There is something magical about reading a good book, the way words are building castles in your head. We can all read the same book yet have our very own picture in our heads. Why is that?
The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader. That’s why we go to movies and say, “Oh, the book is better.”
–Paulo Coelho
We give words their meaning, we give them life and purpose. Even if we speak the same language, we all have unique memories of the words we learned. Taught by our parents, learned in school or while experiencing a profound moment, we all have our very personal relationship with the language(s) we learn.
Yet there is more, beyond the meaning of words we are not actually building new castles out of thin air, we are constructing them with known building blocks. A chest full of memories are our bricks and the book is the glue that helps us shape them into new forms.
Once we formed this very personal and colourful new world, how can any movie ever even come close?
The power of our imagination is why we still have the most vivid gaming experiences playing dungeons and dragons with friends’ on a simple cardboard box with a good storyteller.
Online dating today feels in many ways like reading a book, while meeting your date for the first time is the movie adaptation.
Photo enhancement software surely does not help either with a real impression.
So what to do?
The definition of insanity is to do the same thing again and expect a different outcome!
How about changing the game by watching the movie first and then enjoying the book for all the additional details?