Silver Lining

I have been trying to think of a time when I saw a movie first and then read the book it was adapted from. But I can't think of any. I've seen plenty of movies without reading the book, but that's because I don't intend to read the book—everything from Dr. Zhivago to the Harry Potter series (yes, really) to Fight Club. If I'm intending to read the book, I won't see the movie until I do.

Unless I wasn't aware that there was a book! This is what happened with Silver Linings Playbook. You might remember that I finally saw this movie over the winter and loved it. Then I found out that it was based on a novel by Matthew Quick that had gotten great reviews, so I decided to give it a try. And guess what, I loved the book too! I easily read the whole thing in two evenings and enjoyed every minute of it.

I can't remember the last time I was rooting so hard for a protagonist. The Pat of the book has a bigger hole to climb out of than the Pat of the movie, but he has such charm and soul that I fell in love right away. He's perhaps the epitome of the "unreliable narrator," but rather than write him off, I found myself squarely on his side and wanting him to make it.

I see now that in my movie review I mentioned the overly tidy Hollywood-ized ending, and that was before I'd read the book! The book does go on for quite a bit longer than the movie, and with some different plot twists, but nothing too earth-shattering. The main difference for me was Pat's father, who is a total jerk in the book. In the movie, DeNiro plays him rough-around-the-edges but still with great heart. The main characters of Pat and Tiffany were faithfully reproduced.

So: If you haven't read or seen Silver Linings Playbook, I heartily recommend both. But I'm not sure which should come first! Anyone out there see the movie after having read the book?

Comments

[Laurie C]

I'm usually the same way about books and movies, and so I waited a few months after the DVD of the Silver Lining Playbook came out because I needed to read the book first. But I wasn't reading the book, so finally I saw the movie and loved it, and months later, still haven't read the book. I usually skip movies that are made from books that I love, unless the movie reviews convince me otherwise.

[Danny Kammer]

To name a few movies that equalled or were better than the book:

To Kill a Mocking Bird
Rebecca
Wuthering Heights
Catch 22
Marry Poppins
Gone with the Wind
Zorba the Greek
The incredible Lightness of Being
Being There
Lawrence of Arabia
The Maltese Falcon
The Princess Bride
The Summer of 42

I own most of these if you want to borrow them-
I have a slight advantage in choosing these films because I taught/teach a class at Northeastern called Fiction and the Movies.
My favorite being Zorba the Greek- for a remake.

[Karen]

Of those, the ones I’ve both seen and read are To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone with the Wind, Incredible Lightness of Being, Princess Bride, and Summer of ’42. I loved all of those books except for Incredible Lightness of Being, and I loved all of the movies! I think in all cases I read the book first, but now I can’t remember for sure. I think it matters a lot which is one’s first experience, because that shapes your impression of the characters. I never read or saw Zorba!