The Little Library Project

  It’s a story we all know and love. I think you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who doesn’t know the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the ghosts of past, present and future, yet I would bet that not many appreciate the true story. The main adaptations I know of, consist of The Muppets Christmas Carol and most recently - Spirited, the 2022 release with Ryan Reynolds and Will Farrell (a fun new take on the classic) so my comparisons between the book and films will be quite basic. The first thing I’ll say is that A Christmas Carol is a tiny 80 page read. I got through it in one evening (90 mins) in fact and would be a perfect addition to someone’s end of her reading goal. Secondly, the book does now take long to get into it. I can see why it’s heralded as a classic - easy to read and a basic but resonating moral, this is great for a reader of any age. The fact that it jumps straight in so soon will keep younger readers hooked.  The original text is slightly darker that is expected...

The Great Gatsby has long been on my TBR list and at the end of November, I found myself looking for a sub-200 page book to finish off my month - it was time.  This is quite a difficult one for me because if I hadn't seen the film, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it. I watched the film a few years ago having tried to read the book before and failed within the first few pages. I even tried listening to the audio book - again, couldn't quite get into it.  But this time, being on the reading binge thatI have been, I decided to persevere. But that didn't make it any less difficult for me. Thankfully, with a knowledge of the film I could follow the storyline but relying on the words alone, it was difficult.  Dialogue is choppy and incomplete, scenes not fully completed to give the answers that were needed. It probably wasn't until the second half that I really got into it and picked up what was going on but even then, I had to stop and start a bit to reread.  Maybe I...