Sunday, September 17, 2017

THE SHIPPING NEWS

Both the book and movie were excellent, but there are good arguments on both sides for why each was better than the other.

- in the book, Quoyle having two daughters is unnecisary: though both are somewhat interesting, neither really contributes enough to the plot to warrant being two separate characters, and besides, as if Quoyle and Petal would have had a good enough marriage to produce two daughters anyway;
- in the movie, Bunny is six years old and therefore should be attending school and not daycare;
- in the movie, the character of Billy Pretty is emphasized and the character of Jack Buggett is somewhat de-emphasised;
- in the movie, the revelation to Quoyle and the audience by Wavy that her husband didn't really drown adds a lot to the plot, most especially another layer of mystery and surprise;
- similarly, Aunt Agnis' coming out to Quoyle is a good plot point and gives the story more of a complete feel (not an endorsement of the LGBT life-deathstyle by any means)
-the whole bit about Bunny believing her mother is just sleeping is not needed;
- the ending of the movie doesn't feel complete: where did Quoyle and Bunny end up living, and with Wavy's husband having run off instead of having drowned at sea, how are Quoyle and Wavy supposed to get married?

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