I saw the film of this story a couple of years ago when it came out at the cinema but I’d not read the book. As part of my journey through more classical literature I picked up an ebook copy and read through it rather quickly.
It’s not too long and considering it’s age a nice easy read. The point of view switches a little unobviously between the characters here and there but nothing too disorientating. My biggest problem with the ebook, however, was the plot. I found that the film had embelished the plot a little more and made more of the events than the book itself did.
I found myself skim reading quite a few large chunks of dialogue from Henry, which appeared to just be the author’s opinions of what the world was like in a very monologue type format and as I often completely disagreed with what was being said I found it really rather boring.
The ending also left me feeling rather dissapointed. It was a tad predictable even though it didn’t match the film at all and very very short.
It’s rare I prefer the film over a book, especially when the book came first but here I’d definitely say the book wasn’t worth my time. The film was much more dramatic and plot driven. The book was all about whether sin was really good or bad in the most dry way possible.