Tag Archives: eat pray love

The book versus the movie: which is better?

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We all know how it goes: the book is always better than the movie, right?  Invariably, the movie leaves stuff out of the story, big events that you loved in the book don’t make it into the screenplay, the movie doesn’t go into enough character development, and sometimes there are even missing characters once the story hits the silver screen.  This is true in pretty much every case.

The Bridges of Madison County was an internal story which didn’t translate well to the screen, since inner monologues get pretty monotonous in a movie.  I’ve heard the Harry Potter books are still better than the apparently awesome movies (I’ve never read them and I’ve only seen, like, the first three movies – don’t be hatin’).  Twilight is better on paper; so is Eat, Pray, Love, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is too.  

Then, you have those movies that I would argue are as good as the book: Michael Crichton books are an example for me, but that could be because I’m not a scientifically minded individual, so all the technical stuff on paper kind of frazzles my brain.  Memoirs of a Geisha is fabulous in both forms.

In my experience of reading and then watching a story, there has only been one movie that has surpassed the book: The Last of the Mohicans.  If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the love story happens between Cora and Nathaniel (“Hawkeye”), Alice dies in the end, Hawkeye has as sense of humor, and it generally ends up well for the main characters…I mean, kind of.  You know, for the ones that don’t die at least.   Well, pick up the book, and not only is it a tough read technically, but you’ll be left wanting to slit your metaphorical wrists over the depressing end.  The characters you think are supposed to get together don’t; the humor that is present in the movie is nonexistent in the book.  Hawkeye isn’t the delicious Daniel Day-Lewis, he’s an older dude who sees Uncas as a son, not a brother.  The enemy natives are much more vicious, and one of my favorite characters gets killed in the end.  Overall, I was disappointed.

The screen adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans is way better than the book.  I hate to discourage reading, but in this case, don’t waste your time.

Eating, Praying, Loving

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Ahhhhh!!!!! I saw the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love today, and after moving theaters and a ridiculously long wait for a second showing (the player over-heated in the first showing..on Friday the 13th, go fig!), I was finally able to see the deliciously colorful and rich film. It was so good and blessedly lived up to the book’s brilliance, which is always nice. While the middle dragged a little for me (let’s be honest, the middle of the book dragged for me as well, so, it’s not that unexpected), everything was beautiful and really fantastic.

If you still haven’t read Eat, Pray, Love, you seriously don’t know what you’re missing!!

What's that Song…?

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If you’ve seen the new trailer for the Eat Pray Love movie (SQUEEEEE!!!!! ZOMYGOSH! So excited!!!!) *deep cleansing breath*, then you may be wondering what the song in the background is.

Well, in case you were wondering how hip the five-year-olds are around our pad, my five-year-old can tell you [yes, I realize I implied that said hip five-year-old is raised in a hip household...take from that what you will]. It’s Florence + the Machine’s Dog Days are Over. (One of the wee one’s…and my favorites!)

Here’s the lyrics and the song, followed by the trailer for Eat Pray Love!! And, if you like this song, then just do yourself a favor and buy her entire album: Lungs. It’s fab!

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

And I never wanted anything from you
Except everything you had and what was left after that too, oh
Happiness hit her like a bullet in the head
Struck from a great height by someone who should know better than that

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your loving, your loving behind
You cant carry it with you if you want to survive

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
Can you hear the horses?
Because here they come

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run


(Side note: How Gaga-esque is Flo’s video?!?)

A "Must Read"

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I’ve just finished perhaps one of the best books I’ve ever read. I wrote a pre-review review a few weeks ago along with Julie and Julia, about Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I cannot express to you the feelings that this book as evoked. And, I just finished watching the trailer for the movie version (out this summer) and OMGOSH! they’re following the book SOOOO well from what I can see. This is so exciting!!

Gilbert’s wit is delightful and it’s so hard to imagine that this woman traveled the world for a year of self-discovery, because the story is so good!! It even has a “fairy tale ending!” And, I can relate to Gilbert so well and on so many levels, so for me, her book just spoke to me.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“‘To find the balance you want,’ Ketut spoke through his translator, ‘this is what you must become. [Showing Gilbert a picture he had painted for her] You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it’s like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart, instead. That way, you will know God.’” (pg. 27) This one was from Ketut, a Balinese medicine man who Gilbert met on assignment and returned to visit in Bali in the third book of her memoir. He’s a hysterical character and I can’t imagine how much she laughed at his simple wisdom and old man-ness, because I find him–as Gilbert writes him, at least–a delight; like some beloved old grandpa.

Here’s another that I think applies to whatever faith one follows:
“Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can’t even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I’m aiming for, how will it ever occur?” (pg. 177)

And finally, here’s one that just illustrates how yummy Gilbert’s writing is. She’s talking about a friend she made in Bali by the name of Yudhi (pronounced “You-Day”). She writes:
“The guy has a musical ear like maybe nobody I’ve ever met. He’s beautiful with the guitar, never had lessons but understands melody and harmony like they were the kid sisters he grew up with.” (pg. 247)
What a fun metaphor!

Anyway, pick up Eat, Pray, Love. It’s absolutely fantastic!!

Quotes from Gilbert, Elizabeth. Eat, Pray, Love. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Photo from author’s website.