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Sarah (7800 KP) rated We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) in Movies

Jan 15, 2019

Lacks the punch of the book

The book about this is one of the most enthralling and haunting books I’ve ever read, and I was really hoping the film would be just as good, but sadly it falls a little short. And I know I shouldn’t compare film to book, but that’s pretty much impossible.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is quite good. It’s has great performances from Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, with an unusually creepy soundtrack and in general it’s a very bleak and dark film. It does well to get across the main parts of the book, but the main problem for me is that it doesn’t include anywhere near enough detail from the book. It covers the bare minimum, but i feel like it misses out a lot of the detail. I know a film can never include everything from a book, but for me this was missing a lot, especially about some of Kevin’s crimes and dark deeds. This is probably a case of reading the book ruining the film, I’ll admit I maybe should have watched the film first!

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Kelly (279 KP) Jan 15, 2019

I agree, totally. The book was disturbing and stayed with me for a long time, challenging my perspective on nature vs nurture in the case of Kevin. The film seemed to lack same punch, I think this is because a lot of the book is wrote around Eva’s personal thoughts and feelings, sadly books like this rarely translate onto the big screen.

Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated Mistress of My Fate; The Confessions of Henrietta Lightfoot in Books

Dec 21, 2018

Hallie Rubenhold's foray into the world of historical fiction brings us to Henrietta Lightfoot and the first volume of her memoirs. I confess that I didn't realise that this was the first book in a planned series and felt a bit frustrated at the end of the book as there were many unresolved questions I was dying to know the answer to!

Books written in the first person can sometimes feel a bit contrived, but that wasn't a problem here at all. An older Henrietta relates the 'true' story of her life, evidently in answer to some untruths put about by a character we have yet to properly meet in this first volume; I'm sure all will become apparent later on!

Many of the characters who weave their way through Rubenhold's tale are actually real, historical figures. Even her fictional characters owe something to the real life experiences of other Georgian inhabitants. This certainly isn't prettified historical fiction; we follow the initially very naive Henrietta through her ups and downs. The main action of the novel takes place over the space of about a year, when Henrietta is still only 17. I look forward to the next instalment!