When Daisy Jones & The Six premiered on Amazon Prime, the book shot back onto bestseller lists, three years after its original release date. As soon as some books hit the screens, more people start to read them. But what actually happens when a book gets turned into a show or movie? Does it make us love the story more or take something away from it?
By Klaudia Hostynska – Features Editor
Photo: Pixabay
The numbers suggest that adaptations have a measurable effect on reader behaviour. According to New Book Recommendations, Fifty Shades of Grey saw a 738% increase in sales in the week leading up to the film’s release. Similarly, the Bridgerton novels sold a total of 750,000 copies, according to Publishers Weekly, following the Netflix series debut after their initial publication, which ran between 2000 and 2006.
But when readers were asked how they feel towards stories moved from page to screen, the responses were mixed and surprisingly emotional. “I watched the whole After series, first having read the books, of course. The characters were amazing, everything you would expect anyway, but it was actually heartbreaking how many good moments were missed out,” said Ersiana Demushi, 23, who works as a restaurant advisor from home.
For some, adaptations act as an entry point to literature they may have otherwise skipped. “Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I read a book, but I vividly remember reading Harry Potter, only the first three books, and the reason I done so was because the movies were so good, I had to know how the book was written,” said Alex Earl, 42, who’s an energy assessor in Kent.
Although not everyone loves the screen-first approach. “I try to read the book first before seeing any adaptation, but I tend to often get disappointed since as you can imagine, the book is always better than the movie”, said Demushi. She’s not alone, according to a survey by Goodreads, 79.6% of readers prefer reading the book first before seeing the adaptation.
Genre also plays a role. Psychological thrillers such as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train saw book sales more than double ahead of their movie releases since readers wanted to avoid any spoilers. “I’m a huge fan of thrillers, but I never ended up reading Gone Girl just because I watched the movie first, so after finding out all the spoilers, I felt like there was no point,” said Demushi.
So, according to readers, adaptations do take something away from books in some ways. But, they also bring individuals back to reading, encouraging them to find out the whole story before seeing it on screen.
Credit: Klaudia Hostynska
Ersiana Demushi on Book Adaptations:
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