View Full Version : Reading versus Movies
Myself and Vicks was having this discussion earlier and I was just wondering is reading becoming an extinct activity for people.
I know I read for 1 - 2 hours every night (use to read 4 hours a day when I was communting). I also encourage my kids to read by reading to them (even to Ben at age 2, he loves his stories) and I get Charley to read simply books to me..
Is it a dying activity for people? do you prefer to watch the movie to reading the book?
in the words of the Umpa Lumpa's
What do you get from a glut of TV?
A pain in the neck and an IQ of three
Why don't you try simply reading a book?
Or can you just not bear to look?
You'll get no... you'll get no... you'll get no commercials
Xx-Vicky-xX
30-08-2007, 10:30
Personally i prefere films, i rarely read much anyway these days (i would read more when i was younger to what i do now) but here is why i prefere films or at least one of the reasons, i saw a film on tv about 3 maybe 4 years ago, called The Horse Whisperer (with Scarlett Johansson) loved it, so i got it on dvd and around the same time the book aswell, well we was going on a school trip and i decided to take the book to read on the coach and i didnt understand it even though id seen the film, its because it had really long complex words that id never heard of so after the first two chapters i gave up and decided to stick to the film
di marco
30-08-2007, 11:09
it depends really. i love watching films but then equally when i have time i like reading books as well. with the harry potter books/films i much prefer the books but with lord of the rings i prefered the films. i think it just depends really but i do try and read a chapter of a book most nights if im not too busy and films i just tend to watch if im bored
I'm too lazy to read books as a general rule, it requires too much energy, too much time I have to be in the right mood for it and in the right environment (total silence - which is a rariety in my household)
I prefer TV/Movies as it's handed to you on a plate, you dont have to digest it so to speak. It's over and done with in 2 hours 30, as oppose to weeks of reading a book. Plus with me becoming a scriptwriter/screenwriter it's more important to keep on top of tv/movies as oppose to books.
I generally only read when I'm away unless I get my hands on a good book, thing is I dont find many books I enjoy, if I do enjoy one I'll get through it pretty fast.
In terms of books I actually like to read books that were turned into films: Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange are two of my favourite films, after watching them I brought the books and thoroughly enjoyed them.
DaVeyWaVey
30-08-2007, 11:35
I prefer to watch a movie than read a book - though if there was a movie I really enjoyed soo much, i would consider buying the book and reading it. I don't really read that much - it's not that i don't like reading, (i'll read happily for school or whatever) but in my free time, i don't really read books...
I voted both. Many times especially with films based on true life I often read up on what actually did happen.
As for fiction sometimes I have noticed the film bears little resemblance to the book
I prefer reading - gets the imagination going etc. My children all love to read aswell - Liam isn't 2 until December but he loves to sit with me or hubby and "read" a book with us. Ci loves reading and his reading age (8) goes without saying. Ste is getting into the teenage Andy McNab books and enjoys reading them, aswell as recently when he pinched my Peter Kay autobiography before I had a chance to start it.
Nice to see another mother like me... I love reading to Ben, he joins in in places and it is so good to watch him getting excited about the next story.. Plus your kids are geniuses Em so if reading helped them get to that stage then I am not going to stop with my kids
I would urge anyone who has any contacts with kids to just read them a story and what how a child of any age gets excited by the written word
Nice to see another mother like me... I love reading to Ben, he joins in in places and it is so good to watch him getting excited about the next story.. Plus your kids are geniuses Em so if reading helped them get to that stage then I am not going to stop with my kids
I would urge anyone who has any contacts with kids to just read them a story and what how a child of any age gets excited by the written word
I think its a shame more parents don't read to their children Shiv - its like when people say to me how did my boys learn to read from such a young age etc - simple - I read to them from a young age. And they love it. Even if its just a picture book. Liam's favourite is a Postman Pat counting book - as soon as he sees Jess, he points to it, says "Look, Cat!" and then "Miaow" and can count to 5 already. Too many parents sit their children in front of the tv and ignore them.
I love the look on their faces when they get all excited and start bouncing at the thought of turning the next page and seeing what happens next etc - a wonderful picture and I think books are a wonderful thing to share with children. Every parent can make the time, even if its at bedtime for 5 or 10 mins, to sit and read with their child.
I also read to my children, from birth really. We read the first 4 Harry Potter books out loud at bedtime, Animal Farm, The Chronicles of Narnia etc etc.
I only stopped when my youngest would take the book off me to finish it in between bedtimes!
Strangely my eldest son is not a keen reader, he enjoyed Holes, but apart from that I cannot think of a book that he has read avidly. He recently finished 1984 and Romeo and Juliet, but that was for school. He is currently reading a CSI book - but to my mind that is the sort of thing you should be able to read in a couple of evenings tops - and he has had it 2 weeks now.
My youngest, like me, loves books and reads every day. We go to WHSmiths or Waterstones and gets what ever he wants really. We have hundreds and hundreds of books at home.
With regard to the film v book arguement.
I think that reading the book first works ok - otherwise it takes your own imagination and interpretation away from the book. For instance if you read the Harry Potter books after seeing the film then you will see Daniel Radcliffe in your head as Harry Potter. I don't think that the girl who plays Luna Lovegood is anything like I had imagined - and I am glad that she wasn't in my head.
Liam's favourite is a Postman Pat counting book - as soon as he sees Jess, he points to it, says "Look, Cat!" and then "Miaow" and can count to 5 already. Too many parents sit their children in front of the tv and ignore them.
Ben's favourite is Billy goat gruffy and bob the builder (in german).. He doesn't know the character of Bob in english, only their german names... Just for yourself Em (or other parents), If you feel comfortable reading in another language it is highly recommend to do it at an early age like for Liam..
pookie1968uk
30-08-2007, 16:23
i love reading books and my daughter still reads a lot of books and she is 13, maybe not quite as many as she used to but i try to encourage her too still. her english teacher said to us that she can tell if a child reads a varied range of books by their standard of english at school, she said it does reflect.
i read a lot of books but do love a good movie too, i think there is room for both.
Emma-Lou
30-08-2007, 18:31
I prefer reading to watching a film.I read everynight before i go to sleep to calm me down.I used to read more than i do now when i was a bit younger but i do still read alot espacially when i go on holiday i end up read the books more than once as i havn't taken enough with me.Ever since i was young i was read to every night and i looked forward to it i remeber books such as Guess how much i love and many others.I prefer to read a book before i see the film as it makes me think about what they look like.
Chloe O'brien
30-08-2007, 23:21
I have voted both as sometimes It's just nice to chill out in front of the telly without having to strain your braincells. I still read to Marley most nights we are working our way through the harry potter books at the moment, she loves to read the Christmas before last she got £30 worth of vouchers for waterstones and she was delighted.
Once thing I have found out is if I have read a book before I have seen the film sometimes I am disapointed with the film especially some of the Stephen King films. Some of his books are really spine chilling and creepy but when they are made into films they're rubbish
i prefer reading it must be said. films really don't grab me and i have to watch them at least twice to get the hang of whats going on! i prefer to read because you can do it anywhere and if its a great book you won't notice the noise around you!
Books all the way for me. I always look forward to going to bed and reading for a few hours every night. It's kinda my "silent time" where nobody can disturb me.
A lot of the film adaptations that I've seen have missed out so much (I know it's difficult to cut a book down to two hours or so) and so many funny bits.
I went to see the new Harry Potter film with my grandparents who hadn't read the book. They came out asking me questions about it, how the Order knew Harry etc were in the Ministry that weren't explained in the film.
Films also take away my image of characters and locations. After seeing all five Harry Potter films all my ideas of what characters and places look like have been replaced by those in the films.
I generally prefer films, as like my dad, I hate reading. I can rarely find a book in which my interested is sustained, with the exception of Harry Potter and several others. I prefer the Harry Potter books, particularly the last few given that so much has been cut out of the film. I still like to watch the films though as a way of seeing an interpretation of the novel that isn't my own.
laurouski
02-09-2007, 17:39
I voted books, purely out of bitterness about the way they have (IMO) ruined the Harry Potter books in the film versions.
Having said that, I am looking forward to film adaptations of a couple of books I've read and liked, but that's only really because these books are one-offs, and so I didn't really like the characters, etc., in the same way as I did when reading Harry Potter. Plus, Harry Potter books are quite mysterious, but most of the mystery has been removed from the films.
I still like to watch the films though as a way of seeing an interpretation of the novel that isn't my own.
I agree completely with that. As much as I dislike the Harry Potter films (the way they have changed things, not the films themselves), I still watch them. :D
I also like to see animate versions of characters I've read so much about.
The only thing I don't like about the Harry Potter books is the fact that they take longer, so when I know that there's a good bit coming up, I always end up skipping and then having to go back and force myself to read the bits before.
I'm still reading the final book because of this. I've just read the bit where Voldemort kills Harry, and skimmed through until the bit where Mrs. Weasley duels Bellatrix Lestrange. There's a bit that says something like "Then, Harry knew what was about to happen". but I managed to force myself to stop before I found out if any of them die. That was about a week ago, and I still haven't been able to find the morale to read through the extremely boring chapter in which Dumbledore speaks to Harry about Harry not actually being dead.
Most of you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, especially since this isn't actually a HP thread, but I just had to get it out of my system. :D
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