“Coraline” by Neil Gaiman

Coraline was a very interesting story about a little girl that lives in a flat with two parents that seem to be focused more on their work then on Coraline. She begins to explore her new flat and spends much her time in the yard finding adventures in the yard. She sometimes spends times with the ladies that live down stairs, former actresses that have long since retired but still take pride in the memories that they have from acting. The flat above is occupied by a Slovak band leader, where the his band consists of mice that play musical interments that are all two interested in Coraline’s adventures.

These adventures were all fun and games until Coraline stumbles into another dimension. Same house, same yard, same neighbors, except everything is just slightly different; slightly artificial. She goes through the house and meets her other parents and is introduced to her parents with buttons sewn in where their eyes used to be.

She learns that he other mother has build this other world for Coraline to come and live with her, but Coraline has no such desires. She is left with the task to escape the other world and the grips of the other mother while attempting to help the others that she meets along the way.

Once again I was impressed with Neil Gaiman’s imagination, and slightly shocked at the dementedness that was in this children’s book. Not mad about it, just surprised. 

"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

After I read Peter Pan I was thoroughly impressed with Barrie’s imagination. Although I am well aware of the story of Peter Pan it wasn't until I read the book that the imagination of the book really began to sink in. I boy that never grows up, the concept off the lost boys, boys that fight pirates, four communities that live on one small island together that are constantly at odds with each other, fairies, a crocodile that has not just a taste for humans, but a particular human, a crocodile that ticks everywhere he goes; even the directions to Neverland just made me impressed with all of the imagination that was involved in creating the story of Peter Pan.

With that being said the Graveyard Book left the same impression on me. I was impressed with Gaiman’s imagination and how far he could take it. His invention of small concepts were just as astounding  as his invention of large ones and I could not help but be jealous of the imaginary worlds that Neil Gaiman is capable of creating for himself.

In the Graveyard Book, Gaiman introduces the audience to a character named Nobody Owens. The story is set in a Graveyard in London and it tells the tale of the adventures of the small boy living in a graveyard being raised by those that, the only all encompassing description that I could give them is, they are not quite living the human existence.

Nobody Owens, which is affectionately shortened to Bod almost immediately, was granted the Freedom of the Graveyard when he was a baby to protect him from the menace that massacred his family. He was adopted by the Graveyard’s own Mr. and Mrs. Owens, two of the dead that had always wished they had had children (kind of reminiscent of Mr. and Mrs. Kent) and a guardian who is apart of the non-living named Silas. Bod goes on many adventures in the graveyard. Some incredibly dangerous, some just unique adventures for a unique boy. The Freedom of the Graveyard allowed him to do things that all other living boys couldn’t, like fade into nothing and squeeze through the tightest cracks.

The imagination that went into the Freedom of the Graveyard was one of the most impressive concepts that I have had the privilege to read. It offered special boundaries that he could bend but there were also things that he could not change and limitations to the privileges that were given to him.

Gaiman also asserted his own idea into concepts that we had all heard before. I loved this because it added something new to a dimension that was entirely his own. Why bother using old concepts in a new universe, might as well make them new and improved while you can.

"Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

When I was starting to write my little thing about Stardust I started this long rant about what happens to a book when it adapted into a movie and the possible ideas that can be done to save it. I started writing that because I couldn’t help but love the movie. I am going to go though the two points that I had written and describe how the movie accomplished the things that I found important.

1.       Character Development & Character Integrity

The movie stayed very true to the characters that were outlined in the book. Tristan is a young passionate boy that goes on an adventure to find the fallen star for the women that he loves. As he goes on his adventure he turns more and more into a man and leaves his old ideas and thought process behind. But as life would have it, he is unaware of his growth and the reader can only see this as his thoughts changes, his passion changes, and the final decisions that he makes in the end are not the same decisions that he would have made in the beginning.

The star is a headstrong young woman that initially hates the thought of being near Tristan, and is just learning how to cope with the events on earth. As the story wears on she learns how to cope with her existence on earth better and slowly falls for the young Tristan.

The witch is a power hungry old woman that is seeking the star for to obtain everlasting youth and beauty for her and her sisters. She will do anything to obtain the stars heart.

Although the events that transpire in the book are incredibly different than the events that happen in the movie the characters remain true. We learn their passions and what motivates them. We watch them change (if they do) and deal with the events as changing characters.

2.       Imaginary Freedom

The movie allowed me to keep some of the imaginary freedom because there were many scenes in the book that did not happen (or did not happen the same) in the movie. Large imaginary elements were kept the same. Gaiman’s “travelling by candlelight” was the same as was the glass snowdrop.  The movie also managed to develop characters that were not initially in the book and leave out characters that would be considered to be more fantastical and more appropriate in the imagination and not on screen.

One final thing that I loved about the movie that is a point that I do not discuss is the article I wrote earlier, is the idea that the movie did not take itself too seriously. There were many times that the movie was able to poke fun at itself and offer some levity to the events that were transpiring. I was an intresting element to place, but the final thing that made the movie wonderful and not just good.

Book to Movie Critique

The Problem with Screenplay Adaptations...

Lately, my sister and I have been discussing what important factors are needed in a good movie adaptation of a book. We have both read quite a few books that have been adapted into movies and lately we have both reached the conclusion that these movies are just not worth watching. Most of the time movies must abandon proper character development to save the plot, and the movie goers looses the imaginary freedom that the reader has when they are reading.

1.       Character Development & Character Integrity

This is often the most important thing that is given up when adapting a book into a screenplay. Books have enough time to offer a reason to like the characters and truly understand what motivates them and how the characters reason. Many times my favorite movies (and my sister has concurred that her favorite too) are often times movies where the character relates to my own personality. These characters I can instantly relate to with very little character development because I can easily put myself into their position. Books I can relate to characters that have a personality that is very different from my own.

For instance, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  We learn a lot about Lisbeth Salander and in the mean time several horrible things are happening around the character. If we take away all of the character development from the book we are simply left with a murder mystery, a rape, and a love affair that seems to make very little sense. Actually why each of the characters would even involve themselves in the murder investigation to begin with is a bit strange without any additional character development.  The plot of the book is not what the book is about, but that is what movies are about. So when we leave it to people who need to make a movie from a book, the most important elements are often left out.

In our discussions Danielle (my sister) and I have decided that it would almost be better to watch a movie where the adaptation did not directly follow the book. Taking liberties with the story will allow people to watch something new, with familiar characters without exactly trying to be the book.

A fine example can be seen in The Count of Monte Cristo. In the movie (the newest version) there are aspects of the movie that deviate extremely far from the book, some portions are even made up entirely. These changes, however, allow the story to keep the integrity of the characters and allow the viewer to understand the story in a new way.

2.       Imaginary Freedom

This is one of the most important aspects in books, which have no way of transferring to movies. It is simply a loss when we go to the movies. I think I mentioned this when I was discussing the Picture of Dorian Gray by one of the most interesting elements of the book was that I was able to imagine who the most handsome man alive was. I would discuss this with Danielle (as she was reading at the same time as me) and I could tell that her Dorian looked nothing like mine. The attic room where the picture was kept was not like mine, how he hid the picture was not the same either.

When books are adapted into movies we loose this freedom of imagination and we must conform to quality of set production, movie budges, and the creative eye of the cast and crew. This problem can be partially solved by changing the plot and keeping character integrity.

Having a character have the same personality and understanding the character’s mindset will not be subject to the imagination. Character development is rarely a given imaginary freedom in a book. It is the one thing that is set in stone. If a movie where to take this idea and make sure that the most important feature of the movie is the character development and not the plot (like the Count of Monte Cristo) then we don’t have to worry about loosing that imaginary freedom, because  the plot will not be the same, and the images in our mind from the book will not pertain to the images that we will see on the screen.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Five things I enjoyed about Picture of Dorian Gray

1.      Literary freedom of interpretation. I found that this was one of the most important things to making the book work. Picture of Dorian Gray required the reader to understand Dorian Gray as the most attractive man that ever lived. His striking features, and his overall handsomeness make him the muse of beauty and he has the look of innocence and kindness imbedded in him. This is only to be later corrupted. The book would not have worked the same way if I was not able to imagine who I thought the most handsome man would be.

I read this book with my sister and this seemed to be one of the fundamental concepts that we both agreed upon. Not that we both discussed how important and necessary our interpretation was to the book, but rather it came out when we began to discuss what the movie would be like (as we both have yet to see the movies). We both started talking about what Dorian looked like. We both only kept the most vague description that the book left us (the innocent face, the dark hair) and from there we had built two very different Dorians… and her’s was not nearly as handsome as mine.

2.       The end. The destruction of the picture was the only way the book could end. The book is set up to describe Dorian’s innocence and how he is corrupted. The dreaded chapter 11 could be looked at as equivalent to a movie montage. It clips together pieces of Dorian’s life over the span of decades to we get to know the kind of person that Dorian has become. We are left with the image of Dorian looking exactly the same as he did 20 years before, except his soul has withered away and can be perceived in the picture.

Once we move through the montage the book goes through a series of almost-endings, none of which follow through with the ultimate demise of Dorian. But when he is staring at his picture in the abandoned room the only way that he could end the story is with the destruction of the painting. The ending is a phenomenal estimate to the power of words, because as she slashes the painting, he dies with stab marks in his old body. He takes on the likeness of the picture and becomes a weathered old man. That can only happen with the words of the book. Almost impossible to describe the details of the event or what “actually” happened. Films would be left to interpret their own ending and hope that the audience follows with the same concept.—I have yet to see any one the movies. Maybe they do better than I can predict.—

3.      Lord Henry. He has the uncanny ability to always say the wrong thing and make it sound like the most brilliant idea ever. This would happen to both my sister and I. We would read through each of Lord Henry’s arguments and eat it up. By into each one until the end. Then after setting down the book for one second and mulling over why the argument didn’t sit so well with us we were able to determine that was because the argument didn’t make any sense. We reached some interesting incite after reading some of his stuff though.

4.       The Dialogue. I do not read many classics and part (probably most of the reason) is because of the daunting descriptions that take pages and pages to get through, and it takes chapters before the plot moves forward at all. I guess Wilde’s playwright prose naturally came out when writing The Picture of Dorian Gray. He wrote with little description, just enough necessary, and was able to push the book forward because it was heavily driven by the dialogue. Only the dreaded chapter 11 lacked any sort of speaking portion.

5.       The philosophical incites. Oscar Wilde works in a lot of philosophy in this little book. Things to mull over, food for thought, and the general outline of the whole book. This was defiantly a book that I had to read, stop, then think to truly understand it; even though it was simple enough (vocabulary and writing style wise) that I could have got through it in one go. Moments, as shallow as some may be, that made me think:

                                                        I.            “I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.”

                                                      II.            “Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love: it is the faithless who know love’s tragedies.”

                                                    III.            “Women have no appreciation of good looks; at least, good women have not.”

                                                    IV.            “[R]realize your youth while you have it. Don’t squander the gold of you days, listening to the tedious, trying to improve the hopeless failure, or giving away your life to the ignorant, the common, the vulgar. These are the dimly aims, the false ideals, of our age. Live! Live the wonderful life that is you! Let nothing be lost upon you. Be always searching for new sensations. Be afraid of nothing. … A new Hedonism.”

                                                      V.            “People are very fold of giving away what they need most themselves. It is what I call the depth of generosity.”

                                                    VI.            “There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating—people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.”

                                                  VII.            “When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us.”

                                                VIII.            “When a woman marries again, it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adored his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs.”

                                                    IX.            “To cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul.”