booktastic

There’s always a problem with reading a book when you’ve already seen the movie version of it. You may be imagining characters that are different from the way they were described in the book - imagining dialog and nuances that just aren’t in the book - and remembering scenes that you liked better the way they were in the movie.

Those are all problems that I dealt with when I was reading The Thin Man . Not only have I previously seen The Thin Man in movie form (starring the ever-so-classy William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles) - I grew up watching it. I have probably seen it a hundred times. I’d probably put it in my Top 20 Movies list.

While I did my best to just say that this is a totally different experience and I should try to forget the movie while I read it - I spent a lot of time involuntarily judging the book against the movie. I couldn’t help it.

Well, if you’re a fan of the movie, let me just say this: the book is a lot more raw than the film.

The plot is essentially the same. Some minor details are changed. Some scenes take place in different places than in the film, and some characters are slightly different, or important for different reasons.

But in the book, there is “language” (in the sense that censors use the term), implications of sexuality and a lot more violence. The character of Dorothy Wynatt (who is essentially a heroine in the film) is definitely not so heroic. Nick is still smart and suave, but he’s a little less classy than in the film. At times almost sleazy.

There is also a long, inexplicable section in the center of the book where Nick tells Gilbert (the eponymous Thin Man’s son) the tale of Alfred Packer, North America’s first cannibal. (You can see this tale colorfully illustrated in Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s film Cannibal: The Musical! if you have any interest in it). This story relates in no way to the plot of the book, so I really don’t know why it’s there, if other than to assist the author in making a minimum page count.

Looking at this book as a thing totally disassociated from the film, I can tell you this: yes, it was entertaining. Yes, it held my attention. It was a good way to while-away a couple rainy afternoons, but I can’t tell you that I’d call it a great work of literature. The thing that I liked the most about the movie (the characters of Nick and Nora) was a bit lacking in the book. This book dwells on the Wynatt family, which was even more twisted and less charming than in the film.

It was decent for what it was - a quick mystery read. But I won’t tell you that if you love the movie (as I do) that you’ll love the book. In the end (and it’ll very rare for me to recommend this)… I’d tell you to just watch the movie.  – Mrs. Hall

Trackback URI | Comments RSS