie mainly because Jack Nicholson (before he became big enough to play Al Gore) goes to New York. In the book his character goes to Los Angeles. That just made me give up.

There's a classic children's book called Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit. Deeply loved by most teachers and children who can put aside the dislike towards thinking about meaning. A movie came out a few years ago with Winona Ryder. The opening scene made me stand up and scream "There's no motorcycle in the book!" Then I sat down and hated the rest of it.

Why do I get so upset about what I think are unnecessary trivial inconsistencies between the movie and the book? Am I making too much of it? Or should I come to expect it? Or not see the movie? I usually like to see how a director interprets the book. There's often only part of the book that's emphasized which can make it another way to experience the book.

Linda and I just finished Atonement by Ian McKellen. Mainly because it was on the basement shelf after we had picked it up months ago on the half-price bin at Half-Price Books. When the movie came out with rave reviews we started reading it. It was a good read but didn't leave any great emotional mark on me. We'll probably see the movie.
It's a story of Jewish guilt on a grand scale. If you know the book you're laughing at me. But look at the title and the last name of the family. It's gotta to be a conspiracy. Askenazkic guilt at that.

I realize I probably made a bad joke in my last e-mail using Daniel Pearl's last words in a joking way. I am sorry.