Has Hollywood made reading a thing of the past? With screenwriters adapting novels from “Requiem for a Dream” to “Ella Enchanted” into visually stimulating bright lights and big stars, it sure seems like it. Whatever happened to sitting down and reading a good book? Take Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.” Although it still sits near the top of the New York Times Best-seller’s list, a movie is already underway for those who don’t care to actually read the 454-page account of Robert Langdon. I mean, why waste the time reading and expanding your mind if you can sit on your ass and have Tom Hanks tell the story of Langdon and his struggle to uncover the mystery behind Da Vinci’s most famous pieces of work? I’ll tell you why: Books are worth it.
“Fight Club” has been one of my all time favorite movies since the moment it blew my mind way back in high school. The suspense, the drama, the excitement and the twists inspired me to watch it over and over again until I had every detail figured out. But not until I actually picked up the book did I realize there was so much more to know.
I read “Fight Club” by Chuck Palahniuk my freshman year of college, and it was one of those books that couldn’t be put down. There was so much more involved with Project Mayhem than I had ever realized. The complexity of the characters was drawn out so much further, and once again the old saying of “The book is better than the movie” proved true.
Another movie to which the saying applies is “Big Fish.” Although I loved the visual masterpiece that claimed to be “from the imagination of Tim Burton,” the story line could not live up to that of the Daniel Wallace novel of the same name. I wondered how Burton could say it was from his imagination, but after reading the book I understood. Although the characters were mostly the same, the similarities ended there. While it was a beautiful tale of fantasy in both forms, it was just more fun to get lost in my own imagination rather than Burton’s.
Other books such as “The Joy Luck Club,” “The Five People
You Meet In Heaven,” the Harry Potter series, “White Oleander,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “
The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, can never be as good coming through the “boob tube” as they are in the written word.
This year, blockbusters such
as “The Polar Express,” “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Bridget Jones: The
Edge of Reason” and even “Christmas with the Kranks” (book title: “Skipping Christmas”) all had
previous successes in the written word. Although many, with the
exception of Lemony Snicket’s,
had little success at the box office, the trend continues as more
books become visual and more people stop reading.
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” will be a classic piece of children’s literature found on the big screen this year. Although 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was a success, the July 15 release of “Charlie” will be based more on Roald Dahl’s literary classic by the same name. Not only will this be directed by Hollywood genius Burton, Willy Wonka will be played by my favorite actor of all time: the amazingly talented Johnny Depp. Regardless of how this movie turns out, I just hope parents won’t stop reading to their children before bed. Teaching children to love reading is one of the most incredible tools parents can give to their kids’ futures .
Although watching movies
is one of my favorite pastimes, reading a great book can never
be replaced. In a world where everything gets thrown at us
visually, it’s no wonder more and more children are having a difficult time reading. Help your future as well, and don’t let reading become a thing of the past.