# Movies That Inspired You To Buy The Book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 24, 2006, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009 "2006-08-24T06:28:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/61 "2006-08-27T16:31:32Z")
Got book after seeing movie: _The River_ (the movie by Jean Renoir is far more impressive than the novel by Rumer Godden) _A Clockwork Orange_ - both the movie and the book rule. How often do you get a one-two winner like this? _Chitty Chitty Bang Bang_ - my only reaction to the movie is, frankly, you have got to be fucking kidding me. _Like Water For Chocolate_ - both the movie and the book are excellent. I’m currently reading Laura Esquivel’s latest book _Malinche_ and I like it even better. _Planet of the Apes 2001: A Space Odyssey_ - I don’t usually go for novelizations, but this one is (mostly) by Arthur C. Clarke, although Clarke didn’t want his screenplay novelized, so a bit dodgy all the same. _Bound for Glory_ _The Tin Drum_ - the movie is politically aware but shows only a small fraction of what-all’s in the book _House of the Spirits_ Read book before seeing movie: _The Lord of the Rings The Hobbit The Handmaid’s Tale_ – book is better than movie _The Mists of Avalon_ – the book is incomparably better than the miniseries _The Godfather Last of the Mohicans Frankenstein Dune Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Siddhartha_ – the book by Hermann Hesse is excellent, the movie by Conrad Rooks is a failure, but a fascinating one. ---
**Author:** ![nevermore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@nevermore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevermore)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/62 "2006-08-27T20:48:24Z")
I wondered about _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ after seeing **Blade Runner** , but I didn’t buy it until I recently saw **A Scanner Darkly** and decided if that many movies have been based off one man’s work, I ought to at least check it out. Fully expected to love the book, but oddly enough, I didn’t. Liked the style, but the story I thought was dismal and boring. For once I prefer the movie to the book. I bought _A Clockwork Orange_ after seeing the movie, though, and that book was wickedly good. Can’t say either is better, though; they’re both delightful in their different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/63 "2006-08-27T22:30:35Z")
Actually, after watching Johnny Mnemonic, I’ve made multiple tries to read “Necromancer”. So far, haven’t made a lot of headway. Not that it’s bad or anything, it just hasn’t grabbed my attention yet like I prefer stories to. Also, after watching “Soldier”, which takes place in the same universe as Blade Runner, I might have to go watch the older movie and check out the book. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/64 "2006-08-28T02:20:54Z")
ummm…I bought the Jackass book. ---
**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/65 "2006-08-29T02:06:24Z")
I read a lot, particularly SF, so a lot of the stories that are being mined now are things I’d read years ago. The Beach: I wanted to read it because almost unanimously people said that it was better than the movie. They were right. The first half of the movie was good, I liked the backstreets adventures in Bangkok, but then it started to suck. The English Patient: The movie was okay. I thought it suffered for the huge amount of hype I heard before finally seeing it on video. The book had some nicely lyrical sections. Legends of the Fall: The movie was actually better. The focus of the story was too remote to really get engaged in the characters. The Princess Bride: Both the movie and the book rock. I particularly liked the descriptions of the interludes that were “edited out” by Goldin as I’ve had to slog through real literature that actually has stuff like 5-6 paragraphs of description of the lace on Madame’s dress. Ones I haven’t done yet are A Clockwork Orange and Fight Club. I read parts of them but for whatever reason wasn’t in the mood to continue. I have to get ahold of my copies of those when I’m in the States next time. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/66 "2006-08-29T13:45:49Z")
**In The Name of the Father** , a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, was based on Gerry Conlon’s autobiography, **Proved Innocent**. I saw the movie accidentally; IIRC, my mom and I had gone to see something else, but we had screwed up the times. Neither of us had seen any trailers, but the poster in the theater looked interesting. Anyway, it was a great movie. I went out and bought the book a few weeks later, which had been renamed to match the title of the movie, and had Daniel Day-Lewis’ face plastered on the cover (kind of bizarre for the cover of another man’s autobiographical work). The book was also excellent. I highly recommend either one. ---
**Author:** ![gfloyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d2c977/32.png) [@gfloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gfloyd)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/67 "2006-08-29T14:04:31Z")
I picked up Road to Perdition after seeing the movie, on the insistance of my boyfriend that it was really a good graphic novel. I was a little skeptical about there being such a thing, after too many hours of selling obnoxious manga to obnoxious 12 year olds, but I really enjoyed. I can’t say the same thing for V fro Vendetta, though. The movie was much better, although I respect it as being groundbreaking, if not all that good. I picked up The Princess Bride after seeing the movie a hundred times, but couldn’t ever seem to get into it, as I practically know the movie by heart. I really enjoyed A Time to Kill the movie so I bought the book. I like it a lot, even if it was even darker than the movie. I’m sure there are others, but I can’t think of them right now. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/68 "2006-08-29T15:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=gfloyd] I picked up Road to Perdition after seeing the movie, on the insistance of my boyfriend that it was really a good graphic novel. I was a little skeptical about there being such a thing, after too many hours of selling obnoxious manga to obnoxious 12 year olds, but I really enjoyed. I can’t say the same thing for V fro Vendetta, though. The movie was much better, although I respect it as being groundbreaking, if not all that good. [/QUOTE] Hehe, if someone could make a photoshop of V with an Afro, I’d like to see it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009/69 "2006-08-29T23:31:06Z")
Looking over my bookshelves, here’s a list of the books that I’m sure I saw the movie before I read the book. For most, I thought the book was better than the movie but for a few\* I liked the movie better. There’s probably a bunch of other books that I read after seeing the movie, but I can’t remember them because I only borrowed them from the library or I no longer have the book. The Green Mile Sideways The Beach\* V for Vendetta\* Jurassic Park Chocolat\* 2001: A Space Odyssey The Princess Bride The Bourne Identity The Bourne Supremacy The Hunt for Red October\* Pride and Prejudice [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-inspired-you-to-buy-the-book/370009.md?page=3)