Books vs Movies: Pros and Cons | 1minutebook (2024)

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Books vs movies

Books or movies?

What is more effective?

What to choose?

In this short article, 1minutebook will study this exciting question.

I think both formats are great, and each serves its own purpose. But, I want you to make your own decision after reading all Pros and Cons.

Books vs movies

Books train our brains and develop thinking processes

Books or movies

We all agree that books make you smarter, broaden your outlook, and enhance cognitive abilities. Books develop your thinking. It’s not a secret that many CEOs, directors, and other kinds of leaders are avid readers. Bill Gates reads 75 books per year on average. Toni Robbins even more.

Scientists at Stanford University proved that the process of reading trains the cognitive abilities of the brain. This effect doesn’t occur when watching TV or playing computer games.

This is supported by the opinions of so many successful people who praise books, such as Brian Tracy, Richard Branson, and Oprah Winfrey. So, if you want to be successful, you should defini

Books may enrich your experience

Books or movies

Words are much more potent than movie images. This is especially true if we talk about a narration created by great writers. The piece of art as a whole work might be incredibly influential.

It’s sufficed to remember that so many sacred books (e.g., the Bible, Koran, Torah) and even non-religious ones have continuously changed people’s outlook throughout history.

Words give a lot of room for your interpretation and imagination, evoking more emotions within you, and enriching your experience. At the same time, movies construe a plot and often change the original narrative.

When you are reading a book, you envision the images in your own way i.e., creating your own movie and developing imagination. There is room for all sorts of representations.

Nobody can tell you how to read a book. Somebody can share suggestions with you, and your friend can tell you his favorite parts, but in the end, the way that you interpret a book is entirely up to you.

Books help you to dive into the culture

Books or movies

If you want to know certain people’s culture better, you’d better read their books. Watching movies would not be preferable in this case.

Books vs movies

We are deeply rooted in our culture, and books are irreplaceable. By reading a novel, you familiarize yourself with the history, humor, and hidden subtleties of a nation, country, or particular group.

Books are portable

Books or movies

You can read a book anywhere you go. You don’t need a power source to charge your book, and you don’t need a television screen on which to watch it. Books are easy to travel with and are always an endless source of entertainment.

Books allow better understand a characters

Books or movies

Internal dialogue is an integral part of reading a book. With all this knowledge inherently embedded in the story, understanding the main characters’ actions and motivations is never a problem. Yet, some of that knowledge can be lost in a movie. Many people are distracted by beautiful actors and fantastic special effects. So they lose sight of the plot and character development that is truly at the heart of the story. However, there are no such distractions in books, allowing the readers to feel as if they know the characters personally.

Word Play doesn’t translate

Books or movies

Much of what makes a book or a story come alive on the page is figurative language and other wordplays. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – technically a play – is often lost to modern audiences because the language just doesn’t translate on-screen.

We can hear the cadence of the dialogue. Still, we can’t fully appreciate the consistent pattern throughout each line of the play, descriptions, etc. Modern audiences also fail to grasp some of the ancient languages’ full meaning, so the irony, sarcasm, and other subtle emotions are lost.

Books are richer for details

Books or movies

Some books are only one hundred pages long, but others could be up to a thousand pages. But the duration of the movie is usually for two hours. And therefore, significant pieces of the book’s content are being cut off.

For example, one of my favorite books is “Martian” by Andy Weir. It’s super full of scenes and details. But, when I watched the movie, I was disappointed, as more than 60% of “meat” wasn’t there.

Cinema companies can’t fit all the plot elements into that time (and they never will). They inevitably end up cutting corners and simplifying characters and plot lines.

As such, a film adaptation will never have all the details that a reader desires. Many end up disappointed when entire scenes and characters end up cut from the film. The trend of splitting movie adaptations into two halves does nothing to help matters either.

With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, two films still weren’t enough. With The Hobbit, three films were too excessive, and yet it even didn’t convey everything from the books.

More hours of entertainment

Books or movies

The duration of the average movie is about two hours. The period of the average book is about eight hours. It means that you can stretch the pleasure for 4 times longer. There is no better anticipation in my life than knowing that some new novel is waiting for me.

It is many more books out there

Books or movies

Today production of the book costs several thousands of dollars. But the production of the movie expenses several million at least. The conclusion is – there are much much much more books that movies in the world. And only the handful of books will have a movie adaptation.

Movies are more alluring, visually appealing, and considered by many as more enjoyable

Books vs movies

Here’s the big one: movies are simply more visually appealing.

Most of people love movies. To a greater degree, films are a part of pop culture, which functions partly to reduce stress. Even intellectual readers love to go to the movies once in a while. So, movies are not all that bad.

And with no shadow of a doubt, some modern movies are visual masterpieces, which blow your imagination with visual effects and camera work. Our vision is limited to reality’s confines, whereas film can go beyond that on their quest to bring fantasy to life. Even music and sound effects can make a difference in watching a movie. After all, playing suspenseful music when someone is walking down a corridor can put the audience on the edge of their seats more acutely than reading about the eerie hall descriptions.

Or call your memory 3D movies with special visual effects when it seems like an object from a screen right in front of your eyes. Crazy fun)))

Here’s what Carmen Gaming posted on debate.com:

“Movies just have that vibe everyone loves. It’s more relaxing, too! You can tell if a character is mad, sad, happy, drunk, and more in movies. In books, you only read words.”

Movies have music

Books vs movies

The great thing about watching movies is music!

Have you ever watched a movie scene with a muted sound? If not, test it once. For example, watch the romantic scene with no sound, and suddenly all magic is gone. Or horror scene without sound effects is just a parody of a horror. Music and sound effects add a tremendous amount of production value.

Movies unite people socially, books are rarely read in a group

Books vs movies

Reading a book is an individual act. Most of the people want to read a book on a couch with a cup of hot chocolate. However, movies are social acts. You may not be able to talk in theaters, but most people still choose to see movies with other people. Rather than reading a book on your own and discussing it with a friend later, most people choose to see a movie with their friends and discuss it as the credits roll.

Movies are helpful for those who can’t or aren’t very good at reading

Books vs movies

There are quite a lot of people who just can’t read books. They have conditions such as ADHD or dyslexia. Here’s another post from debate.com:

“I am dyslexic; therefore, I find it very hard to read books. However, movies are simple for me to understand and consume.”

For these people, movies are much more appealing and suitable.

Movies are great for people who are not fond of reading

Books vs movies

I personally know a dozen of successful people who just don’t like to read. The book format doesn’t attract them. It’s boring for them. But movies, on the other hand, engage them. This group of people is usually like to watch documentaries. Well, that’s work for them.

The movie is 2 hours long, the book is much longer

Books vs movies

With the jam-packed schedules of many adults and teens these days, books can take weeks, months, or even years to read. However, the period of movies is limited. A movie generally plays for a minimum of an hour and a half to about three hours. You can sit down to watch a film in one shot, and even catch up on some work while watching. Movies take much less time and dedication than books.

Books vs movies

Vocativ analyzed Goodreads and IMDb ratings for 800 books and their movie adaptations ranging from “Harry Potter” to “Hannibal” and discovered that the book had a higher rating of 74 percent. In fact, books are considered “much better” on our scale than their movie adaptations in 51.8 percent of cases.

Rejoice, Snobs: The Book IS Better Than The Movie article is here.

Books vs movies