The First 6by6 BookToFilm Challenge of 2020

Eat, pray, love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I really loved watching the film of this book on Netflix, so I was really looking forward to reading the book itself. Luckily the book did not disappoint, although I found it strangely lighter in many places than the movie. The first part is thirty six chapters on enjoying food in Italy, as well as some story background and an introduction to Liz, I found it quite delicious. The middle section, Pray, is set in an ashram in India and features a lot of reflection on meditation. The final, Indonesian section, Love, seemed less well-defined as the eat and pray sections, it was about finding balance. I found the whole book was a very enlightening read.

The Martian by Andy Weir

I found this a difficult, but enjoyable read. It is very much like the film, so the story was easy to understand. The difficulty, I found, was the amount of mathematical and scientific language involved. Mars is a planet devoid of life, so anyone attempting to exist there, has a lot precise working out to do. All of this was explained in great detail in Watney's log. Even so, the book was still a lot of fun.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre

I found this a difficult film to follow and so I was surprised to find the book much easier to understand. Its quite old now, so I found it pleasantly nostalgic. Most of what I got from the book was a series of unusual characters having strange conversations with other odd characters in various interesting locations, in and around London. I think I got a lot out of reading it nevertheless.

The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

I have attempted to read the Lord of the Rings before but not got much further than the Council of Elrond. I got on much better this time around, after having watched and enjoyed the film trilogy several times. The book is like a long adventurous holiday read, I enjoyed the filmed parts and also the bits that were missed out like Tom Bombadil and the river daughter. There was more to the ending than was portrayed in the film and there was a strong environmental message. It's probably one of the best books I've read.

Dune by Frank Herbert

I found the 1980s film of this book to be quite odd and difficult to follow. Luckily the experience of reading the book was much better. I was a little daunted by the book not having any chapters, but the text was nicely broken up by illuminating passages from Dune's future history texts, which gave me some pause every few pages. The book features many intriguing conversations and exotic action sequences revolving around the other worldly adventures of son Paul and mother Jessica. I found it a good, enjoyable, lockdown read.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I hadn’t read a school story since Harry Potter in the noughties, so it felt pleasant to be reading one again. I love the Twilight film saga, I think the movies are glossy and beautiful, slow and gentle, with a little creepy vampire and werewolf action to keep them lively. The setting and characters in the book were much like the movie. I found the book surprisingly down-to-earth and not as glamourous as the film portrayed, which made Twilight more satisfying to read.