Gone Girl: Better Late Than Never

Once again I was sucked into the debate of book vs. movie. Is it a bad thing? No. It is just a thing. To be honest, every time I go to the movie theater and sit through the previews I try to catch the small glimpse of the credit information to see if the trailer was based on a book. If I can't read quickly enough, I will grab my phone (yes, in the movie theater...it is after all the previews and not the feature presentation...although this does NOT happen at the Alamo Draft House...I have to put pencil to paper there...after all, I don't want to get kicked out of the movie theater before the movie starts just because I am trying to find out about a future movie!!...I digress) to see if the movie is based on a book, play, poem, etc.

I ALWAYS want to read the original before seeing the screen adaptation. More times than not, the book is SO much better. I saw a recent post on Facebook discussing books and movies Here is the question posted - "What movies are better than the books they're based on?" I have to admit I was shocked by most of the responses. Comments about movies being so much better than the books for titles such as Gone with the Wind, The Help, The Princess Bride, and even the Harry Potter series! Maybe I am not reading the same books with these titles! How can someone possibly say Gone with the Wind was boring?!? Maybe I am prejudice. It is one of my all time favorite books.

Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn

I can't remember if it was during the previews for A Million Ways to Die in the West (please don't judge me, it was my husband's movie choice), The Fault in Our Stars, or Guardians of the Galaxy when I first saw the preview for Gone Girl. I was immediately interested in the movie, but quickly realized I had heard of the book, even though I had not read it. I believe I have a copy of an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) for Gone Girl I picked up during the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference. So for this particular book, even though I have had a copy of it pre-publication, it took the buzz of the upcoming movie to get me interested in reading the book. I put it on my TBR (To Be Read) list, one of the many I have. I decided it was time to read the book when the movie was to be released on DVD. So, I grabbed a copy of the book from Half Price Books and read it. Wow! I loved every minute of the book. I was immediately grabbed and quickly pushed over the edge with the magnificent twist. I am not going to post any spoilers for the book because I don't want any potential readers of the book to be disappointed. This awesome book might already be spoiled for you if you saw some of the clips from the 2015 Oscar Awards. I guess they don't think about spoiling an ending of a book because EVERYONE has already seen the movie, right?!? (Sorry for the sarcasm! No, I'm not. It ticked me off! I am just glad I had already read the book and seen the movie!)

I know the book has been out for almost three years and the movie for almost a year, but if you have not read Gone Girl or seen the movie, I would highly recommend reading the book and then seeing the movie. I have heard some people had a difficult time getting through the first half of the book. If that is the case for you (it was not for me at all), please go forth knowing you will be SHOCKED by the twists and turns Gillian Flynn includes in her third novel, and the best-selling book to date.