The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers

This is the second of three books I'm reading for the Books to Movie Challenge. I chose this one because I live in Southern California and remember following the news stories on this group of young people. I'm also a teacher (elementary now but have taught middle and high school during my career) and wondered how Ms. Gruwell accomplished all the things she did with her students. Also, my husband has many ties in the Long Beach community where the book and movie are set.

The Book:

I read the book before I watched the movie. The book is a series of unrelated diary entries from the 150 students who came to call themselves Freedom Writers. The entries represent their four years of high school and are prefaced each semester by a diary entry from Ms. Gruwell. To protect the students' privacy, the entries are numbered and no names are attached to them.

I found the format of the book quite difficult. I kept getting pieces of information about a student but never felt like I got the whole picture. There were times when I wanted to know more about a student or wondered how a situation had resolved itself, but the next diary entry was unrelated. The entries were arranged chronologically so it was clear what the students were doing in class and how that was affecting their writing. This, unfortunately, gave some of the entries the feel of a "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" school essay. When they retold events, like meeting Holocaust survivors or visiting the Museum of Tolerance, I wasn't always drawn into their emotions. Some of the entries felt a little too "schooly." I realize that the goal was to give everyone a voice, but I do wonder if the quality of the book was sacrificed. It might have been a better book if it told a few students' stories well.

I also had difficulties with Ms. Gruwell's sections of the book. Being a teacher, I was wondering about her methodology and how the writing was produced and edited. How authentic were the voices, and how edited were the entries? She didn't provide much insight into the teaching process, as her entries tended to secure the chronological timeline.

The Movie:

The movie was a whole different matter. I absolutely HATED it! The movie didn't know if it wanted to tell the story of a teacher fighting the system, or the story of a number of young people, as seen through their diary entries. I normally like Hilary Swank, but she was wasted in this movie. She seemed to have two expressions - overly earnest or overly chipper. Patrick Dempsey, of Grey's Anatomy, was her husband. I didn't really care about him or their relationship. (This part was totally added to the movie and isn't in the book.) The book's major strength for me was the focus on the students and their stories. The movie diluted this focus, which was not a good choice.

My Verdict:

Overall, do I admire Ms. Gruwell for her work with these students? I'm not sure. She took one group of 150 students and stayed for four years. She left the high school when they did, instead of taking on a new batch of students. I've read a number of statistics about teachers leaving the profession in the first five years. While she remained teaching in higher ed, I wonder if her success could have been repeated.

I don't think I can recommend either the movie or the book. Both are unsatisfying for different reasons. The movie is too unfocused, and the book leaves out too much to be a satisfying read. Was the book better than the movie? Slightly - because I liked the book's focus more than the movies. But that's not saying much.

As always, I'm open to hearing what other people thought of either the book or the movie.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

This is the first of my three books for the Book to Movie challenge. I went ahead and read it early because of some new rules posted on the challenge. I also decided that I would compare the books to the movies as part of the fun of this one.

I actually saw the movie for this one last summer. It is pretty unusual for me to see a movie and then read the book. I normally read the book first. Well, anyway, I loved the movie when I saw it. Meryl Streep was wonderful as Miranda, the she-devil boss of the title, and Anne Hathaway did a good job as Andy, the suffering junior assistant. After reading the book, I realized that there were some significant plot changes in the movie. I liked them when I saw the movie, but ended up liking the book much better. In the movie, Miranda is somewhat redeemed and shown as more humane by the end. In the book, there's no such redemption. She's a she-devil from start to finish, which I think is much truer to the character.

I ended up liking the book much better than the movie. It was told in first person by And, and I got a much better sense of her thoughts that way. I also liked that the book did not wrap the whole thing up with a somewhat contrived happy ending. Miranda was still awful, and Andy had to deal with the consequences of some of her decisions while she worked for Miranda. In the movie, Andy cheated on her boyfriend, but, in the book, it was much more of a moral decision for her and did not progress beyond a kiss at a party. That felt more in keeping with the character. I think the movie had Andy lose a bit if herself to Miranda, but she ended up stronger in the book.

Overall, I really liked the book. It was well-written with some great dialogue. This was not a book I'd normally select to read which is the great thing about this challenge. I forced myself to pick books that were not "safe" picks. I'd love to know what other people thought of the book.

Booking Through Thursday - But Late!

I've spent most of today sitting at home with "Spots" - the child who has hives. She's finally asleep after a movie marathon and I was intrigued by this meme. So I thought I'd give it a try

1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?

There are a couple that come to mind but I was very impressed with the film version of The Shipping News probably because it exceeded my expectations. My picture of Quoyle was not Kevin Spacey, but I came away with a new appreciation for the power of E. Annie Proulx's writing. A close second, but probably because it was the first time I'd really thought about the power of literature as film would be Gone with the Wind (1939). That was the movie that taught me how to read with the "movie in my head." And that's how I teach students to read to this day!

2. The worst?

There have been so many ... I tend to be very disappointed when the actual movies don't match my mental images. But the worst for me .... 1. The Da Vinci Code (2006) because Tom Hanks was not who I fell in love with during the book and 2. The House of the Spirits (1993) because Allende's book was so mystical which the movie ignored!

3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.) And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I’m notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING. So, feel free to list as many “good” or “bad” movie-from-books as you like. (Heaven knows that’s what I’ll be doing….)

I almost always read a book before seeing a movie, because I read way more books than go to movies. I also tend to hate children's books that are made into movies with Bridge to Terabithia (2007) being a notable exception.

It's a little late but I'm celebrating Thursday on Saturday this week.