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My cousin in Tampa said the movie version of 'The Outsiders' was better, and I almost threw my copy at him
I was talking to my cousin Dave at a family thing in Tampa about 6 months ago, and somehow we got on the topic of 'The Outsiders'. I told him the movie cut so much of the book that it felt like a highlight reel for people who hated reading, and he just shrugged and said he preferred it anyway. That bugged me for a week straight. Then I sat down and actually rewatched it for the first time since high school, and I had to admit he had a point about one thing. The book spends so much time on Ponyboy's inner thoughts that the rumble feels almost quiet, but on screen you can see the fear in those kids' faces and it hits way harder than any paragraph did. I still think the book is better overall, but I realized I had been comparing them in my head like the movie had to copy the book page for page, which is a dumb way to look at it. Now I want to know, is there an adaptation where you actually think the screen version beats the book, and what scene sold you on it?
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joseph_murray815h ago
The "highlight reel for people who hated reading" line got me, because I've been that guy defending a book I barely remembered. I'd say The Princess Bride movie beats the book for me, and the scene that sold me was the sword fight on the cliff, since it's fun on screen in a way the page never pulled off for me. Guess I'm the cousin Dave of that one.
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the_julia15h ago
The cliff fight works because you actually see the sweat and footwork, which the page just can't give you.
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