The paper versus the screen. Author versus director. The book versus the movie has been a long and heated debate ever since the first book to movie adaptation. So which one really is better?
Personally, I like the book better. I like the feeling of a book, and being able to open one up and delve right into the story. I like how books allow more imagination on the reader's part. Everyone interprets words differently, so everyone pictures stories differently. With a book, readers can picture the characters, places, and scenes however he or she wants to.
I also think the character development in a book is better. The length of a book is not limited, so the author is able to expand the story, specifically on characters. On the screen, character development is limited to dialogue and action. But in a book, writers can utilize a character's thoughts to develop them. Being able to read and share a character's thoughts makes everything feel more personal. It allows a deeper connection to be built between the reader and the character. In Harry Potter, Rowling spent more time writing about and developing Ginny Weasley. She grows into an independent, takes-crap-from-no-one girl. But in the movie, she kind of only serves as Harry's love interest.
But just because I think books are better doesn't mean I don't enjoy movies. It's amazing to see a scene from a book translate exactly how you pictured it onto the screen. And even if it's completely different from how I pictured it, I still enjoy seeing other adaptations of the story.
But my favorite part about movies is that they can add music, which adds another layer of emotion to the story. In Big Little Lies, the pivotal killing scene was extremely different from how I pictured it from the book. But in the show, there is no dialogue between characters, only music. But the music helped share the intensity of the situation that the book couldn't do.
Books and movies are hard to compare, because they both accomplish different things. Both are needed to help convey great stories. So when it comes to the big question "Did you like the book or movie better?" Why can't it be both?