by Public Service Associate Juliana
When it comes to “Page to Screen” movies, like many people, I almost always prefer to read the book before seeing the film. Occasionally I’ve done the opposite – watched the movie first and then decided to read the book it’s based on. When I’ve done this in the past, I’ve found myself bored out of my mind because I knew too much. But what I’d like to present today is an argument for when it is very much OK to watch the movie first.
There are times, if a text is dense or challenging, when watching the film first can offer grounding footwork for when you read the book. They taught us this in high school. I remember watching several versions of Romeo & Juliet, for example, in order to boost our reading comprehension of the play.
This month, the BPL Book Club read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. When I spoke with our book club host Debbie about her reading experience, she offered advice to start with the audiobook for the same reason – to boost reading comprehension. Debbie said she let the audio version of Mrs. Dalloway wash over her, and only after finishing the recording did she pick up the actual book and read. She said by letting it wash over her first she got a better sense of the book and what to expect of setting, characters, themes and plot, etc. I’m more of a visual learner, so I find watching a film works better for me than an audiobook, but it’s essentially the same idea, priming oneself for clarity and comprehension.
To stick with the Virginia Woolf theme, this month I decided to give To the Lighthouse another try. I’d been inspired to pick it up a few years ago after I finished reading the memoir All the Lives We Ever Lived: Seeking Solace in Virginia Woolf by Katharine Smyth.
I must admit, even with an English degree under my belt, I felt intimidated to read a Virginia Woolf novel. I read several of her essays in school, but when it came to To the Lighthouse, I never finished it. I recall reading the first few pages, putting it down and not picking it up again.
I did find myself occasionally still wondering about the novel and if James eventually got to sail to the lighthouse. I felt driven to at least borrow the film. I thought of what Debbie said about Mrs. Dalloway and decided to let the movie wash over me. Little by little the scenes progressed, and I began to be able to distinguish between the characters.
It’s a family of 10, plus various house guests, and it was the sheer amount of characters that had given me fits during my failed reading experience, trying to decipher who was talking and figure out who’s who and what’s going on. But the film made all of this clear. I fell in love with Mrs. Ramsey (like everyone else at the beach house) and felt involved in the various relationships and tensions. Once I’d settled into the film, it felt not only familial but familiar, like I wanted to live inside their lives longer than the two hour run time.
After watching the film I became curious again about the book and of the impact watching the movie might have had on me. What if I tried to read it again? I decided to borrow it once more. Now that I’d seen Mrs. Ramsay’s shawl and Lily Briscoe’s easel and James yearning at the window.
If you know who is at the gate when it slams shut, who is painting in the yard, who walks around with a book under his arm, who has a yellow mustache, and who is sitting across from who at the table, you have much more brain space to languish in the lengthy interior monologues, follow the stream of consciousness of the characters, and relish in the craft of the novel. It truly is a marvel.
I had been worried that watching the film was a mistake, that I’d experience boredom trying to read the book, but it was just the boost I needed. I discovered I was able to sink deeply into the prose and instead of boredom, I was completely absorbed. The film turned out to be the catalyst that made me want to try to read the book again, to be able to venture further into the interiority of the characters and spend more time with the Ramsey’s on the Isle of Skye.
May this be the permission slip you needed to inspire you to do the same.
