I believe the books are better than the movies.

I do not like seeing a movie adaptation before I read the book.  I have missed many cinematic releases because of this.  I enjoy creating the world in my own head from the author's words first before having images thrust upon me by a director's vision.  I'm certainly not disparaging directors or screenplay adapters; there have been many fine films adapted from books.  I just want my own chance first.

The Harry Potter series is a perfect example.  I love the book series!  However, I came to it very late. I did not start reading the series until 2007.  Once I got started, I couldn't put them down (living in New York at the time and having long subway commutes, especially while on jury duty, certainly helped, but that's beside the point).  I finished Half-Blood Prince just as Deathly Hallows was released.  I got the latter from the library and knocked it out in the three weeks one gets from them (not particularly impressive as many mega-fans stayed up and read those huge tomes in one night, I know).

Because of my insistence on reading first, I only saw the last three movies in the theatre; I had to watch the others at home.  Now, while I enjoy the films, there is still something lacking with them for me.  I am in the middle of reading the series with my son (who has become a YUGE fan), and slowly getting through the movies with him, too.  We just watched Prisoner of Azkaban tonight.  As we have watched the movies together, I think I have figured out what the problem with them is: there is SO MUCH editing that a lot of Rowling's original fun is just lost. There are so many missing fun and poignant bits from the books that the movies sometimes feel rushed.  Sometimes things got edited out and then a passing reference is made to them later and it just makes no sense.  For instance, while watching Prisoner tonight, towards the end as Lupin is *SPOILER ALERT* turning into his werewolf self, Sirius makes a comment about Lupin not taking his potion that evening which is supposed to help him from transforming; not once elsewhere in the movie do they talk about that potion or that Snape is reluctantly making it for him, losing reference and deeper character development established in the source material.

Now of course I understand it is inevitable that edits and changes have to be made for a book adaptation, especially when you're dealing with novels as long as the Potter series, or the movie could be five hours long.  A. try explaining that to an excited six- or seven-year old who wants to see a movie be exactly like what he has read; and 2. there is my point: read and imagine for yourself first before letting Hollywood dictate to you what a fictional world should be, because once you get someone else's image in your mind, it can be hard to go back to your own.

#READ