It is crazy, the things people will do for somebody they care about. People will sacrifice everything they have for the benefit of someone they love. This trend is followed through in the book "New Moon" from Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. This book is about a teenager named Bella. She lives with her dad in a small town. The Twilight series is about Bella, and her boyfriend, Edward. Edward is a vampire, and lives with his large vampire family. Edward and Bella are madly in love. They spend every moment they can together. But Edward sacrifices things he wants and cares about for Bella.
Bella really wants to be a vampire. The only way this can happen is if another vampire bites her. Bella frequently asks Edward to grant this wish for her, but he doesn't. Bella wants to be a vampire so she doesn't grow older. Edward and his family don't age; Edward has been 16 for centuries. But Bella is quickly getting older than him. She hates this, and the only way to solve this dilemma is for Bella to be a vampire. Even though Edward also wishes that he could be with Bella forever, he doesn't want to make her a vampire. This is because he believes that being a vampire is a terrible thing, and that vampires "lose their souls". Even though he wants her to be a vampire, he sacrifices something he cares about for Bella's benefit.
He also does this later in "New Moon". After a while, he realizes it isn't safe for his family to be in such a human-populated place. Even though his family doesn't kill humans, or drink their blood, it could still be dangerous. When Bella got a papercut at his house, his family went crazy. They had to go miles away for Bella to be safe. Edward realizes it is not safe for Bella to be near them, so he moves away. Even though this hurts him so badly, he knows he has to do this. He swears to Bella that she will never see him again, and takes away everything from Bella that could remind her of him. This includes pictures, a CD he gave her, everything. He even tells Bella that he doesn't care about her anymore. Even though this hurts him so badly, he realizes it's the only way for Bella to be safe. So, for someone he cares deeply about, he sacrifices everything.... even that person.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
From the Movie to the Book
I just finished reading the book, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky. As you probably know, this book was also turned into a movie, which I saw twice before starting the book. I think it is really interesting to read the book after the movie. Movies, generally, are shorter, and therefore cover less of the topics included in the book. But, movies also add stuff that is not in the book.
For example, in the book there are some really important scenes that are completely omitted from the movie. For example, in the book, the main character Charlie's sister gets pregnant. This is a huge deal, but it is not even touched on in the film. This made me really wonder about how things are decided to be erased, or kept. After a while, I realized it was probably just for one reason: simplicity. When you think about it, one book usually has many different plots and story lines. But a movie, on the other hand, usually only has one, at most two. Movies usually just stick to the one plot line, which is why they had to edit out all the extras.
After I read the book, I saw the movie one last time. Everybody always says the books are better than the movie. But when I thought about it, in this case I favored the movie. I usually favor books to movies, except for two main examples that I can think of: this book, and Twilight. When I thought about it, I realized the two things these book/movies have in common. In both cases, I watched the movie first. I think that people usually prefer the book/movie they experienced first.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie, was one of my favorites. Because I saw it before I read the book, when I did read it I was constantly comparing it to the movie. Instead of the movie being the afterthought to the book, for me, the book was the addition to the movie. Since the movie was the first experience for me, when I thought of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", I thought of the highly enjoyable movie. For me, the movie was the real thing, and the book was the comparison. The same thing happened to me when reading Twilight.
In conclusion, this is what I think about books to movies, and their differences.
For example, in the book there are some really important scenes that are completely omitted from the movie. For example, in the book, the main character Charlie's sister gets pregnant. This is a huge deal, but it is not even touched on in the film. This made me really wonder about how things are decided to be erased, or kept. After a while, I realized it was probably just for one reason: simplicity. When you think about it, one book usually has many different plots and story lines. But a movie, on the other hand, usually only has one, at most two. Movies usually just stick to the one plot line, which is why they had to edit out all the extras.
After I read the book, I saw the movie one last time. Everybody always says the books are better than the movie. But when I thought about it, in this case I favored the movie. I usually favor books to movies, except for two main examples that I can think of: this book, and Twilight. When I thought about it, I realized the two things these book/movies have in common. In both cases, I watched the movie first. I think that people usually prefer the book/movie they experienced first.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie, was one of my favorites. Because I saw it before I read the book, when I did read it I was constantly comparing it to the movie. Instead of the movie being the afterthought to the book, for me, the book was the addition to the movie. Since the movie was the first experience for me, when I thought of "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", I thought of the highly enjoyable movie. For me, the movie was the real thing, and the book was the comparison. The same thing happened to me when reading Twilight.
In conclusion, this is what I think about books to movies, and their differences.
Unanswered Questions
Sometimes, even when you finish a book, there is still one last thing left unanswered. The big question of the book, the thing you thought you would know by the last page, but then never find out. This is exactly what happened to me when I read the book, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky.
This book is composed of many letters from a boy, Charlie. But the thing is, you don't know who the letters are for. They all begin the same way: "Dear friend". But Charlie never tells us who this "friend" is. In the beginning and end of the book, though, Charlie tells us a little bit about this person that he is writing to. The first lines of the book say,
"Dear friend,
I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have. Please don't try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don't want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don't want you to find me. I didn't enclose a return address for the same reason. I mean nothing bad by this. Honest."
Also, in the end of the book, Charlie continues to talk about how the person he is writing to should never know who he is. Charlie talks about how he has never met this person, but knows that he will listen. He says that after his best friend shot himself, he heard a girl in his class talking about a person. That person is who Charlie writes his letters to.
Besides these, the book doesn't give us clues on to who this person is. It is someone Charlie doesn't know, maybe a therapist or something. But I think the author didn't want us to know who the recipient of the letters is. Maybe because it adds a little bit of mystery the book wouldn't otherwise have. But, for whatever reason, this book left me thinking about this even after I read the very last sentence.
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