Wordful Wednesday: Holes
I’ve generally found that it’s a good idea to read the book after seeing the movie. That way, you have faces to put with the characters, which can be important given that many film adaptations keep the character names and not much else.
It’s pretty rare when a movie is better than the book, the only example I can think of being The Thirteenth Warrior, an “adaptation” of Michael Crichton’s most tedious book, Eaters of the Dead (I read it the Summer of Seven Crichtons).
Still rarer are those cases of a book and movie being identical in almost every 
way. Holes, by Louis Sachar, is one of these. It’s not a criticism of either the book or the film, as I rather enjoyed both. But basically, if you’ve seen the movie, you’ve read the book, and vice versa.
If you’ve neither read the book nor seen the movie, I’m not sure which to recommend. I think I’d go with the book, just because I consider reading a book a better use of time than seeing a movie. So unless you’re just a huge fan of Shia LaBeouf, go with the book. (By the way, I really like Shia LeBeouf, so it’s not a reflection on him that I recommend the book.)
The book does a nice job of unfolding the back-story of Stanley Yelnats and his family while providing a memorable main story line as well. The characters are fun (not least for their names – Mr. Sir, Armpit, X-Ray) if not very deep, and the way everything wraps up is quite satisfying. I’ll probably read it to Ethan in the near future.
September 2nd, 2009 - 14:52
Our older kids really enjoyed this book too. I don’t think they’ve seen the movie, although Ed and I liked it when we rented it several years ago.
Jacob has all the sudden taken off as a reader! It is so exciting to see him concentrating on a book without being reminded that it is time to read. Right now he is rereading “The Giggler Treatment” because it is part of his Battle of the Books list. He just finished “The Chocolate Touch” and we are reading aloud “A Lion to Watch Over Us”. Our goal is to read all his books aloud once and for him to read them to himself at least once. There are 15 books and the Battle takes place in mid-February so we have plenty of time.