I just bought the box set of the Percy Jackson series

I don't know, if it bothers you that much start a petition or something. Half the shows I watch aren't even based on books. I haven't watched the hunger games yet because I bought the first book and haven't had the time to read it yet. I understand what you mean, most people who have the time don't bother. I'm just not able to sit down and read one of the many many books available.

I'd never tell someone to watch the movie if I saw them reading the book. That's highly idiotic. You get more out of the book and if I see you have the time to read it then why in the name of sanity would I tell you to watch a summary? I've read the first two books in the Inkheart trilogy (need to finish that one) and the movie, while it was pretty cool, did not do the book justice. The mind is the greatest theater and books are the tickets. I couldn't help but notice every single little detail in the movie that was different from how I'd imagined it in the book, and it was kind of a buzzkill.

I don't really care either way what other people do. Most people are idiotic anyway so just let them watch their moving pictures and be happy. Hopefully I'll find the time to start reading again but between university and the spastic life I live I doubt it will be any time soon.

-Nights

 

missing the point that these are forms of entertainment.
entertainment is entirely subjective and no amount of elitism makes one form superior to another.

 

You'd be right if it wasn't for the fact that movies based on books often do not do them justice. Original movies are fine as they're not watering down what was originally a great story. The Twilight movies, save for the last few, were awful but I read some of the first book and found that while I was turned away from the movie I was pulled towards the book(s). It's not about superiority, it's about turning something great into something good.

-Nights

 

That says nothing about movies as a storytelling medium. It says everything about the competence of the people who make the movie and the fact that movies function entirely differently than books.

 

Well apparently there is zero competence as far as the makers go in every single movie I've ever seen. You seem to have a firm grasp on the whole matter, maybe you should be a movie maker. I said I had an issue with movies based on books. Movies are an excellent medium for storytelling when the story they're telling isn't insulting to the book that it came from. Movies do function differently from books. Books require elevated levels of thinking while movies allow you to gather information using the minimum amount of thought process. Movies are an excellent way to wind down and relax as you don't have to do much. Books are an excellent way to stimulate the mind as you have to visualize the characters, the scenery, and everything else.

It's easy to watch a butterfly flutter through a meadow when it's onscreen but to visualize something from words alone requires a lot more effort. So I suppose movies and books both have their pros and cons, not that I've said anything that would imply movies in general are a bad thing.

-Nights

 

It also says a lot about adaptations between mediums. Movies may be a great storytelling medium for stories are made to be watched, but they are a terrible medium for stories that were intended to be read, not watched.

 

I normally don't mind when movies add/remove/change things. That's a part of having a book turn into a movie. The only way we could do any book justice for the amount of content in them is to make them all miniseries. And honestly, I will gladly say "Oh, it wasn't like that in the movie~!" Mostly to other book friend because we like to complain.

What I hate is when books change the plot drastically or change the character's personalities. There's no excuse for that. At all.

 

When I get caught up, you and me are gonna have an in depth discussion.
And not just about the books, we haven't talked enough recently.
Neigh.

 

I really do have to reread them then. I can't go in-depth if I haven't read them in like four years. Neigh.

 

If you watch a film not knowing it was based on a book then you'd probably enjoy it a lot more but the problem with book to films is the comparison, it is hard to create the same world that a book can create as the human mind is so complex that imagination can produce beautiful and real images that a movie can't compare to. The film will never be how you imagined it as it's created by someone else, but that's okay as we all interpret things differently.

The amount of times I hear someone say "Oooh, that should be turned into a film" when they read the book and then people complain about the adaption, if you want to experience the story in its original form then read the book but the film is a form of storytelling based on visual information and it emphasises that a lot through big explosions and the like. While books are a different form of art, they use words to create pictures in your head so you can create your own film in your minds eye.

 

Have you read all of them? Have you read the second series? Neigh?

 

second series, no. i'll probably just wait for them all to be released and hop on then

 

That might be a good idea. I started when The Lost Hero came out and the fact that I have to wait a year each time kills me a bit inside.

God the waiting.





Six more months six more months sixmoremonths

 

I've never read the Kane Chronicles (no interest in Egyptian mythology). Are they any good?

 

Hmm. I shall borrow it. TO THE LIBRARY!!!!

 

Who has time to read books in this modern age

 

Most of the people in this thread apparently.

Actually, reading is a great way to pass the time when you're on a bus or commuting in some way. Don't want to talk to your coworkers during lunch? Pop a book. Five minutes until you have to leave for work/school? Book. It's faster than video games because you don't have to power on, wait for it to turn on, wait for the game to load, wait for the file to load, and then have to run off and find a save point when you have to do something relevant.

 

I used to read a lot when I was younger and had a lot more time, but now I've reached a point where spending hours reading a book just can't be validated to me unless it's REALLY good.
The time versus value jsut doesn't add up anymore, and I completely disagree about the video game thing, since both current handhelds have sleep mode for exactly that reason. Staring and stopping a game on the 3DS, for example, is as simple as opening and closing the system