Book vs Movie

Absolutely not. The book is nowhere near like the movie. It actually has nothing to do with the movie, if I'm not mistaken. Granted, her name is Frances and she ends up in Tuscany and does some cooking, but that's about as similar as they get.

I don't think there has ever been a more misleading movie/book adaptation. I love, love, love the movie, so I got the book. I wasn't a chapter in before I was thinking, "What the hell?" When they reprinted the book with the movie poster on the cover, that was misleading since it was basically a cook book!!!

Just my two cents!

I love the movie but I can't get through the first few chapters either! It's a completely different story and so far it seems like the Frances in the book and the Frances in the movie have nothing in common besides their names. I'm disappointed because I was really looking forward to learning more about the story, and my copy also has Diane Lane on the cover which just throws things off even more.

I'm surprised the author was ok with the adaption being so different.

I loved both the movie and the book. I can understand why others wouldn't. Besides a few similar things, the stories are very different.

For example, both the book and the movie have the Polish immigrants. In the movie, Pawel speaks English, but in the book none do. There isn't a subplot invovling him and the neighbor girl, a sort of Romeo and Juliet addition to the story.

You have to remember that the book came first, and the story was Hollywood-ized. The book isn't supposed to be anything other than a lovely little memoir of two people's exploration of Italy over the course of a few years. There's recipes and moments of humor, plenty of local color, and an ambiance of a dream escape that they were lucky enough to actually live.

I'm not taking anything from the film. It's lovely, too, and I'm watching it now on TV. I enjoy it and one of these days when I can actually find it on DVD, I'm going to buy it. The story is different, though, and I like the book and the film for different reasons. It's a bit like two things that are related, but are their own stories in their own right.

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"Sometimes, you can barely tell the difference... between darkness and light."

I haven't read the book, though I did buy it recently, but I watched one of the special features on the DVD and they talked a little about translating the book to a movie. From what I remember (and it's been a while, so I hope I'm getting this right), they changed the movie a lot because they decided the book just wouldn't translate well to film as it was - and the author agreed. It also said some of the narration in the movie is quoted from the book. I think the part about the grapes tasting purple was one of those places.

Fortunately, I understood the book was different from the movie when I bought it. Someday I'll read it and find out if I love it as much as the movie in spite of that. Ah... so many books, so little time.

Yes, the book and movie are wildly different. I read the book first years ago and inspired me to travel to Italy, which I later did (and loved it!).

Book - Frances and her boyfriend Ed decide to buy and refurbish an old farmhouse in Tuscany. The book then details the various trials and tribulations it takes (but always with a sense of humour) to accomplish this rather difficult task. There is no conflict in the book as there is in a movie which is why the movie introduces various conflicts and obstacles.

you guys are stupid you can not say the book sucked cause it has a different storyline you have to say you liked the movie more because it has a better suited storyline for what you wanted to see. Get things in order next time. Just saying this because I am

THE 12 YEAR OLD BLUNDER

Have just finished the book. The film certainly does not reproduce the book - but then, it couldn't. There is no real plot in the book - just a sequence of events, feelings and recollections - plus recipes. However most of the events in the film are actually in the book - the contessa "looking for a sign" before selling (actually a different house), the old man at the shrine, the owl in the storm, lightning striking the washing machine and of course the polish workers renovation exploits. Whoever wrote the screenplay did a great job of creating a coherent story from the individual events (interestingly I didn't like the romantic bits - they seemed unnecessary and they don't relate directly to the book (the Romeo & Juliet bits weren't too bad though - especially the Flag Battle - which inspired me to go to Montepulciano this year)

The bit in the film where Francis writes a postcard uses language which is pure Francis Mayes ("Ding Dong says the bell. Even the grapes taste purple.... ").

Loved the film intrigued by the book.