Welcome to The Book Dialogue!
Thank you for listening in!
In today’s episode, Sarah and Rebecca discuss the influence of the books we read, the movies we watch, and the stories we hear.
This conversation explores the relationship between books and movies and how they shape our perceptions of the world around us. So sit back, relax and become involved in the discussion.
The Book Dialogue 
Oh I agree 100% that what we intake through our senses is vastly more influential than what we read and imagine. Of course what we view as positive and negative will vary from person to person, but it’s worthy of our attention. Your conversation made me think immediately of Walt Whitman’s poem, “There was a child went forth every day.” Just think of what many children look at every day, let alone adults!
But back to your opening…I watched a television series’ adaptation of Winston Graham’s “Poldark” stories, a handful of seasons compared to 12 volume book, and couldn’t get past something as simple as a change of hair coloring for the women. Just silly, I know, but so true. 🙂
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Sarah and I agree that hair colouring is a critical issue – it is not silly. When I was reading War and Peace in 2022, I was tempted to watch the recent W&P BBC mini-series and the mini-series with Anthony Hopkins that was made a few decade ago. I am grateful that I did not give into temptation. War & Peace could never be covered in a few hours. I believe that reading a book before watching its movie adaptation is crucial. Reading W&P allowed me to understand the story and characters better. There was huge detail gaps and plot simplifications, even though the miniseries was brilliantly done. I believe my enjoyment of the mini-series was enhanced because I read the book. The miniseries provided the vibrancy and colour. For example, there was very little said about dress/costumes in the book, but the fashion statements in the mini-series added to my appreciation of the time. And the opulence of the locations, houses, etc allowed me to visualize the social stratification.
Thank you so much for adding to the conversation – very much appreciated.
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Your discussions never disappoint, Sarah and Rebecca! The interplay in our minds of books and the film versions of those books definitely creates a sort of third entity: fooks? bilms?
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I met with Sarah this afternoon. We read your comments together over coffee. We both agree that your wit is unparalleled! Folks and bilms have entered our vocabulary. Your thought on the “third entity” is an excellent definition to blurring lines. Something for me to consider in the days ahead.
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Thank you! 🙂
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I’ve been very interested in visual literacy since revising two general education programs that needed to include it. This set of visual literacy standards developed by the Association of College & Research Libraries was a HUGE eye-opener for me. https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/visualliteracy/ I came to the conclustion that visual literacy is a critical life skill to survive in our current online world. I’ve been working on expanding my own visual literacy ever since.
Your discussion about music and other audio influencing our thinking patterns sent me on the hunt for literacy standards for those, too. I found this blog post for K-12 teachers.
https://globallytaught.com/blog/6-kinds-of-literacy-students-need-for-the-21st-century/
As far as movies based on books, I try to approach each as its own artistic medium, which by definition will result in a different experiece for the viewer/reader. The question then becomes what is the relationship between the two versions of the particular story, and what new insights into the human experience and the experience of art can we gain by comparing the two? (I love this stuff!)
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Liz – this is brilliant information. I LOVE this stuff too. Would you be interested in joining me on TTT to discuss visual literacy? I’m going on a blog break for a couple of week. Let me know if your interested and I’ll get in touch when I return to Vancouver.
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I’m by no means an expert, but I’d be interested, yes. The thought just occurred to me that it might be fun to explore the relationship between visual literacy and creative writing, specifically poetry and fiction.
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Excellent!!! I think that we are learning as we go along and there is no definitive expert. We are entering new territory, at a fast rate. And the idea of slowing down the breakneck speed, is acknowledging that there are new ways to view the world, learning, and connection. I am excited.
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As am I!
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Hi Both, a lovely discussion about a topic I am well aware of. It is this the intellectual manipulation in movies and visual media which is the reason I never watch movies and only watch YT videos on how to make things. When we read, we can only experience the written words within the sphere of our own experience of life. This is the reason I always said if my boys could read it they may read it. Visual media is very different and it inserts the visual idea into our comprehension rather than leaving it to our imagination. I don’t like this manipulative ability of visual media. A great conversation.
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