Watch or Read: Let's Talk About the Differences Between a Book and a Screen Version Using The Great Gatsby as an Example - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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Watch or Read: Let's Talk About the Differences Between a Book and a Screen Version Using The Great Gatsby as an Example

It is hard to make a comparison between a book and a screen. There are the obvious differences, but then there are the hidden comparisons. Books are older because people started writing thousands of years ago. Screens are newer but their influence has been a phenomenon.

The novel, The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott and published in 1925 in the US. During his time, his books were dismissed and branded a forgettable modernist lot. More than eight decades later, the overrated, ultra-modernist, and forgettable book made a resounding comeback but this time as a screen version. Using this book as an example, let us talk about the difference between a book and a screen.




Accuracy of scene and character descriptions
Compared to inspirational movies, books tend to be more accurate to a description of a character, place, or something. A book can accurately describe how a certain individual looks like. It can give details about their color, marks on their body, relationship, and their tone.

On the other hand, a screen is graphical and screenwriters don’t give a detailed description of a character. They expect a person to watch the movie and pick the details themselves. In The Great Gatsby, a lot of differences between the book and the screen can clearly be seen. The big house described in the novel as the place where parties were held is not accurately described in the movie.

Opening stories
The opening chapter is always important in a book and a screen as well. It helps the reader or person watching to take an interest to watch or read on to discover more about the opening scene. If the first few minutes into reading or watching are boring, the person reading or watching might discontinue and look for a more interesting story. There is a significant difference between the story of Nick Caraway and Doctor Walter Perkins. The book starts with the meeting. According to the book, Walker is a therapy specialist and Nick had gone to consult him because he was struggling with alcohol abuse.

The story is different on the screen. Nick Caraway has gone to see doctor Walter, but it’s not because he wants therapy due to alcohol abuse. Caraway is writing down on the screen something that is not there in the book.

When writing The Great Gatsby essay, you should first introduce the background of the topic and discuss things like when the novel was written, who wrote it, and why he wrote it. By any standards, this is what will give your literature a great head start to encourage someone to continue to read. You may not want to start at that angle but if you first read these The Great Gatsby essay examples on Eduzaurus, you might challenge the views of the writers and create your introduction. Take time also and read the book to help you improve on your essay on Great Gatsby.

A stronger willed character to a weakling
Another character is daisy, who in the book is seen as a petty character. She has the money, but she is one of the most careless characters. Her petty characters put her into many troubles, but she will not care about anything or anyone.

The screen has changed her character and given her one does not show her pettiness which is what gives her the notion of a strong character in the book. The screen doesn’t give her the strong voice of money but instead gives her a characteristic of a weakling, unwilled, and distressed personality. This kind of personality does not describe Daisy in the book at all.

Relationships
The book portrays Nick Carraway having a close relationship with Jordan Baker. The book narrates their relationship in a lengthy way, although they end up in a strange relationship. The screen portrays the relationship from a totally different angle. Jordan only sees Nick at the home party and that’s all. The screen does not give more details on whether they started a relationship or not.

The screen portrays Jordan as a dishonest person and then it quickly discloses him as an athlete. This is where the screen cuts the entire important story about their relationship, which is very important in the book.

American literature is wide because thousands of authors wrote their thoughts in books for the sake of their generations and the future. Classic literature gives expressions about beauty, life, or truth and all these expressions are hidden in written texts. To write about classic American literature, you must first appreciate the work done by other authors by reading it. Some of the literature you can read from other authors are essays on more classic American literature books on WritingBros. Their literature will help you get a broader picture of what writing on classic literature is all about.





Length
The book covers a total of 152 pages and gives a detailed story about each character involved from the beginning to the end. By the time a reader is through reading the book, they have a clear picture of each character in their mind.

In the movie, all those details are condensed into a two-hour movie. As a result, many chapters overlap and character roles change too. By the time the movie concludes, the person watching will love the movie, but they will not have the back scene stories of each character as narrated in the book. It is hard to get a direct connection between the book and the screen.

Added content
A screen might add some content to help make the entire movie flow smoothly. These are scenes that were never in the book, as in the case of The Great Gatsby book and film. In the film, Gatsby is given a luncheon by Nick. Gatsby arrives in the company of Wolfsheim. There is a secret door the trio walks through and it opens up to a hallway filled with women dancing. The hall is called a speakeasy and the men there are somehow corrupt. Luhrmann wants to show off something to prove that the men are corrupt.

He brings in a police commissioner into the room. The scene is okay in the movie, but it’s not described this way in the book. Some parts were added to favor the flow of the film and unless the person watching the movie had read the book before, they might never realize the difference.

Conclusion
Although it might be hard to tell the difference between a book and a movie, a closer look will reveal big differences. There are differences in dialogue, accent, genre, and length. In the book and screen The Great Gatsby, there are notable differences that the scriptwriter did not take care of. The opening scene shows a significant difference and the same scenario is seen in relationships between characters. The roles of the characters in the book have been interchanged on the screen and some of the strong personalities in the book are portrayed as weak.


Author’s Bio:
Michael Turner works as an online coach and covers several domains to help students and corporate professionals perform better and impress the people around them. He’s into academic writing as well and has written thousands of essays that have impressed academicians and students alike. His free time is for reading business magazines, watching live NHL games and birdwatching.

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