Books vs. Movies

Books remain among the oldest and the most valuable inventions of the humanity and have a long and dynamic history, which started in those times when people felt a necessity to create lasting and easily accessible records of some important information. The first books appeared in Ancient Egypt, soon after invention of papyrus technique. Even in the beginning of the 20th century books were the most popular sources of information and the only carriers of literary works of any genres. There were millions of booklovers around the world, who enjoyed reading and developing own personality by obtaining knowledge from the books.

But in the first decade of the 20th century a lot of changes took place, and one of the reasons of those was a revolutionary invention of cinematography. The first motion picture films started appearing, the first studios in the Hollywood area were founded and world’s cinema industry started developing. Nowadays, movies of different genres, from comedies to documentaries, became a corporate part of our life. It is hard to find someone who does not like watching movies, but the opinions whether they are better than the books, differ.

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This work is an attempt to examine and contrast the differences between books and movies. The first and the most important difference is the opportunity to imagine and visualize the scenes of the plot. While reading a book, we can use the power of our own imagination to picture characters or the events in details. But when watching a movie, we have to accept the visualization of the events, which is offered by the director. Certainly, movies can be advantageous, because they are visually stimulating and loaded with numerous special effects.

However, books usually have deeper influence and remain longer in our minds, because all the work on “visualization” of the events is done by us ourselves. Another significant difference between books and movies is being a source for one another. It is known that screenwriters and movie directors often create their masterpieces based on the plots of popular books, and the examples of this include a number of movies about Harry Potter and Hannibal Lecter, “The Lord of the Rings”, “The Da Vinci Code”, “Pride and Prejudice”, “The English Patient”, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”, “The Godfather” and hundreds of others.

Nevertheless, there are few incidents, when books are written on the plots of popular movies, because in such cases it is really difficult for the writers to offer something new and appealing. There are more differences. As a rule, reading books requires more time, as well as more attention and concentration of the reader. At the same time, watching a movie does not take long (about 2-3 hours) and frequently does not require being totally focused on it. In addition, it is only a personality and previous achievements of the author, which can attract attention of potential readers to a new book.

As to a new movie, there can be personalities (and previous achievements) of the director, the screenwriter, as well as the names of one or a number of actors, which can attract public attention and make more and more people watch it. Yet another difference is availability of books and movies. It is possible to read a book almost everywhere. Books are light, small and can be even placed in a pocket (so called pocket-books). That is why they are, undoubtedly, the best solution to fill the time in a queue or during a plane trip. However, not everyone can afford watching movies at any time and place.

Only those, who have laptops or portable CD/DVD players with monitors, can play movies wherever they wish. The majority of people are still bounded to cinemas, TVs, home cinemas, home PC stations, etc. Undoubtedly, everyone has own opinion regarding the advantages of reading books and watching movies, and the comments like "Books are better because they are more descriptive and seem more real," or "Movies are just easier sometimes. They take less time and less concentration," perfectly reflect the opposite viewpoints of young Americans on these two concepts (Stratta & Broderick, n. d. ).

Nevertheless, I suppose that it would be better and really fair to understand books and movies as two different genres of entertainment and learn to appreciate them both.

Outline

• Books

1. Historical information
2. Being the only source of knowledge

• Movies

1. Cinema history
2. Becoming everyday entertainment

• Differences

1. Opportunities to use imagination and visualize the scenes.
2. Being a source for one another
3. Necessary time and concentration
4. Personalities, who can contribute in promotion.
5. Availability

• Different opinions

1. Comments of people
2.  Suggestion to enjoy the benefits of both books and movies

Bibliography

1.  Stratta, E. & Broderick, M. (n. d. ). Movies Sink in the Battle vs. Books. In Depth Page. Marian High School Official Page. Retrieved April 19, 2007, from <http://marian. creighton. edu/~network/2001/indepth/books-movies. html>.
2. The Book vs. The Movie. (2002, November 11). CBS News Online. Associated Press. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved Apri 19, 2007, from: <http://www. cbsnews. com/stories/2002/11/11/print/main528940. shtml>.

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