The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

I think the biggest difference is that you can get more depth from a book. You don’t expect to finish it in 2-3 hours, so there is more time to explore backgrounds, connections, implications, meanings. And because it lasts longer there is more time to enjoy it. As a general rule, reading a book is a much richer experience than watching a movie.

Another difference is that reading a book is usually a solitary experience. You can discuss it with others after (or during) reading it, and to me that increases the enjoyment and learning from it, but the actual reading of it is something you pretty much have to do alone. That’s not a bad thing in itself, but sometimes you want the shared experience of watching a movie together.

A movie also has visual impact. Though my imagination is at work when I am reading, stunning scenic visuals or subtle empressions can greatly enhance what is going on in a movie — and conversely, if the scenes are too dark or obscure or the characters are lacking in expression, the visual impact lessens the enjoyment.

Though this question is more about comparing the two types of media and not about books translated into movies as we previously discussed in the Celluloid edition, if I see a movie based on a book I have read, I am often disappointed at the changes made or the scenes left out. If I am watching it with someone who is not familiar with the story, I feel I need to supplement what we’re watching with what I remember from the book because they’re just not getting the whole picture, the full impact, the subtleties. Sometimes that is welcome; sometimes it’s not. 🙂 But if I am watching a movie based on a book I have not read, if I enjoyed it, quite often I will seek out the book later on to get more of the story.

The Booking Through Thursday question for today is:

Following up last week’s question about reading writing/grammar guides, this week, we’re expanding the question….

Scenario: You’ve just bought some complicated gadget home . . . do you read the accompanying documentation? Or not?

Do you ever read manuals?

How-to books?

Self-help guides?

Anything at all?

I used to dutifully read every word of the manual that came with anything before doing anything else. But after awhile you get the first part of those things pretty well memorized (the safety issues, etc.), and finding just what you need to know often takes more time than just picking up the item and trying it. For most electrical appliances I’ll just skim over the manual for anything pertinent. For anything technological, I ask my sons. 🙂 If they or my husband weren’t here, I’d probably read the manual, or at least skim through it. I am just as likely these days to search the Internet: often you can find the exact answer to your exact question without having to search through pages of technical jargon.

When we were home schooling several years ago, I heard this kind of example used to discover what kind of learner you and your child are. Someone who would read the manual first would be a visual learner; someone who would want someone to show and tell him how to operate the device would be an auditory learner; someone who just started pushing buttons to figure them out would be a kinetic or tactile learner. My oldest academically oriented son was a visual learner, and he still teaches himself multitudes of things by reading. My middle son was a kinetic learner, and though to me it seemed easier to learn, say, measurements from the book, he “got it” much better (and enjoyed it more) by getting out measuring cups and pouring two 1/2 cups into 1 cup and 2 cups into a pint, etc. As for me — I think I am a combination with visual being primary. I learn different things better through different venues.

I do read self-help books, though, especially in the area of crafts and Christian living.

I saw this one at Grams:

You Know Your States

You got 8/10 correct. You’ve got a pretty good handle on US geography. There’s a good chance you’ve visited at least a dozen of the fifty states.

Geography isn’t my best subject, so I was glad i did that well! Like Grams, I’d love to know which ones I missed. I just stopped to calculate a little: I have lived in three states: SC, TX, and GA. I’ve visited ID, CA, AL, TN, FL, NV, UT, SD, LA, MS, and NC. Besides those, I have traveled through the states between SC and ID, but I don’t remember what route we took. We drove there I think once in our married lives and flew every time since. I’m most familiar with the Southeast, a little less with the Northwest, and pretty unfamiliar with the Northeast and Midwest.

I saw this one at Alice’s:

You Are 57% Creative

You are a quite creative person. You’re always involved in at least on interesting project. Keep it up and keep learning. Your creativity may bring you great things someday.

I would have thought I would have scored a little higher on that one. Probably questions about breaking the rules (in creative projects, sometimes; in life in general, not so much) and taking life seriously and being reserved seem less “creative” to some.

And I saw this one at Alice‘s as well:

You Are Classical Music

You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply. Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally. You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish. For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery – they’re about quality.

Alice, we scored the same here! I think this was pretty accurate for me.