Ordinary People

I just rented the 1980 film version of the book, "Ordinary People" by Judith Guest.
The book is a favorite of mine: I really poignant (wow I actually used the word poignant) story about a family recovering from the death of one of their sons. It's also about communication, and emotion, and most importantly the brilliant psychiatrist shares my last name.
I was a bit reluctant to see it actually. A bad movie can ruin an amazing book. Sometimes, though, it's hard to understand exactly why. Just a few moments ago, I read the dialogue of the last scene in the film. The dialogue was almost identical between the two, yet for some reason it didn't quite work in the movie. It's not that Timothy Hutton and Donald Sutherland are bad actors. There was just something about the lines that didn't quite work on film. It felt cliche, forced, almost hokey.
When I reread the book, the text seemed fresh, alive, and powerful.
Movies can have good dialogue. They can develop characters, tell us about thoughts, feelings and emotions, but of course they have to do it differently than books. The movie in general is very good at moving the plot along without resorting to voice overs, and that is impressive, given that so much of Ordinary People is about thought and emotion. Perhaps I wouldn't have felt the same way if I hadn't read the book so many times as well.
I suppose my main point is read the book. The writing is astounding. You feel you like you know the characters, you can talk to them, interact, relate to their problems and emotions. It really moved me, and that is part of what reading is all about.