Blog Reader’s Guide to Adaptations

image courtesy of Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams, was published in 1979. It found immediate success, selling 250,000 copies in three months. A novel like that was bound to get a screen adaptation. The novel received a TV series in 1981, and a movie in 2005. For simplicity’s sake, I will be reviewing the novel and the film. 

There are many differences between the novel and movie versions of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. At the time, and based on the few people I talked to, it was a well-liked movie. It just didn’t work for me and many of the changes took away from the storyline, characters, and what the novel was. 

Negative Thoughts

One difference I don’t blame the movie for; it does not show many internal thoughts and feelings. The characters in the novel showed a lot of emotion and internal feeling throughout that I don’t think translated well to the movie. A part that was left out entirely was Arthur’s internal, and eventual external panic that his planet had just been destroyed and had lost everything. 

Arthur and most other characters were portrayed poorly. In the novel, Arthur is a confused, clueless Earthman who has occasional bright ideas that help the group in their mission. And Trillian is a smart, but kind and helpful voice of reason to Beeblebrox.  

The movie ruins their characters by making the movie’s plot revolve around Arthur and Trillian’s love for each other. Suddenly Arthur knew what he was doing every step of the way even though he should have known nothing. Why? For love. If the novel made Arthur and Trillian have a romantic relationship, it was subtle and didn’t take away from the storyline. 

image courtesy of Garth Jennings

Beeblebrox was a bit of a fumbling dummy in both. But the novel portrayed him as doing what he did because he could, and a part of his brain had been wiped. The movie gave him a real reason. You may think that’s a good thing, but he had something he shouldn’t have; tapes from a faraway planet that’s shrouded in legends.

I saw Ford Prefect in the novel as a smart man to help guide Arthur through the galaxy; it feels like the movie did the opposite. The only character I felt the movie got right was Marvin; he was still a lovable, depressed robot with many shining moments. 

The other storyline I’d like to mention is Beeblebrox and his rival. The novel mentions nothing of a rivalry. The movie has them arrive at his rival’s home plant, cut off one of Beeblebrox’s heads (how without killing him? I don’t know) and make a promise (that I’m not sure they kept). The whole interaction felt unnecessary. If the movie wanted to do something with Beeblebrox’s rival, they could’ve met at Magrathea and raced to find The Question of Life. 

Somewhat Positive Thoughts 

What I liked about the movie was that it helped build upon what was in the novel. The definitions from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy were cleverly animated. I just wish they had also explained why a towel was so useful. 

image courtesy of Garth Jennings

I also really liked how the movie had a visual representation when the spaceship, The Heart of Gold, wasn’t in normality. It switched between many different objects, and Arthur throwing up yarn when they were animated to look like it was a good touch. My biggest issue with The Heart of Gold is that they didn’t do a very good job explaining what was so special about the ship. 

At the end of the movie, Marvin saves the day and has some sort of awesome badass moment that the novel didn’t have. Also, Earth Mark II was scheduled to be destroyed in the novel, which is why Arthur stayed with Beeblebrox, Trillian, and Ford exploring the galaxy. The movie version was scheduled to stay and, in a love moment I liked, Arthur chose to stay with Trillian. 

When I first watched Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy over a decade ago, I found it to be a great movie. Over time, I feel it’s a solid standalone movie. But now knowing the amazing novel it was based on makes it such a letdown. 

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Matthew Sgabellone is an Algonquin College student in their Professional Writing program. He has never worked a muti-day job, so he typically has a lot of free time whenever he’s not in school. He uses this free time to do writing and watch movies and motor racing. A lot of books he has read have been transferred into movies, and he’s always curious how his favourites did. He watches movies every week with his family, and they often talk about their thoughts once the movie has concluded. He has always been curious about more books to screen adaptations, and would like to take you along the journey of his findings. 

A Man Who Doesn’t Know What to be Called

IMage courtesy of Atria Books

In 2012, Swedish writer Fredrik Backman published A Man Called Ove. Three years later, it was adapted into a movie. 10 years after the novel, they released another movie titled, A Man Called Otto. I will be comparing and giving my thoughts on the novel, and the 2022 movie. 

The biggest change between the two mediums is title and location. The novel takes place in a small Swedish town. The car the man drives is a Saab, and his name is Ove. In the movie, he’s in a small town in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The man drives a Chevrolet, and his name is Otto. For actor choices, I believe these changes were necessary. It’s probably hard to find a Swedish actor to market to North American audiences. 

The novel opens with Ove trying to purchase a new device. He wants a normal computer. He’s got a tablet in his hands but wants something else. Ove finds the sales assistant useless, and brings in a manager, who isn’t much more help. Ove leaves without buying the box. The movie opens with Otto trying to buy 5ft of rope but is getting charged for 6ft. Everything above ensues, and although the movie doesn’t show Otto purchasing the rope, we see rope later. In the movie, this is the only purchase made, instead of the novel showing multiple. I believe this change was necessary. The novel doesn’t even show Ove purchasing rope, which is more important to the story.  

In the novel, Ove works with the railway as a night cleaner; a job received when he was sixteen and worked until the end of his life. He would meet his wife, Sonja, years later at a train station. He fell in love with her and would sit with her on the train going the opposite direction for months, until she demands him to take her to dinner.

In the movie, Otto works at a steel plant. It is unknown how long he’s been working there, but based on future conversations, it was after Otto met Sonya. He would meet her at a train station after she dropped her book on the platform, and he boarded the train to return it. Since the train is going the opposite way of his ticket, he has to buy a new one, and Sonya chooses to help pay. Later, Otto tries to repay her, and she says, “take me out instead.” I prefer the way Otto and Sonya met in the movie. I wish the movie showed Otto riding the train multiple more times before taking her out. 

In the novel, Ove doesn’t like cats, and so when one shows up, he refuses to take it. While they save the cat from freezing to death, we learn his neighbours are allergic, and Ove is forced to keep it. He takes the cat everywhere as he refuses to keep it in the house alone. The cat is badly injured; missing patches of fur, half a tail, and an ear. In the movie, Otto seems indifferent towards cats, and the cat is in one piece. I believe the man with a cat in the novel is better. He gets a cat, hates it, and must learn to live with it. While the man in the movie just got a cat and was like, “I guess I have a cat now.” 

image courtesy of: Marc Forster and David Magee

The final thing I would like to mention is the man’s life. In the novel, we see a lot of Ove’s life. We see his life with his father; what things are like after his passing; and his relationship later in life with Sonja and her dad. The movie only shows us what happened when Otto met Sonya. I wish the movie had brief flashbacks to his time with his father and his life afterwards. It would be easier to connect with Otto, like readers did with Ove, if we knew more about his early life. 

There are so many different things that I barely covered half the book. Overall, I believe that both versions are wonderful, and incredibly moving. It’s hard to perfectly replicate a 286-page novel into a 2-hour movie. Considering the restrictions, the movie did a great job representing American Ove. 

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Matthew Sgabellone is an Algonquin College student in their Professional Writing program. He has never worked a muti-day job, so he typically has a lot of free time whenever he’s not in school. He uses this free time to do writing and watch movies and motor racing. A lot of books he has read have been transferred into movies, and he’s always curious how his favourites did. He watches movies every week with his family, and they often talk about their thoughts once the movie has concluded. He has always been curious about more books to screen adaptations, and would like to take you along the journey of his findings. 

Difference in Mediums: Indian Horse

In 2012, Richard Wagamese, an Ojibwe Canadian author/journalist, released a novel titled Indian Horse. Indian Horse won multiple awards in the few years after its release and, in 2017 after Wagamese’s passing, the novel was adapted into a film. Although both stories are told in different mediums, both are quite similar but have their differences.  

Both stories begin with Saul as an adult sitting in a help group, narrating the story from his perspective. Keeping the introduction between the novel and film similar was a great idea because it keeps the narrative that this story is a coping mechanism for the character as he mentally goes through and experiences his childhood and life.  

The novel begins with Saul’s backstory. It speaks about who his family is and their backstory, where he was born, and that his brother was taken to the Residential Schools. The movie mentions some of this, but it is hard to notice if you haven’t read the book. It begins with close ups of a horse, referring to Saul’s family backstory, and it shows brief flashbacks of him and his grandmother in the bushes the day Saul’s brother was taken.  

After Saul’s backstory is hinted at, the movie begins the story when Saul and his whole family are on a river to God's Lake where they should be safe. In the novel, this happens in chapter six, after more detail about Saul’s backstory, and the journey to God’s Lake was given. Unfortunately, Saul’s brother passes away from sickness not long after the family arrives at God’s Lake. Following his mother and father leaving for town, Saul’s grandmother decides to change course with Saul, and they head towards her brother’s son’s house. But they never make it, as his grandmother freezes to death and Saul is found and taken to St. Jerome’s Residential School in White River, Ontario. 

Once Saul was captured and brought to a Residential School, several chapters of the novel go in depth on the living conditions, language struggles, Saul’s building relationship with Father Leboutilier, and we learn about Rebecca, and how her death helped the students communicate. In the movie, there is not much talk about the living conditions, though there are many scenes that include it. In the found novel, we meet Rebecca through a flashback well after Saul has left the school, but in the movie, we meet her not long after Saul arrives. 

After Saul’s backstory is hinted at, the movie begins the story when Saul and his whole family are on a river to God's Lake where they should be safe. In the novel, this happens in chapter six, after more detail about Saul’s backstory, and the journey to God’s Lake was given. Unfortunately, Saul’s brother passes away from sickness not long after the family arrives at God’s Lake. Following his mother and father leaving for town, Saul’s grandmother decides to change course with Saul, and they head towards her brother’s son’s house. But they never make it, as his grandmother freezes to death and Saul is found and taken to St. Jerome’s Residential School in White River, Ontario. 

Once Saul was captured and brought to a Residential School, several chapters of the novel go in depth on the living conditions, language struggles, Saul’s building relationship with Father Leboutilier, and we learn about Rebecca, and how her death helped the students communicate. In the movie, there is not much talk about the living conditions, though there are many scenes that include it. In the found novel, we meet Rebecca through a flashback well after Saul has left the school, but in the movie, we meet her not long after Saul arrives. 

The rest of Saul’s time in the school is the same. Some events in the movie happen in a different order to the novel. Saul is introduced to hockey, and his journey to getting better and becoming more immersed with the help of Father Leboutilier still happens. We see him training, watching Hockey Night in Canada, and the interaction that helps Saul leave the school. The major difference in events is that the movie doesn’t have Saul getting rejected from a big team because he’s Indigenous. It skips past Saul playing his first games with the Moose and instead it goes to them playing against their first white team, and it doesn’t take long until he’s recruited for a feeder team to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  

In the novel, Saul has a conversation with some of his teammates about his worries with the feeder team, and his progression through the hockey ranks happens very slowly. In the movie things happen fast. Both versions still have Saul struggling to play without body checking and fitting in amongst the white players.  

After Saul quits the feeder team, both have him working jobs, getting drunk, and on the move. Then they circle back to the help centre from the start of the story, where Saul struggles to tell his story. Both continue with Saul going to all the places from his childhood; he goes to the rundown school, remembers hockey, where he split up from his parents, and how poorly Father Leboutilier treated him behind the scenes. In the movie, the story ends when Saul returns to Manitouwadge where he played for the Moose. In the novel, the story ends when Saul’s first game since he quit the feeder team begins. Overall, the novel and film are remarkably similar even though some events are told in different orders.  

I believe that Indian Horse the film was created and told in great memory for Richard Wagamese, the writer of Indian Horse the novel.