The Human Comedy

I recently happened on the movie The Human Comedy. In college, there were a couple of guys I used to, old school style, binge watch movies with. Ron Doub, I still remember staying up all night with you watching a string of Fred McMurray movies.

I watched The Human Comedy back in those days. I’m not sure if I’ve ever watched it between then and now. It is a WWII movie not about soldiers in war so much as the people they left behind. It is a bit on the sentimental side, but I enjoyed it.

What does this have to do with Two Sides you might ask? Book or movie? An ongoing question. Admittedly, I am one of those, maybe annoying, people who say the book is always better. My exception is Gone With the Wind.

Sometime after watching the movie in college, I bought a used copy of The Human Comedy by William Saroyan, the book the movie is based on. I wonder where it is. I remember it had no dust jacket. Maybe a Smith College book sale purchase? I’m pretty sure I read it, but I can’t say for sure. Watching the movie got me thinking about it and wanting to read it.

Which is better aside; I enjoy reading the book and watching the movie. I also enjoy books about the making of movies. I recently watched High Noon. There is a great book by Glenn Frankel, High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist And The Making Of An American Classic. Well worth reading to learn about the movie and to learn about McCarthyism and the film industry.

I’m all for watching movies, but if forced to pick between the movie and the book, I’m going with the book.

Books you like better than the movie? Movies you like better than the book? Let us know at twosides2thestory@yahoo.com