Always. Full Stop.

Being a keen reader, that has always been my philosophy. The thrill of seeing your favourite characters transformed onto the big screen after dedicating so many hours going through the roller coaster ride of their adventures can’t be denied. A successful movie adaptation of the book sends fans into a wild frenzy, and rightly so. But they will always agree that no matter how good the movie is, the book will always be better.

Not only can a book go into much further detail than a 90 minute movie, but it allows the reader to create their own version of the world that the author is describing. Nothing can be worse than watching a film adaptation of a book where the world isn’t as you imagined. It ruins your experience of the book and the journey it took you on.

On the other hand, seeing the world of Hogwarts envisioned on the screen is probably one of the best experiences for fans of the ‘Harry Potter’ books that we can imagine. Now the world of ‘Harry Potter’ has extended into elaborate theme parks, bringing the fans even closer to the world that they could only once read about on paper. The success of ‘Harry Potter’s’ transition from book, to screen, to theme parks, is a true credit of the author of the book series J.K. Rowling’s heavy involvement in ensuring her vision is fulfilled.

I have usually followed the tradition of reading the book before watching the film adaptation, more for the sake of enjoying the book rather than the film, as if I watch the film first, I’ll be less likely to be interested in reading the book as it has been ‘spoiled’ for me.

But now my tradition has been broken. Just the other day I watched ‘Divergent’ at the cinemas with a friend, and now I want to read the entire book series. I enjoyed the film more than if I had read the book before hand, as I would’ve known what to expect. The film is similar to ‘The Hunger Games’, which I read the books before watching the films. While I absolutely love ‘The Hunger Games’ books, the films were very exciting and satisfying but I did know what to expect, and did notice when the filmmakers left important parts out.

‘Divergent’ the film, took me on a rollercoaster ride that I didn’t want to end. The film was so perfect for me that I can’t wait to get my hands on the book series and see just what I’ve been missing out on as a reader. And then of course, go and watch the films.

After reading the book.

Because the book will always be better than the film…

Most of the time.