the book

I actually thought the movie was better than the book in a lot of ways. Admittedly, I haven't read the book in about 4 years, but here are the main ways I thought the movie improved upon it.

The relationship with Noelle: This is the big one for me. As somebody who's been in Craig's shoes to a degree (thinking that falling in love with another depressed person would help fix all my problems), I thought this was the most unrealistic thing about both the movie and book. But, surprisingly, the movie handled it better.

In both versions, it's strongly implied that their relationship will be perfect for the foreseeable future. But the book seemed to go completely overboard, particularly with their make-out session at the end. Did we really need 10 pages of Craig making out with her? It just seemed to drive home my theory that Craig only temporarily feels better at the end because he got to touch Noelle's breasts. Not to mention that Craig getting the Egyptian record for his roommate seems less selfish in the movie. He does it simply because he wants to make the roommate feel better. In the book, it seems like he does it as much to get some privacy for the make-out session as he does out of genuine kindness.

I remember that Bobby didn't have as big a role in the book, but I honestly can't remember much about Humble in the book. I just know that Zach Galifinakis did a really good job in this movie, so I'm fine with him getting more screen time.

When I read the book, I remember thinking the first half of the book was a lot more boring than the second. I could see how it might be nice to show more of his life before he goes to the hospital, but I'm glad the directors didn't spend only half of the movie in the ward like the book did.

As far as smaller things go, there are things I'm both glad and disappointed they kept. The suicide hotline scene would have been nice to keep, and I'll always like the "Beware Of Penis" scene (though I can certainly understand why that was cut). But not having Noelle explicitly state why she cut herself was a nice idea that made the movie a little more realistic.

So, those are my thoughts on how the book compares to the movie. They both have good and bad things about them, but overall, I prefer the movie. Mainly because it drops the stupid make-out scene at the end.

I actually thought the movie was better than the book in a lot of ways. Admittedly, I haven't read the book in about 4 years, but here are the main ways I thought the movie improved upon it.

The relationship with Noelle: This is the big one for me. As somebody who's been in Craig's shoes to a degree (thinking that falling in love with another depressed person would help fix all my problems), I thought this was the most unrealistic thing about both the movie and book. But, surprisingly, the movie handled it better.

In both versions, it's strongly implied that their relationship will be perfect for the foreseeable future. But the book seemed to go completely overboard, particularly with their make-out session at the end. Did we really need 10 pages of Craig making out with her? It just seemed to drive home my theory that Craig only temporarily feels better at the end because he got to touch Noelle's breasts. Not to mention that Craig getting the Egyptian record for his roommate seems less selfish in the movie. He does it simply because he wants to make the roommate feel better. In the book, it seems like he does it as much to get some privacy for the make-out session as he does out of genuine kindness.

I remember that Bobby didn't have as big a role in the book, but I honestly can't remember much about Humble in the book. I just know that Zach Galifinakis did a really good job in this movie, so I'm fine with him getting more screen time.

When I read the book, I remember thinking the first half of the book was a lot more boring than the second. I could see how it might be nice to show more of his life before he goes to the hospital, but I'm glad the directors didn't spend only half of the movie in the ward like the book did.

As far as smaller things go, there are things I'm both glad and disappointed they kept. The suicide hotline scene would have been nice to keep, and I'll always like the "Beware Of Penis" scene (though I can certainly understand why that was cut). But not having Noelle explicitly state why she cut herself was a nice idea that made the movie a little more realistic.

So, those are my thoughts on how the book compares to the movie. They both have good and bad things about them, but overall, I prefer the movie. Mainly because it drops the stupid make-out scene at the end.