Twilight Time: If I See the Movie Will I Want to Read the Book?

Heavenly shades of night are falling
It's twilight time
Out of the mist your voice is calling
It's twilight time
When purple colored curtains
Mark the end of the day
I hear you my dear at twilight time

Deepening shadows gather splendor
As day is done
Fingers of night will soon surrender
The setting sun
I count the moments darling
Till you're here with me
Together at last at twilight time

Here in the after-glow of day
We keep our rendez-vous beneath the blue
Here in the sweet and same old way
I fall in love again as I did then

Deep in the dark your kiss will thrill me
Like days of old
Lighting the spark of love that fills me
With dreams untold
Each day I pray for evening just
To be with you
Together at last at twilight time

Together at last at twilight time

I've read tons of books that were turned into films with varying results. I can't think of a film that I liked better than the book it was based on, but there are cases such as the Harry Potter books and films and the Wizard of Oz where the two formats are different but I appreciate them as if they were separate works.

I'm going to see the movie Twilight tonight, based on Stephanie Meyer's book. I haven't read the books and am not sure I want to. Quite a few people here have read the books and seen the movie and although they loved the books till the last one "Breaking Dawn" I don't recall them coming back and saying the movie was must see, or that they were discussing it at all. Bad sign! The real kiss of death is that the heroine "Bella" is seen as a whiny sort, even by fans. Whiny=Bad. I have to like the main character, I have to want to know their story.

I've read what I think are the two best vampire novels of all time "Dracula" by Bram Stoker and "Interview with the Vampire" by Anne Rice (but none of the sequels).

I confess cinematically Buffy the Vampire Slayer has, I fear, ruined me for any other on-screen vampires. Buffy and her storylines and her vampire pals, especially Spike! can't be surpassed.

This all got me thinking, what would I expect from a movie based on a book I hadn't read that would make me want to read the book? I'd like the characters and their story and their world so much I would want to read the book because the book is always better, more detailed, richer.

Why do I see movies based on books I like knowing the movie will be inferior? I think it is the same. I love the world and the character and I want more. I want to see them brought to life. There is a danger that huge parts of the story will be gone or altered. The characters might look or sound nothing like my imagination. Sometimes, even if that is the way it comes out, there is some new thing shown or offered by this different format, that illuminates the story I love. It's worth the gamble.




DRUMROLL PLEASE!

I liked the movie! I was prepared to not like it but as it turns out Bella isn't a whiner at all. Very appealing heroine.

Edward ...odd looking dude, let's face it. That super pale skin, those scary dog eyebrows...eek. Very nice fellow for a vampire though. Comes from a nice vampire family and everything. What's not to like?

The music was just jangling though, I couldn't stop noticing how loud and discordant it was. The vocal pieces were all good but the instrumentals..ack..make it go away!

My son, who read the book and liked it alot said that Edward had alot of humor, and in fact the author's humor reminded him of...me...the humor he said, was "juvenile". I should be insulted but I know he means it as a compliment, pretty much.

Since our library still has over a hundred people waiting for Twilight, I'll wait till Son of D.O.A. brings his copy home at Christmas. I'm definitely interested in knowing more about the characters and the world they inhabit.