Seasonal Plume

This Thursday’s Booking Through Thursday is Books vs Movies:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

Interesting question, and I was actually talking about this in brief with Faye recently. I’m not a book purist, and I think that on average, I do enjoy movie/TV adaptations a lot, certainly on varying degrees of enjoyment. To me, a movie generally has to be more compact, but that’s because it has a lot of power to convey more in a short period of time, since movies and TV shows are highly visual. Show, don’t tell, is definitely the rule. It’s easier to reach a lot more people with movies, because they’re so much easier to stomach — what’s two hours, after all, in one day, in one week?

Books, on the other hand, require a bit more patience than a movie (since it won’t end after two hours I’m sure, unless it’s a very short book or you’re an amazing speed reader) but a well-written book can go so much deeper than a movie has time for, which I feel is great. It gives one the leeway to imagine as one wills, which can give a more powerful impact to the story than a movie, with its “set” visuals, can give. Those imaginings are highly personal, tainted by one’s own preferences, and one can definitely end up enjoying a book more than a movie simply because of the highly personal nature of one’s imagination.

Going back to the book versus movie debate, I sometimes even like it when adaptations deviate from the book, as long as the premise and spirit is the same, and this definitely has a lot of bearing on the skill of the actors and the screenwriter. For example, there was a bit of flack about the BBC 2006 Jane Eyre adaptation being rather, well, “forward”, but I thought it worked well, and I enjoyed the TV mini-series immensely. The 2005 Pride and Prejudice adaptation was also rather different, but it was admittedly pretty (even though I’ve found a lot of ways to poke fun at the movie).

This isn’t always the case, though. Just recently, since I had just finished reading Eragon (and Eldest), I tried watching the movie. Oh shock horror. I couldn’t get past Saphira flying down from the sky suddenly full-grown and wise. (Maybe I should have stuck to it more, since I later on found out that Rachel Weisz had voiced Saphira.) While I don’t think Eragon is omgamazingfabulous, the movie felt quite botched together. Roran not going off to find money to wed Katrina is alright, but everyone knowing about the new farm-boy dragon rider? Uh, no thank you. I don’t think I want to know how else they managed to make a rather stereotypical, predictable fantasy epic worse.

But naturally, there are also exceptions for me when a movie is better than a book. I quite enjoyed the 1999 Mansfield Park adaptation more than the book, even though I’m a staunch Jane Austen fan. Sadly, this is the only one example I can give of a movie being better than a book, but then my sister would say the same about Lord of the Rings (she couldn’t get past Fellowship of the Ring) — something we obviously disagree about ;)

Your mileage may vary.

Today’s Booking Through Thursday is “Manual Labor Redux”:

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?

Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?

It usually depends on the kind of gadget, but since we’re talking complicated here, I assume that means that it needs assembling and that I haven’t used/assembled one before. In that scenario, yes, I do read accompanying documentation.

Otherwise, if it’s fairly straightforward (i.e., a digital camera) I’ll usually wait a while before I even crack open the manual (usually in search of some esoteric thing I want to do).

(Yes, I’ve decided to start on Booking Through Thursday.)

Finally getting around to that book meme Tina tagged me with a good couple of days ago. I kept putting it off because I have five, read it, five draft posts still waiting to get posted.

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment on Tina’s blog (she’s the one who tagged me) once you’ve posted your three sentences.

I started reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini just yesterday, as I wanted something not very intellectually or emotionally taxing, and I had previously picked it up at the last MPH warehouse sale (book haul coming soon).

They soon left the buildings and found themselves crossing the barren fields at Tarnag’s base. Beyond those, they reached the stone quay that edged the still, gray water.

Waiting for them were two wide rafts tied alongside a pier.

I am now tagging:

1. Angela
2. Caroline
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Lenneth

I found a book-related meme on personal habits and practices on taking care of books on my watchlist in Livejournal, and after a while of hemming and hawing I’ve decided to fill it out.

Are you careful with the spines? Or do you crack your books open to make them lay flat? I never open my books all the way, and can be rather careful with books. Not anal-retentive careful, though; some well-read books have creases. I just try and make sure that the pages won’t come out and the book won’t break, and other such stuff. Usually, for hardbacks, their spines tend to be in better shape.

Do you use bookmarks? Or do you dog-ear the corners? If you do use bookmarks, do you use those fashionable metal ones? Or paper? I used to dog-ear a lot when I want to get back to a certain section of the book: usually for important plot points, things I feel I should go back to afterward, quotes, etc. Nowadays I don’t. If I’m reading a book and stop in the middle of it, half of the time I don’t use bookmarks, I just take note of the page number. While I probably won’t remember the exact page number, I do remember the general vicinity and can just take it from there. Say, around 350… oh there it is, it’s 356. That sort of thing. When I do use bookmarks, I tend to go for paper-based bookmarks. The fashionable metal ones are nifty though, I’ve always felt that I want to try it sometime. I have a few that just didn’t work for me, but who knows? ;) (Any feedback would be awesome.)

Do you write in your books? Ever? If you do, do you make small marks, or write in as much blank space as you can find? Pen or pencil? Highlighter? Your name on the front page? More often than not, I write my name on the first page of books. I’ve always planned to have a stamp pad or a sticker or something of the sort, as I’m almost never pleased with the way I write my name on books (usually I wouldn’t open the book all the way, so my writing tends to become cramped). When I was younger, I never missed a chance to write my name on books! My name and my signature. For a while I even wrote stuff like “You will love this book!” as a sort of dedication to those who will be borrowing it; and at the end I’d have “I hope you liked the book! Please return it.” For some books I also have a few lines and passages highlighted, but I stopped doing that pretty quickly.

Do you toss your books on the floor? Into book bags? Or do you treat them tenderly, with respect? I don’t toss them around, and get quite upset when they do get tossed around. However, I do sometimes put them in a handbag, which can result in edges getting worn.

Do you ever lay your book face-down, to save your place? Never. Of course, as a kid, I used to. What I usually end up doing is that if I’m leaving for just a short while (like, I need to get a drink, or answer the phone, etc) I try and find something to put between the pages. If I have a bookmark, great! Otherwise it can be any number of (relatively slender) things: edge of a pillow or blanket (most usual), a pencil or a pen, my cellular phone… those sorts of things.

Do you bathe with your books? Hold them with wet hands? Read out in the rain? Anything of that sort? No, I try to keep my books dry as much as possible! They’re very seldom in the bathroom. No book-reading in the rain, either. When they’re in a bag, and I’m getting hit by rain, and my bag is not waterproof, I usually move my bag in front of me, under the umbrella. Or wrap my arms around the bag to shield it — I never use the bag (or books) to shield myself from the rain.

Are your books lined up on a bookshelf? Or crammed in any which way? Stacked on the floor? Shelf, definitely! There may be one or two or a couple in my bedside table, ones which I’m reading. But I love shelves and I love books and shelves. They’re usually arranged by genre and then by, er, book height. I hate it when books are lined up but the heights are jagged! Which is why series books must be in the same editions! They also look prettier that way. :D

Do you make a distinction–as regards book care–between hardcovers and paperbacks? Not usually, other than what can be supposed as a given. For example, hardbacks are generally harder to open unless forced, so they generally have better spines. As for dust jackets, I take them off when I’m reading the books, and put them back on when they’re on the shelf.