Finally we have a relationship closer to our reality than, let's say "The Notebook" (not that "The Notebook" is not a good story, just not as common). Men out there have the females who have stuck them in the friend zone since day one... This is the story for you. Women with the men best friend who feel the need to share each nitty gritty detail... This is the story for you.
The structure of this novel is very interesting. It takes novels written in diary form to the next level. Each chapter is a new year on the same day. July 15th, St Swithin's Day in England. (Which is actually a real thing. I included a link to a page on more about it.) It's not just Emma's diary but we hear Dex's thoughts as well as letters. As Dex and Em, Em and Dex first begin their friendship we see them as they are closer then ever and as far apart and those who love each other can get.
St. Swithin's Day
I read this book mostly on a LIRR or sitting in traffic this past summer in Long Island while attending a summer course at Hofstra University which I really hope that I will be doing again this summer. It was captivating and I could hardly put it down. It was probably the fastest book I have read since I have had my children almost three years ago.
So needless to say I was over excited to know it was coming out on film in August. And I waited and waited for it to come out in a theater near me. Which of course our little tiny theaters did not get it. So I waited and I waited some more for the DVD release date. And low and behold our Wal*Mart did not even get it the day it was released. So, I waited and waited a tiny bit more. Finally I have the DVD.
I will be honest, if you have not read the book yet and want to watch the movie as well... Watch the movie FIRST. As most often the movie is never as good as the book, this movie is not as good as the book. It wasn't a bad movie so I would still recommend it. Just of course, not as good as the book.
****SPOILERS****
The movie shows us each day for each year but it definitely lacks a lot of what the book did have. Here are the things that bothered me the most.
- The book was able to capture both Dex and Em perfectly, we begin to build a connection to both characters no matter how horrible either of them may be at that time in their lives. The movie lacked this. We weren't able to get the true feelings we needed for either character to truly understand their situation.
-With the interesting structure that the book contained I honestly expected something exciting to be done with the screenplay. There was not even a letter read over from the book as we saw Dex and Em seperated with their own seperated agendas. Therefore this highly disappointed me, as I felt the letters were important to the development.
- What I think the movie also fails to capture is that there were more characters than just Dex and Em! What about Tilley, or Dex's mother, or Ian? They existed too. And they played a more important role in the novel than in the movie which brought us to a better understand of Dex and Em themselves.
The largest disappointment I had was the lack of Dex's mother throughout the film (excellent casting by the way, IMDb) In the novel we understand why Dex is such a roller coaster with his emotions and with his life goals. In the movie he seems to lack emotion, therefore, we don't feel bad for him like we should. Same with Ian. Ian is so under developed that he comes off as the biggest prick when he reads Emma's diary.
Overall both of these pieces of literature are excellent. The story is warm, yet heart wrenching. And for all of us who seek books with more realistic romance, this is the book for you. Let me know what you think. :-)
Stay tuned for my post on "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen and other Paulsen literature...
No comments:
Post a Comment