Coraline

Instead of reading Neil Gaiman’s Anasi Boys I decided to read the alternate text Coraline. I chose Coraline instead for two reasons. One, I personally didn’t want to read a book that was a spinoff of a book I hadn’t read yet, I felt I wouldn’t connect or be as involved in the characters as I would have been if I had read American Gods. (Coincidently enough I read American Gods later.) The other reason I decided to read Coraline was because I was interested in the comparison of the book and movie. I know many people say that, of a particular work, the book is almost always better than the movie, but for Coraline I thought that both were great in there own aspect. One of the reasons why the book was so great for me was because the text allowed my imagination to create this whole world that I was instantly sucked into. Gaiman provided the right mood and atmosphere for the entirety of the book, although I did have trouble “unseeing” The movie at points. I like that in the book Coraline only went through the door once, I feel it adds more to the fantasy element in its own way. When I look at the movie I have to take it as another artist’s depiction of Coraline. Although not too wildly off there were aspects that were different than the book. For instance some tad little differences included the character wybie, the parent to child relationship, and things like the old ladies show. At first glance it might not seem like many differences but if you delve deeper you’ll notice that all the little differences provide for a different atmosphere and mood. For instance, the children needing their eyes instead of souls in the movie. This changes the atmosphere in the slightest bit because with the connotation of losing your soul it feels more eerie. Whereas losing your eyes to buttons may not seem as creepy or scary so to say, when in comparison with losing your soul. One thing that I did like about the book better though was the fact that Coraline did everything by herself to destroy the evil mother. Overall I’d have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself with the book and movie alike.