Book vs. film – The Social Network

When it comes to the question of whether film or book versions of something are better, I am probably part of the majority when I say I usually prefer the book. With The Social Network however, it isn’t as easy a choice as it usually would be. The book version is made up of interviews and discussions with many people associated with setting up Facebook, most notably its co-founder Eduardo Saverin. What puts the book at a huge handicap however, is that it states from the beginning that the main man behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, refused to be interviewed or have anything to do with the book. This instantly makes the book one sided, and this shows with the end product, where we get to hear the Saverin part of the story, but would be far more interested in the Zuckerberg side.

The film version of The Social Network has an advantage because of the wider liberties that a film is allowed to take than a book. While the story is loosely based on the book, it also included fictional elements, giving the filmmakers the opportunity to include things in the film that may never have happened in real life. And despite how unsympathetic Zuckerberg comes across in the film The Social Network, there is no doubt that he is more interesting than Saverin. There is also the fact that The Social Network was one of the best films I saw in 2010, while I only read the book version this year, and wasn’t overly impressed with how gripping, informative or well written it was. It’s a bad sign for a book when the film version of it is better written, so if you are undecided between reading the book or seeing the film, I have to say watch the film.

Watch The Social Network

Books that changed my life: The Outsiders

Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold…

I was about ten years old the first time I read The Outsiders, and I have read it least once a year, every year since then. Based around 14 year old Ponyboy Curtis, it deals with his difficult family life, living with his brothers eight months after his parents die in a car crash. It also focuses on the never ending rivalry between his fellow Greasers (seen as hoods or delinquents), and the Soc crowd, (the rich young people who beat up Greasers for sport).

I always found it amazing that author S.E. Hinton started writing this at only 17 years of age. It really reinforced that a book can be written so much easier if you really have something to say, rather than just because you are a natural writer. The Outsiders is probably a big reason for my ambition of being an author, but when I do eventually write my first book, it won’t just be for the sake of it, it will be because I actually have a story to tell.

It really says something about the impression The Outsiders made on me that I recently had to buy a new copy because my old one fell apart from being read so many times. It seems like every time I read The Outsiders I got something new out of it, and having read it again recently I can say that nothing has changed. This book just gets me, and no matter how old I get it will always be the book that most influenced me growing up.

Read this book.