Compare And Contrast The Fault In Our Stars
As of today, there have been 10.7 million copies sold of the book "The Fault in our Stars" by John Green. Isn't that crazy? Well, it is no secret that this story became a high trending topic in 2014. This story features 16 year old Hazel Grace Lancaster and her time battling cancer. Troughout her journey she meets lovable character Augustus Waters, whom she falls in love with. This gave readers a very heartwarming, yet nostalgic story. Since there was such great success with the novel, Green decided to take action and convert it into a film. On various occasions I have heard the phrase "The book is always better than the movie". Though, what is the reason behind saying this? How can you come to that conclusion? To understand the differences between the book/film version, it is necessary to look at what was included and excluded from each version.
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One of the differences between both of them is what was left out of one version.
In the book, Hazel arrives to Augustus's house but her and her mother heard crying and Augustus scream. "As we approached the house, I could hear someone crying inside" (Green 249). In the film it only shows Hazel and her mom arriving to Augustus's house and he brings his stuff into the car without the incident in the book. Another part that was in the book that wasn't in the film was when Hazel was at the support group in church. "After I finished, there was quite a long period of silence as I watched a smile spread all the way across Augustus's face- not the little crooked smile of the boy trying to be sexy while he stared at me, but his real smile, too big for his face. 'Goddamn,' Augustus said quietly. 'Aren't you something else'' (Green 34). While this specific event happened in the book, in the film all Augustus did, was smile at Hazels
response. Yet another way to compare them would be by examining how the text was different from the film. One example of this would be the character match up. One quote from the book that was describing a character is "The only redeeming facet of support group was this kid named Isaac, a long-faced skinny guy with straight blonde hair swept over one eye" (Green 21). This is what Isaac was described as in the book, yet in the film, this was not the case. Isaac was played by actor Natt Wolf who is a curly haired brunette. The casting choices in this film were as accurate as they could be for many characters except for this one. Second, another event that was different when converted into a film was the kitchen scene in the beginning. This scene was changed because the characters that recited the dialouge were different.
"Me: If you wanted me to be a teenager, don't send me to Support Group. Buy me a fake ID so I can go to clubs, drink vodka, and take pot.
Mom: You don't take pot, for starters.
Me: See, that's the kind of thing I'd know if you got me a fake ID" (Green 23). In the movie, this scene was shared by different characters. As you read in the book, Hazel was having this conversation about being a teenager with her mom, and her dad wasn't even in the room. Yet, when this occurred in the movie, not only was her mother not talking, but Hazel was getting this talk from her dad. Although there were many differences between both of these formats, there were also many similarities. The characters in the book were all transferred and included in the film. The movie did have some casting issues which I discussed earlier, but none the less the character was included. Many of the main points in the story line were included as well, which I was grateful for. The setting was also quite accurate. In the book the characters travel to Amsterdam, so it is expected that this change of scenery is fulfilled. In the film not only is this fulfilled, but the characters in Amsterdam are also included. The conflict in both stays the same, as well as the backstory of all the characters. Judging by the number of sales, this book was a great success. Yet I am sure is is very important to read things like reviews, comparisons of both formats of this story etc. The reason being is because in order to get a description that is more in depth, these types of readings are perfect. They give you a clearer understanding of the book, and be able to catch the the details without reading the book multiple times. Probably the reason as to why it was a better book to movie than most, is the product of it being a relatively short book. Overall it is important to look deeper into the movie and book, so that you can get the full effect of the details, similarities, differences and other aspects of them.
One of the differences between both of them is what was left out of one version.
In the book, Hazel arrives to Augustus's house but her and her mother heard crying and Augustus scream. "As we approached the house, I could hear someone crying inside" (Green 249). In the film it only shows Hazel and her mom arriving to Augustus's house and he brings his stuff into the car without the incident in the book. Another part that was in the book that wasn't in the film was when Hazel was at the support group in church. "After I finished, there was quite a long period of silence as I watched a smile spread all the way across Augustus's face- not the little crooked smile of the boy trying to be sexy while he stared at me, but his real smile, too big for his face. 'Goddamn,' Augustus said quietly. 'Aren't you something else'' (Green 34). While this specific event happened in the book, in the film all Augustus did, was smile at Hazels
response. Yet another way to compare them would be by examining how the text was different from the film. One example of this would be the character match up. One quote from the book that was describing a character is "The only redeeming facet of support group was this kid named Isaac, a long-faced skinny guy with straight blonde hair swept over one eye" (Green 21). This is what Isaac was described as in the book, yet in the film, this was not the case. Isaac was played by actor Natt Wolf who is a curly haired brunette. The casting choices in this film were as accurate as they could be for many characters except for this one. Second, another event that was different when converted into a film was the kitchen scene in the beginning. This scene was changed because the characters that recited the dialouge were different.
"Me: If you wanted me to be a teenager, don't send me to Support Group. Buy me a fake ID so I can go to clubs, drink vodka, and take pot.
Mom: You don't take pot, for starters.
Me: See, that's the kind of thing I'd know if you got me a fake ID" (Green 23). In the movie, this scene was shared by different characters. As you read in the book, Hazel was having this conversation about being a teenager with her mom, and her dad wasn't even in the room. Yet, when this occurred in the movie, not only was her mother not talking, but Hazel was getting this talk from her dad. Although there were many differences between both of these formats, there were also many similarities. The characters in the book were all transferred and included in the film. The movie did have some casting issues which I discussed earlier, but none the less the character was included. Many of the main points in the story line were included as well, which I was grateful for. The setting was also quite accurate. In the book the characters travel to Amsterdam, so it is expected that this change of scenery is fulfilled. In the film not only is this fulfilled, but the characters in Amsterdam are also included. The conflict in both stays the same, as well as the backstory of all the characters. Judging by the number of sales, this book was a great success. Yet I am sure is is very important to read things like reviews, comparisons of both formats of this story etc. The reason being is because in order to get a description that is more in depth, these types of readings are perfect. They give you a clearer understanding of the book, and be able to catch the the details without reading the book multiple times. Probably the reason as to why it was a better book to movie than most, is the product of it being a relatively short book. Overall it is important to look deeper into the movie and book, so that you can get the full effect of the details, similarities, differences and other aspects of them.