The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick had a lot to live up to. I know it’s blasphemous to prefer the movie to the book, but I adored this movie. And when I say I adored, what I mean is I was borderline obsessed. Okay, not even borderline. Unsurprisingly, The Litwits wanted to read the source material so I eagerly picked up a beautiful movie-cover edition (don’t hate me!) and got started.
You don’t need a synopsis. Because you’ve already seen the movie. Right? RIGHT? If not, pause your reading and go watch. Now. Yes, right now. Then come back – or don’t. Up to you.
Ultimately, I still enjoy the movie more but feel like as a whole they are highly complimentary. Certain characters are drawn far better in the book – Pat’s brother, Pat’s mom, while others I prefer the movie version – Pat’s Dad, Tiffany. The book allows some great insight into Pat’s thoughts and inner monologues and the movie excels at making me feel all the feels. Several Litwits members agreed that the movie was the more emotional medium in that they cried watching but not reading. What also interested me in the book was the ambiguity of the story. Pat’s never diagnosed in Quick’s story and the relationship between Pat and Tiffany is left a bit more open ended than the Hollywood version.
Kathleen finished reading the book and immediately watched the movie and felt that the movie did an amazing job capturing the essence of the story. I have to agree wholeheartedly. SLP is a great film adaptation. What both narrative forms have going for them is Pat. He’s the happiest, most joyful, and positive character Victoria believes she’s read in a long while. I think he’s the reason so many people love this story no matter how they come to it. His mantra from the book is ‘be kind, not right’ which is something we all need to remember from time to time.
The rest of our discussion centered around watching the Eagles chant on YouTube, state mental health institutions, and what an amazing job both Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence did in the film.
Now, not everyone was extremely pleased with the story and that’s okay! Some members didn’t think the characters were that likable and that some of the details were a bit far-fetched. I can see both these things as being very true – but the movie captured my heart in that special way where I ignore all the flaws, lol. I was surprised how many Litwits enjoyed the book more (I shouldn’t have been surprised), but I’m sticking with the movie.
Have you seen the movie and read the book? Which did you prefer?
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