The Fault In Our Stars

There was a lot of buzz about this book when I decided to pick it up. It was easy to read, and I could appreciate some of the writing. But I found the characters way too pretentious. They seemed so self-congratulatory at their high-vocabulary quips. I wasn't really sure if I cared what happened to them. When they went to Amsterdam, and found the author a drunk, etc, I didn't really know if he was any more annoying than they were.

Somehow the movie softened some of the pretentiousness, and brought more kindness and softness into the characters. Their good humor and affection shone through more than the horrible play-on-words that permeated the book. I felt that there was good chemistry between Hazel and Gus. I was quite amused to find that the two also star in Divergent. The actor who played Gus did a decent job, but Hazel was truly great. Isaac also was a strong actor, bringing much humor to the movie.

All in all, this is another case where the movie far outshone the book. In my humble opinion, of course.

Fever Pitch

I tried to read this book, but I found it too tedious. I guess it is partly that I do not enjoy soccer. But the nonfiction account of one man's obsession with the sport may have been terrible, no matter what sport it was. I thought maybe it would follow a plot line, or have more specifics on how this affected his life and relationships. No, pretty much not.

After 1 1/2 chapters, I switched to the book on CD. Still tedious, but at least I could look at the scenery at the same time.

The movie was only loosely based on the book. The sport was changed to baseball, and the city was changed from London to Boston. It was a good choice. The Red Sox have a rich history. It was a pretty typical romantic comedy. I like Drew Barrymore, and I had not seen Jimmy Fallon in an acting role. I can't really think of any similarities between the book and the movie aside from an unhealthy sports obsession. At least the movie had a plot.