Last weekend, my husband and I watched the Netflix Original movie based on the best-selling novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrow and Mary Ann Shaffer.
Starting solely with the movie (for those of you that have not yet read the novel), I found the movie to be very charming overall. The acting was well done and the cinematography was lush. I loved the scenes of Guernsey's countryside itself, which leaves me wondering if the movie was really filmed on Guernsey??? Something to look into I suppose! Anyway, I highly recommend watching the movie version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Yes, I realize I've just given a glowing recommendation to watch The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on Netflix and I stand behind my recommendation. However, as someone who has read the novel twice already, there were somethings in the movie version that were really different from the novel. For instance, Sophie, Sidney Stark's sister is not in the movie version at all! Nor is Remy, the woman that befriends Elizabeth in the labor camp, present in the movie version. Also, Juliet Ashton's character just shows up on Guernsey with no one to meet her when she arrives on Guernsey and the members of the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society have no idea she's coming until after she arrives. Plus, other plot details as well have been changed up a bit.
I know that movies can't always closely follow/replicate the books they are based on. I also fully understand that plot details will be omitted or changed to make the movie more appealing for broader audiences and to also keep a movie from being super long in length. But as an avid reader though, I often find it difficult to fully love a movie based on a novel. Especially, if I've already read the book before watching the movie. I try to keep in mind that movies and books are two different art forms and that does help to keep things in perspective.
As a side note, there have only been two exceptions that I can recall where the movie version is better than the book, in my opinion. I actually loved the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love much more than the book. I also enjoyed the movie version of Red Dragon as much as the novel itself and felt that the movie version was pretty faithful to the novel's plot.
Have you read and/or seen the movie version of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? How to you feel about movie adaptations of the books you've read?
Now for something a bit fun. I discovered a recipe online for Potato Peel Pie!! I don't think I'll be making it, but thought sharing a recipe for potato peel pie would be fitting for this post, don't you?
