How do the Harry Potter books compare to the films?

KevA UK

I agree with everyone else, the HP books are way better than the films.

I just want to add that I think only the first book has most of it covered by the film version. All the other books had increasing amounts cut from them when adapted to film.

nheather

An unabridged audiobook is around 30 hours or more.  A film is around 2 hours.

Obviously, film can dispense with physical descriptions of people and locations almost instantly but I'm sure you get the idea - it is a huge challenge to fit a book into a film and the story usually needs editing.

Having said that I think that the HP films did a good job and were pretty faithfully to the written story.

Much more than can be said for what they did with Eragon and Northern Lights (The Golden Compass).

Cheers,

Nigel

YNWA1892

The problem with the potter films was if they put everything into them all the film would of had two parts and they would have still left chunks out!!  

I bought the last book the day it came out at midnight and read it that day as I had to know how it ended. My kids enjoy reading them and the books are without a doubt one of the great series that can be enjoyed by adults and children.

I agree the first film is the one that depicts the book best but then that book is a lot thinner than say book 4 onwards.

I would definitely recommend reading the books.

olson

I read all books and watched all films. I have to say books are miles better. After finish the first one and you will not stop...they all are more enjoyable.

PoochJD

Hi,

But to be fair to AndyK, the Harry Potter books are aimed at children, not adults. The books may be read and enjoyed by over-18's, but that certainly isn't/wasn't ever their target market. It was just that the books became popular, and so adults decided to start reading and enjoying them too.

Ditto THE HUNGER GAMES: aimed at young-teenagers, but read by adults. Hardly condescending at all, just bare-bones facts.

Pooch

DaveBhoy

Found almost all of the books to be better than the film.

In particular, the Half Blood Prince book was pretty good, but the film was dire, focusing entirely on the Twilight audience.

Only exception for me was Order Of The Phoenix. Didn't really feel that book went anywhere. Film didn't either, but it was over much quicker

Fawand

Read the books, you will precisely know the answer.

Theydon Bois

How insightful.

Singh400

Yes, I agree with this. All the books after 3 had a bit of waffle in them. My most hated chapters were either Rita Skeeter centric or Umbridge centric. Now I've read the whole series I can understand they weren't waffle, but my God. They were painstaking to read.

Also, recently found this image. Which sums up some 'Fun Facts' about the series. It's got spoilers all over it, so don't read it. If you haven't read the entire series.