The Client - John Grisham

When I want to read something light and easy I normally pick up a Sidney Sheldon or John Grisham. Light and easy meaning I don't have to put too much effort to stay in tune with the book. Sometimes it so happens that you are reading non-stop yet you lose track of what's going on. With a John Grisham's, this never happens.

I'm a bit pessimistic. So my "reviews" will have more cons than pros. ;-)

The storyline is good. A ten-year old who knew too much pretty much tells you what the story is about. The ten-year old holds the story together quite nicely.

But, there is a kid in the story so that means there are a lot of limitations. The other people in the story cry every ten minutes; maybe to make the readers appreciate the kid better or what I don't know! And since there is a kid, there a lot of chick elements present - the tears, food, touches of feminism here and there. This is a lawyer book :-D so there is always a lot of money involved. The climax is a little confusing and a little pointless! Except for the kid and his lawyer, the other characters were a little weak and sort of....dilute!

The good things are - the smart ass conversations, the smart ass kid, the fact that the technical details are kept to an optimum level so nothing goes above your head, and needless to mention, again, the writing! It's a page-turner in spite of everything else.

Later!

Film Adaptaions

I'm absolutely bored. I always seem to have so much to say. Everyone is asleep now and I have this strong urge to yap. So here goes..

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LOTR

Brilliant movies! Stunning, awesome, MAGICAL!! One of the few adaptations where the movie was better than the book. No scratch that last! There's no competition really. But LOTR, all the three movies would rate as my first best film adapt. ever! 

Here's why. The actors are so much cuter than the characters in the book. Well, maybe except Strider. I didn't like that actor so much I don't know why! The narrative about the um...species(?) I mean hobbits, dwarfs, elves, Gollum, etc. did not have a very clear picture about their looks. When I watched the movie, I was so thrilled and they were nothing like I had imagined. Rivendell too- superb in the movie! The photography, the music, the costumes...aah! It was a treat to the eyes believe me! Pity the books weren't too descriptive about. It seems as though the author has written taking everything for granted. Like hobbits roam around everyday and seing dwarfs and elves are as common as visiting your distant uncle or aunt! Like how in a non-fantasy fiction book, there is no description how the man looks like - two hands, two legs, a trunk, a face and so on. 

The sequencing in the movie was a great idea. Frodo - Gandalf - the war - orcs etc. instead of one continuous  story like in the book. Because when you are reading, it is very easy to get tired of reading two pages of Frodo walking! Sometimes I used to misplace the bookmark in the book and read the same page and don't even realise I did! Although I sometimes wished it was continuous; but then it would have made a great serial or something. Like Mahabharat in DD!

In favour of the book - I was a little disappointed with acting in a few scenes. I won't name the roles or the actors; I have too much respect for the movie! :-) Also, however hard one may try, a movie can never completely capture what's in a book. Because reading a book is too abstract and each reader has his/her unique version of imagination built up inside their heads. And the biggest of all, the people who made the movie only adapted  the book. The book is brilliant, and so the movie tried to reach that same amount of brilliance :-D

(Somehow, in my movies vs. books debate, books always win! )

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P.S. I love you

This, I must say the movie is far better than the book. Maybe that's because there were too many changes in the movie. 

In this again, the photography and music made all the difference. The book itself was really no big deal, except that letters-from-dead-husband plot. Wow, I made it sound so romantic! :-) It was just another romantic. 

The movie got its tang from the afore said modifications. The main characters live in the US, not in Ireland, the girl wears good clothes and designer shoes, she's sort of a realtor not some boring columnist, the heroine's girl friends' roles were cut short, the girl's mom, and the biggest of all Gerard Butler!!

This is one of my favourite movies. A big tear jerker too. 

I'll continue later