The movie/book thing

For some reason I get a kick out of reading books and watching movies that share the same story. I prefer to hold out for books and movies of quality. I sorry to say that I sat through the movie "The Bone Collector" (one of those things that happens when you are dating) but I had no desire then nor do I now to read the book on which that shitty movie was based.

Just this last week I read the book "Election" by Tom Perrotta. "Election" was a one of those movies that surprised me. I remember watching it at home a couple of years ago and loving it so much that I watched again that same weekend. The same thing happened when I first saw "Reservoir Dogs." Although I think I watched that movie three times over a weekend as different groups of friends came over.

But, yeah, movies and books. It turns out that "Election" works pretty darn good as a movie and book set. The stories vary enough and provide a little variety but both are similar in tone and pace which allows me to picture the movie's actors in my head as I read the book. I love it when it comes together like that. The book is short so not a lot was left out when it was converted to a film. A couple of storylines were rearranged for flow. I found it interesting that Broderick's character was stung by a bee in the movie and that did not take place in the novel. In the book we were inside that character's head and we knew how miserable he was. The bee sting was substituted for a page or two of the character's narration.

Since I just finished "A long way down" by Hornby I am going to have to pick up his novel "High Fidelity" someday soon. I love that movie and just watched it again a couple of weeks back. I've always wondered how the book and movie worked together. I understand that the book is set in London and I'd like to see how the characters travel between Chicago and London.