Thursday, October 29, 2009

Book review: Shutter Island

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane was a book I picked up because I had seen previews for the upcoming movie by the same name and thought it looked interesting. Recently I have read several books because I wanted to see the movie. I usually find that it is better to read the book first, because the book is, about 98 percent of the time, much better the movie. The Road, The Reader, and Shutter Island are all books that I read because I wanted to see the movie. Just last weekend we rented The Reader. This movie was one of the rare exceptions to the "book is better than the movie" rule. I definitely liked the movie better than the book in this case. I felt more attached to the characters and felt more of an emotional impact with the movie than I did with the book. Really a great film.

Now, on to Shutter Island. I'm guessing that, in this case, the story will again translate better on the screen than it did on the page. It was a good enough book; something of a page-turner as you try to guess what is really going on. The reveal is not disappointing in the least. It almost read like a movie script at times, though. I also think that it will benefit from what can be done visually with the story. The book was not creepy at all, in my opinion. The previews I have seen for the movie, however, make it look very creepy. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

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