Recently I was asked if it’s a good idea to watch the Cloud Atlas movie first, or to read the book. I almost always read the book first, but in this case, I came across the movie before the book. But that’s alright, the movie couldn’t possibly have spoiled the experience of the book…

I watched Cloud Atlas a couple of years ago, and was thoroughly impressed. I figured this must be an exceptional example of a situation where the movie didn’t totally destroy the book. Some months after that I read the book…. Well, as good as the movie is, the rule still applies, the book is infinitely better.

The book is written in quite a unique shape, an amazing structure, with such subtleties that can never be imported into a movie. The relationship between the characters in different timelines are described in such elegant ways. And well, there are major story bits and implied meanings in the book, that make the book much deeper, much more complex and in some parts much darker than the movie.

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So yes, the book wins once again…. since you have the choice, read the book first. 😉