Have you ever read the book and then seen the film

[Bunty55]

and been so disappointed with the way they completely changed the narrative ?

Not only that.. but then the miscasting of the actors obviously chosen for their fame and not their suitability ruining the picture you have in your head and the story ?

A film adaptation of The Mayor Of Casterbridge.
One of the main characters, Farfrae, was in the book described in the book as “ Tall, Fair and Slenderly Handsome”
The actor in the film however …

This.

Seems pretty standard really. Rarely bother with a film if I've read the book as it's going to disappoint.

Interview with the Vampire. Tom Cruise as Lestat was just wrong.

Enjoyed the Divergent books before. The films however...they missed out important characters completely. Changed the plot of the 2nd one to some weird box. Split the 3rd book that wasn't exactly that great to start with into two films and only did one half because it did so badly.

Almost always.
Exceptions are perhaps The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe film (other ones in the Narnia series strayed too far) where they kept true to the spirit of the book and adaptions made sense.
And the BBC version of The Box of Delights.

Otherwise most of them could be categorised into "we're taking the name of this book and the names of the characters to try and fool fans into watching it, but we'll alter the plot, the characters, the era..."

If I won the lottery then I'd like to set up a film company that adapts children's books staying as much as possible faithful to the book.
Yes, some changes are needed to books when they are adapted, but at least keep the main plot and characters.

Unlike the last Swallow and Amazon's who should have ended up drowned as duffers.

I saw a trailer of the film, after I had read it, and I deliberately didn't go near the film.

The Flowers in the Attic series - Virginia Andrew - awful film

In contrast - The Green Mile
Fantastic book
Fantastic film

The book Thief - the worst adaptation ever.

I came to say My Sister's Keeper too!

Bridgeton - after having read the first few books, found it difficult to get into the series - storyline was different, some different characters, and found Daphne to be a bit weak and wimpy. However, came back to them after leaving a gap between reading the books, and enjoyed them more, as I wan’t consciously comparing them to the books.

Totally agree. I don't mind the film as a stand alone Richard Curtis rom com but it's not at all how I saw the book.

Worst - handmaids tale. Both the tv show and film

Best - the notebook. So much better than the book.

I wonder if it depends which you see first though.

'Never Let Me Go' (based on the Kazuo Ishiguro) novel was a reasonable adaptation - simplified for, I assume, timing reasons but remaining faithful to the essentials.

I preferred the film of 'The Talented Mr Ripley' to the book - I didn't enjoy the book very much at all.

Most Agatha Christie film adaptations are good.

Yes, almost every time.

I love the film of the Railway Children though, just as much as the book. That’s the only one I can think of.

Which character?

The first Harry Potter (and the rest) were shite!
jurassic park is a great adaptation in that it’s a great film but still not as good as the book as it did miss and change things - they need to do a HBO series

I was going to say Brokeback Mountain too! I loved the film, then read the short story soon afterwards. I assumed, given how short it was, it must have just vaguely inspired the film but in fact the film is incredibly faithful to the book.

On the other hand I think Sean Bean as Sharpe was good, in the books he's a dark haired Londoner and they had lined another actor up, I think one of the McGann brothers.

When the original author of the books adapts the later books to fit the TV show you know they are doing something right.

Yes to this - Bernard Cornwell said that he used to hear Sean’s voice in his head when he was writing Sharpe’s dialogue afterwards.

Remains of the Day with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins is a beautiful, heart-breaking adaptation of the novel.

Yes - always. Never loved the film of the book if I read the book first.

Very few of my favourite books have been adapted into films so I'm spared this horror. In general the quality of the book is indirectly proportional to the quality of the film.

Most disappointing film made of books I love: the Percy Jackson movies (showing my literary credentials here)

Best films made of great books: Emma Thompson Sense and Sensibility and Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice (the latter is controversial I know and not quite as faithful as the Firth/Ehle TV but I love it.

Best film made of terrible book: The Godfather

There are a couple of films I prefer to the books. It's not that these aren't great books, it's just for me, I couldn't get on with the writers' style. They are:
The Hours
The English Patient

Love both of those films. I know they are great books too, I just couldn't gel with them

Oh dear, I'm currently working on a TV script adapted from a book. Going to have to be careful! 😆

The Girl on the Train, brilliant book but it was absolutely destroyed as a film .

Normal People - loved the book and the TV series was incredible

Worst (that I've seen) is definitely ps I love you.

My favourite film of a book (book read first) is Me before you... both had me in floods 😭