Books worth reading after watching the film, vice-versa

Exactly What It Says on the Tin.

PKD Do android dream about electric sheep? and Blade Runner.

I'm one of those who likes to read any book that a movie was adapted from...Ones I really feel should be read are Lord Of The Rings, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Howls Moving Castle.

edited 19th Jan '11 7:03:26 PM by Aondeug

Who Framed Roger Rabbit / Who Censored Roger Rabbit?

Gary Wolf needs more love in general. He's a cool guy and a great sci-fi writer.

edited 19th Jan '11 7:04:36 PM by EddieValiant,Jr.

^ Seconded.

The Andromeda Strain - the movie does a wonderful job of replicating tension and the music's great.

That had a movie? Oooh.

After watching One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, I realized that the best thing to do was watch the movie first and then read the book (I read it before the movie). Really, it's the same story told from different viewpoints and it makes a Reveal where there wasn't one in the book.

Mystic River was worth watching after I read the book. Solid performances from the leads, including Sean Penn.

I read 2001: A Space Odyssey well before I watched the movie, and I'm very glad I did it in that order.

The novel of The Princess Bride is very good, possessing the same unique charm and humor of the film, but goes a bit more in-depth in its parody of the fantasy genre.

The novel of {{Howl's Moving Castle}} is somewhat similar.

Well, I liked both the book and movie of A Clockwork Orange.

Watching Hannibal after reading it makes you appreciate the movie more.

Do the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels count? Also, can't believe no one has mentioned Harry Potter yet.

The Last of The Mohicans.

I usually try to follow this rule I made, I generally want to watch a film adaption and then read the book. The film would really make me want to read the book and for some reason when I read the book before watching the movie I feel disappointed while watching the movie. If I read the book after seeing the movie I don't feel disappointed for some odd reason. The best example I had was with Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone (I am American, I just thought the title change was stupid on America's part). I watched the movie, and then read the book. I was very happy. I tend to have trouble following this rule ,because I like to read and I tend to read a book and then it gets turned into a movie, literally. I finished Anna Karenina and now Keira Knightly and Joe Wright want to make another movie out of it go figure...

To Kill A Mockingbird.

I'm also one of those people who usually reads the book after seeing a good movie. If I don't have the desire to read the book, I still go online and try to at least acquaint myself with the source material out of curiousity.

edited 21st Jan '11 3:07:50 PM by apassingthought

I can see the logic behind this. There's always some level of cropping that needs to be done in order to make a 800+ novel become a 2 hour movie. Reading the book after is a great way to catch all of those subtleties.

I'd also like to throw Scott Pilgrim into the mix. I had the problem of reading the graphic novels before seeing the film and feeling slightly disappointed, when I should have done the opposite.

Book after film: Flags Of Our Fathers.

Film after book: Lord Of The Rings. (Just be prepared to be annoyed with Gimli being relegated to Comic Relief and occasionally managing to hack an orc up.)

The Godfather. Read the book first, actually. Because, the movies is better. But the book is not bad.

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants. It's a pretty good series, though the second film doesn't do the last three books justice.

Also, Harry Potter. It's kind of obligatory for this thread, but I'll still throw it out there. The series is popular for good reason!

edited 22nd Jan '11 3:42:18 PM by HopelessRomance

I wasn't all that familiar with Lord Of The Rings before I saw the movie, and going back to read the books I was in awe of how well the films simplified the narrative. Entire paragraphs are lifted from the book and most every change was directed to making it coherent.

I just finished reading Scott Pilgrim, and I'd say the comic is a good read, even after watching the somewhat dumbed-down, but undeniably awesome, film adaption. A lot of the characters are somewhat deeper, but for what it's worth, the film version flows pretty well.

I liked Watchmen's adaptation. But I watched the film first. (Sue me)

I read American Psycho after having seen the movie. Many more laughs were had. I can't hear anyone else narrating the book in my head other than Christian Bale; it makes me appreciate his performance as Bateman in the film adaptation all the more.

I've also read Richard Matheson's original novel I Am Legend after watching the Will Smith movie, memorable of how much it changed my opinion of an "okay" movie with a weak third act to one of absolute hatred upon learning what the original story's infinitely better conclusion was.

edited 22nd Jan '11 9:36:43 PM by SeanMurrayI