I'm ducking my head in shame as I say this but... I liked the movie more than the book. And the movie wasn't even all the great (although I did enjoy it). And they changed a lot. But, I know why I preferred the movie, and I'll include that in my review.
What story am I talking about you ask? The Invisible by Mats Wahl. I'll talk about the book first...
The story itself had a lot of potential. The book starts with Hilmer going to class. It doesn't take him long to realize that no one seems able to see him. Then, a police officer comes into the classroom to announce that Hilmer has disappeared, and anyone with information should come forward. Hilmer is confused and concerned. He decides to follow the officer to determine anything he can about what is going on. He panics as he realizes that he can't remember anything from the day he disappeared. After that, other than a few disjointed, awkward paragraphs, we are no longer listening to Hilmer, and are instead following the police officer, Detective Fors, and it's his thoughts we hear.
Once we switch narrators, the book loses whatever momentum and appeal it had. There is absolutely no sense of urgency to the story. Everything meanders calmly from one place to another. This tempo is fine in certain stories, and at times, it can actually enhance the reading experience. But no one wants to read a meandering story about a boy who has disappeared and it is assumed that someone made him disappear. Every interview was the same — You are looking for the boy? — Yes, do you know anything? — No, can't say that I do. — Let me know if you think of anything. — Ok. — (SHORT TIME LATER, same person) You knew about this--seriously important piece of information--before?! — Umm, Yes... — Why didn't you tell me?! — I didn't know if it was important, and I didn't want to bring it up... It could cause unnecessary trouble, ya know? Don't make a big deal about it... It could be nothing. Wouldn't want to cause concern now and make the tourists think we were a bad sort, ya know?
None of the townspeople seem to care about this missing boy. Other than Fors, none of the police officers seemed overly concerned about it either, which is shocking because they suspect that someone killed him. It took forever for them to get the dog out to track the scent, and they made a big deal about sending anyone else out there to help. It just seemed ridiculous and bla. No one wants to read how unconcerned a town is when a local boy shows up missing, especially when all the information they have makes it pretty clear that it is very unlikely he would have chosen to leave on his own.
The book was dull, unimaginative and mostly a waste of time. It was originally written in Swedish, and some of the pacing problems I noticed could have come from the translation, but I'll never know and it just wasn't a great read. It wasn't horrible, there just isn't much to recommend the book. It's a great idea, with great potential but the book did nothing with either. This is probably the only time I will say this, but do yourself a favor and just watch the movie instead... (Lightning is now going to strike me down in my hypocracy, but seriously... It's worth it this time...)
I know that this is going to make me sounds ethnocentric, but I liked the movie better because they made it more American, and more something that I could relate to. The movie also focuses more on the missing boy, and we follow him as he desperately tries to figure out what happened to him, where his body is, why no one can see him, and what he could possibly do to save himself. They changed the actual motivation behind the attack as well as the reaction of his assailant, and they fixed the pacing problems. We actually care about Nick as a person (they changed his name.) and not just as Detective Fors' current assignment. Nick still can't remember what happens and is really confused. At first, he thinks he is dead and it takes him a little while to realize that he is still alive, somewhere. The scene with the bird when Nick realizes his body is still alive is one of my most favorites.
The movie really is quite a bit different from the book, but I can't help but think that each change is an improvement. I know I just committed like, the cardinal sin of being a reader/book lover, but I had a really hard time relating and being drawn into the book, but the movie was quite good, rather suspenseful and definitely kept my attention the whole time.
Have any of you read the book or seen the movie? Or both? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! (And please, don't hate me! I always prefer the book to the movie. I'm allowed this one time, right?!)