The book vs. the movie


Just saw the movie a couple of days ago and it interested me enough that I read the book - mainly to try and fill in a couple of questions that it seemed the movie left unanswered and otherwise mysterious.

1. If Dad was SO easy-going and loving of his kids - why did he totally move away and leave them???

2. Why was Ronnie - as a 17 year old very rebellious of her parents - absolutely hateful and mean to Dad was also totally argumentative with Mom - living a "semi-goth" lifestyle (purple hair, heavy mascara, black clothes - in the book) yet did NOT drink or use any drugs and was still a virgin??? (Even though all her NYC friends DID use drugs and drank and embraced that club/party/sleeping around scene?) Was Ronnie crazy?

3. Why did Mom and Dad get divorced?

4. Why did Dad - after 15 years teaching at Juliard give that up for an attempt at a performance career? As a classical pianist??? Was Dad crazy?

OK - my impressions from the book and the more detailed info contained there:

First - Dad (Steve) was a tad crazy based on his own upbringing and his very remote father which stunted his own emotional communications ability. OTOH - his musical talent and love was ALSO tied in with a very spiritual Christian (true Christian believer) upbringing - as his very nice Baptist Minister was also his first piano teacher. The strong Christian morality and theology of the book was very much downplayed in the movie. (As it so very often is in modern movie making - the vast majority of Christian Ministers and believers in modern film are portrayed negatively - as either mean hypocrites or just stupid. At least this movie just ignored it. And twisted one of the major subplots to Steve being so "obsessed" with rebuilding the church window because he thought he had started the fire. That was so totally NOT in the book.)

Second - Dad's "mid-life crisis" and feelings of unfulfillment professionally led him to embark on his attempt to be a successful touring performance artist - and subsequent failure at that - but NOT flings with other women/buying a red sports car, etc. Instead, it led to his wife (Kim) actually having the affair (maybe she was already having the affair - a "surprise" visit home from touring is what led to Steve discovering the affair) that Steve totally could not handle, emotionally. And this failure as a husband was merely added to his own sense of professional career failure. Since Kim did indeed, end up marrying Brian - the older man (and probably a lawyer in the firm she worked as a paralegal at) - this feeling of failure and betrayal was accentuated because her love was also involved - not just "loneliness" or "exciting sex". It was this pain that drove Steve to leave the city. This is understandable but still not excusable - because of his love for his kids and he SHOULD have sucked it up and stayed around for their benefit. But he didn't and couldn't, even with the help of the Holy Spirit (as discussed in the book.)

Again - the movie almost completely ignored the fact of the wife's affair, the pain that caused Steve, the further pain because the (otherwise nobly presented "nice" Mom) refused to tell Ronnie what SHE (Kim) had done as to why Steve left the city and the fact Mom was the one who filed for divorce and continued with Brian all along. This did come out in a confrontation scene between Kim and Ronnie in the book - as Steve was in the hospital.

So - why did Ronnie act so inconsistently and borderline crazy? Why was SHE so incredibly and shallowly judgmental about first, her father, but then also Will?
Maybe this is just something a lot of teenagers do - both male and female.




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