Have you ever read a book and imagine something that was totally different than what the movie had? In your opinion, was your imagination better? Even though movies take away the imagination that the books give, books give more of imagination and more detail than the movies and you can't visualize what is happening when watching a movie.
The setting in the movie and the book were very similar. In the book they described it as a utopian community where the Elders are in control. Since the Elders choose everything it makes everyone same. The community people could not see the colors of anything.
In the book it seemed as if they focus more on the memories and Jonas disagreeing and learning. In the movie