There are books I like to read, and there are books I'm not ready for. Books about reality and spirituality and alternate medicine are not some of the subjects I go out of my way to find and even when they're brought to my attention I usually pass on them for something more in the line of fantasy and entertainment.
I am a huge fan of Douglas Adams, for example, and absolutely love his Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and Dirk Gently series. Hitchhiker's being a long-time favorite of mine in all it's incarnations and I am counting the days until April 29 (17, BTW) because that's when Adams' 20-odd-year dream of a major motion picture of his vision will become a reality, and from what I've seen in the way of the Trailers, it's going to be a fun ride all the way! I'm saddened that Adams himself will not have gotten to see this latest incarnation of his universe. (He passed away May 11, 2001)
But right now I am in the process of reading the novel version of Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge Of The Sith and am taking a break to write this only because I've been reading most of the day and needed a break.
"Why read the book" You might ask? "Won't that spoil the movie?"
Yes.
Plain and simple.
It will spoil the movie, but you see, while I am counting the minutes until the movie comes out (51,840) I am more interested in the story, how it all comes together, how it answers all the questions left by the other 5 films and how it bridges the story, and a book is the absolute best way to fill all those gaps, not just the visual ones, but the emotional and internal ones. The story is what I'm interested in and reading the book is fulfilling that desire, so while it's spoiling the movie, that's not what I care about.
I'll still see the movie, probably more than a few times, and I'm sure I'll love it, but I'll have a deeper understanding of what I'm seeing and a fuller sense of the story, and for me, that makes watching the movie the best possible experience.
I read the novels for the previous two movies as well (The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones) and in both cases the movie-going experience was enhanced by knowing the story before I saw how it played out in a visual form. The novels, in both cases, were better than the movies because a novel can take it's time, it can explain character's actions and thoughts that do not translate well to the silver screen, and the novels always have scenes that are cut or shortened just prior to release, so it's a more complete experience.
Just two examples of how the novels bested the movies (spoilers only for Episodes I & II):
Episode I-The Phantom Menace : There is a deeper explanation of how Obi-Wan deals with Qui-Gon's suggestion that Obi-Wan is ready for the Jedi Trials when he suggests that to the Jedi Council in order to take Anakin as his new padawan learner. While on the surface it seems innocent enough it was in fact quite hurtful to Obi-Wan that Qui-Gon would push him aside in order to be able to train Anakin since the Council did not want to do it themselves. This relationship between Master and Learner (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan) went much deeper than we saw on screen.
Episode II-Attack Of The Clones : There's a whole chapter dealing with Shmi Lars' (Skywalker's) capture by the Tusken Raiders and Clieg's posse pursuing them and how he lost his leg and how he wishes he could do more to save her. The movie glosses over all of this by having Clieg say "I had to wait until my leg healed" and he comes across as having given up. The novel goes into great detail about how Clieg gathered many many people to help search for Shmi and how he lost his leg and how bad he feels. These are character moments that are buried beneath the action and glossed over for the sake of running time.
Am I suggesting you run out and read the book.....kind of, but with the warning that it should only be read by someone who wants to experience the story in all it's glory, if you're avoiding spoilers at all costs because you want to experience the story as the film unspools, by all means: WAIT to read the book until after May 19 (as I'm sure by the 20th you'll have seen the movie a few times).
If you do decide to read the novel, I would like to suggest that you first read Labyrinth Of Evil by James Luceno, it's a prequel story that flows directly into Revenge Of The Sith by Matthew Stover, literally. Labyrinth ends with Anakin & Obi-Wan in their starfighters making a hyperspace jump to Coruscant and Sith opens with Anakin & Obi-Wan coming out of hyperspace above Coruscant. There are references throughout Sith that are from events that took place in Labyrinth, so they compliment each other well. I highly recommend reading Labyrinth before reading Sith.
This is just what I do, and why I do it.
RobMac
