All I can really say is that if you have seen this movie, do not read the book. I noticed on the cover of the book that it was based on the movie but I didn't think it would be verbatim. I am a big fan of the movie and could watch it over and over and so I found myself picturing each character and how they speak. That being said, if you've never seen the movie go ahead and read the book but then rent the movie. You'll love it!!

I thought that the movie was based on the book, not visa versa, so when the book caught my eye at the library I checked t out.

It wasn't such a horrible read, but it did read like the movie, and gave no extra information, motivation, etc. to any of the characters, nor did it enhance the story line.

My suggestion? See the movie, at least it has the visuals.

It's the first movie tie-in I have ever read, so maybe the problem is with the genre and no with this specific book.
If you have read a book and seen a movie based on it, you know that books go though vast adaptation before becoming a movie. That's because these are different media and different languages. They could have just voiced-over anything that isn't a dialog, but that would make a bad movie. There's a whole art and science of writing a script based on a book.
It follows that making a book from a movie also requires adaptation. This book follows the movie scene-by-scene. It includes movie dialogs word-by-word. It just doesn't work.
What's more, in movie there's space for interpretation, because you don't know what people think, just what they say. This is ruined in this book - we get the author interpretation. And this interpretation doesn't always really make sense. If Katherine only starts thinking seriously of Bill during the second semester, why does she accidentally slips his name in front of Paul in Christmas?!
I bought this book because I liked the theme of the movie but I though it was too short and some of the events needed more background. This hardly happens in the book. The story is too short, too many details are missing, which is a necessity in a movie, but a problem in the book.
In short - don't buy if you've seen the movie.
Maybe if you haven't, you might enjoy an easy reading, I can't tell. But even in that case, I would go to see the movie and skip the book.

This book is just like the movie ~~ almost word for word ~~ so if you've seen the movie, don't buy this book. If you haven't seen the movie, buy the book ~~ then see the movie, you won't be disappointed.

It's a fast read ~~ perfect for a lazy sunny afternoon at the pool ~~ it doesn't go into depth about anything and it reads "like the movie" ~~ so you have a mental image of the characters gliding along in the book.

If you're looking for a meaty in-depth look of the characters and of the times, this is not the book to read. If you just want to recapture the memory of the movie ~~ this is the perfect book for that!

6/1/04

This book was a huge disappointment. I saw the movie first and thought it would be a better book. When I saw the book in the store, I was excited and bought it right away. It turns out, however, that the BOOK is based on the MOVIE and, boy, can you tell. It was like the author was handed the script and just filled in the non-dialoge parts around the dialoge. There were a few parts in the book that somewhat clarified parts of the movie and I did like the ending, which went a step further than the movie did. All in all, though, if you are seeing the movie skip the book. It's not worth it. On the other hand, you might enjoy the book on it's own. It's an easy read and would be nice for a cold winter's night when you don't have anything better to do.