Book or Film?
The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes to cinemas this month. Watching the trailer on social media has prompted me to find my copy and start reading it. I was given it a year or two back and it’s been languishing in the ever-growing ‘to read’ pile? Do you have one of those? The Tattooist hadn’t yet made it to the top of the pile, partly because I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to reading gritty books. Life is gritty enough and usually I look for lighter subject matter in fiction. But I’d like to see the film, so here goes with the book.
Are you a film first or book first person? To me, although a writer, there’s no right or wrong answer, just preference. Literature, films, TV, theatre – they’re all excellent media for telling stories; the story itself is the essence.
Sometimes reading a book before seeing the film spoils the film experience. Obviously you know the ending; but also a film won’t visually match your own imagination. But for me, the magic of reading fiction is being inside the mind of the characters, perceiving the world through their eyes and growing with them. As long as a book is well-written, this magic almost always helps me to enjoy a book more intensely than a film. But here’s a notable exception.
The Light Between Oceans is a brilliant book by ML Stedman set on the fictitious rocky outcrop of Janus. It tells a tender post-WWI love story that grows into a marriage tested in startling, gut-wrenching ways, that raise acute ethical dilemmas. It is SO my kind of story.
The protagonist’s first experience of standing on the lighthouse balcony is a piece of unforgettable prose,
He had the impression he was hanging from the sky, not rising from the earth. Very slowly, he turned a full circle, taking in the nothingness of it all. It seemed his lungs could never be large enough to breathe in this much air, his eyes could never see this much space, nor could he hear the full extent of the rolling, roaring ocean. For the briefest moment, he had no edges.
The film, directed by Derek Cianfrance, is in my top 10. His immersive approach gave time and space for the actors to fully inhabit their roles and produce the finest performances I’ve seen by Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weiss. The movie takes the viewer on a remarkable but unsentimental emotional journey that leaves an indelible footprint in the mind. For me, this film matched the magical immersion of reading the book. A truly wonderful adaptation from page to big screen. I wholeheartedly recommend both versions of the story.
Do you have a book/film duo to recommend?
