How many times have you said about a movie "it was good but I preferred the book"? The great thing about books is that they do not have a run time limit or budget for sets, because words are in control of everything. Character's can be described however the author wants and readers can imagine the character rather than a movie which has to find the right actor/actress who fits the look and persona of the character.

Regardless of whether a movie is based on a book, books are better for providing the type of entertainment which allows you to escape reality and immerse yourself into a different world as often as you like - you can read a few pages every night but can't really watch ten minutes of a movie every night. Movies on the other hand are a great way to allow your mind to be a bit lazier and rely on visuals and scripts to entertain you for a couple of hours. With movies things are laid out for you which often doesn't require you to think as much as a book does.

When a movie is based on a book, the book is almost always better as movies cannot always capture the depth and length of detail that the book depicts. It also natural to compare the movie to the book and it is rare that casting and storyline variations are 100% true to the book - it just isn't feasible. Even when you are impressed at how the director has managed to capture the setting just as you had imagined it, included and excluded details that you agree with and casted actors and actresses to look and act just as you had imagined, it is still hard to say that you preferred the movie to the book.

Books are also a medium which relies on imagination - you picture settings, people and events in your mind, whereas movies tell you exactly what a character looks like, how they talk, what the setting looks like and so on. It leaves very little room for imagination which removes the extra dimension that a book provides.

On a practical level books are also something which can be enjoyed in different situations - whether you are on a plane, train on your journey to work, at night in bed or even in a doctor's waiting room! You are more restricted when watching a movie. Whilst technology on the market does allow you to watch a movie say, on the train, it is not quite the same as watching it on the big screen or in the comfort of the couch in a house.

Although I enjoy books and movies, if I had to pick I would say that I tilt more towards books - they exercise your mind, keep you entertained for longer and are less restrictive as to where and when you can enjoy it.

Learn more about this author, Sumantha Dutta.
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