Every time I want to read a comic or watch a film or anime and see that it was based on a novel’s plot, I ask myself the question: what should I do? Read the original source or watch the film?
Online opinions differ. Some think it’s better to watch a film in two hours, with the most important plot points and simply not waste your precious time.
Others advise not to spare the time and go read the original source (most often a book) to better understand the characters and become immersed in their fate, in case the adaptations simplify or
ruin the original idea.
But I think everything is not so straightforward. On one hand, the original source is the original concept.
It’s slow, detailed, sometimes complex and not always convenient.
It has scenes that are difficult to imagine and long descriptions and internal monologues that only work on paper. It requires time, attention, imagination and patience.
While this is a strength, it is also a weakness. An adaptation does what the original source cannot. It shows, shortens and intensifies emotions.
Adaptations occasionally remove what’s unnecessary and improve upon the work. Yes it interprets.
Yes it changes. But is that always bad?
For people who don’t have a very developed imagination and who can’t picture in their head the scene of what’s happening when reading the original, this is a very suitable option.
We often forget that an adaptation is not a copy but something like a translation. A translation from one language to another, from text to image, from imagination to sound and light.
And like any translation, it can be not literal but accurate or close in meaning. Sometimes an adaptation becomes a doorway to the original. People first watch the film and only then read the book.
The problem begins not when the adaptation differs, but when the impossible is expected of it, to be simultaneously an independent work and a 100% repetition. This is a contradiction.
The original source and adaptation are not rivals. There are different ways to tell one story and perhaps the best option is not to choose what’s “better,” but instead to acknowledge that sometimes we want depth, and sometimes we want a visual experience, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
In most cases I prefer the original, since I like to imagine scenes in my head, think up how the characters would look, and immerse my- self in reading to understand the motive behind each character’s action.
But occasionally,I too prefer the adaptation more than the original source, like in the anime “The Apothecary Diaries” and the film “The Godfather.”
Both works are great in the original, but it was precisely the adaptation that gave them zest and smoothly revealed some confusing parts from the original works.
I think it’s best to first read the original source and only then watch the adaptation. But everyone can
have their choice.
If it’s hard for you to choose, then write the words “adaptation” and “original” on two scraps of paper, fold them separately, close your eyes and choose one at random.
That is what I do when I have a very difficult choice before me.
