Throughout the month of May our book club took on the challenge to read the salacious novel, The Other Boleyn Girl. Although a hefty read, the book was wonderfully fascinating and most nights kept me up way past my bedtime. I loved learning more about the life of King Henry VIII and his days at court with the Boleyn sisters. Chapter after chapter I found myself being swept away by the romance, repulsed by the deceit, and enveloped in the drama of it all. Aside from the riveting story line, I loved the unfolding of the characters, and at times found myself forgetting the truthfulness of the narrative as I became emotionally involved in Anne's famous, tragic end, offset by Mary's happier fate. But in the end, the self-defeating folly of the quest for power is what lingers longest in my mind.
After this great read, anticipation grew as we all awaited last Tuesday's DVD release of the major motions picture version. Monday night the book club girls gathered at my place and cozied up to watch the movie. While I understand that its difficult to condense an entire 700 page novel into 120 muinutes, I was devastatingly disappointed by the film as a whole. Historically, it takes far too many liberties from the truth. While the theme of Rival sisters duking it out for the passion of a king remians intact, there were such significant changes made to the storyline that left me frustrated and unfulfilled. Were it not for the excellent acting of Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, the film would have been an absolute disaster. The book was much jucier, racier, and far more worth my while.
Throughout the month of May our book club took on the challenge to read the salacious novel, The Other Boleyn Girl. Although a hefty read, the book was wonderfully fascinating and most nights kept me up way past my bedtime. I loved learning more about the life of King Henry VIII and his days at court with the Boleyn sisters. Chapter after chapter I found myself being swept away by the romance, repulsed by the deceit, and enveloped in the drama of it all. Aside from the riveting story line, I loved the unfolding of the characters, and at times found myself forgetting the truthfulness of the narrative as I became emotionally involved in Anne's famous, tragic end, offset by Mary's happier fate. But in the end, the self-defeating folly of the quest for power is what lingers longest in my mind.
After this great read, anticipation grew as we all awaited last Tuesday's DVD release of the major motions picture version. Monday night the book club girls gathered at my place and cozied up to watch the movie. While I understand that its difficult to condense an entire 700 page novel into 120 muinutes, I was devastatingly disappointed by the film as a whole. Historically, it takes far too many liberties from the truth. While the theme of Rival sisters duking it out for the passion of a king remians intact, there were such significant changes made to the storyline that left me frustrated and unfulfilled. Were it not for the excellent acting of Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman, the film would have been an absolute disaster. The book was much jucier, racier, and far more worth my while.
5 comments:
Nice book review! You definitely should be a writer!
Makes me want to read it!!!
i also loved the book. devoured it on my trip down for becca's wedding. i've got another one for you, although of quite a different nature. i just finished it and it reminded me of our brief chat about the university of utah's architecture program. if you are interested at all in the psychology behind why we like what we do architecturally, then read it.
The Architecture of Happiness
by Alain de Botton
let me know what you think.
I just watched the movie tonight. I always love the books better than the movies, so after your post I want to read the book! I didn't know it was a book actually, so now I'm excited! (That was a jumbled comment. :)
Now I want to read it too! I heard it was nice and racey, my kind of book :) ha, ha!
amen. i could've gone without the movie. it played out better in my imagination.
Post a Comment