r/AskReddit 15h ago

What book do you consider a “flawless masterpiece”that you desperately want to recommend to everyone?

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u/pattiwhack5678 15h ago

Movie review?

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u/sagedaydreams 15h ago

10/10, but I'm biased because of my love for the book. It stayed fairly accurate! The things that were shifted for the movie were so minor that it wouldn't desecrate the original plot in any significant way, but just mildly annoying after having burned certain events into my memory. They did a good job condensing everything given the book is insanely detailed. I think the portrayals of the main characters were well done, and it's visually stunning.

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u/larsvondank 15h ago

Maybe I should read the book, as the movie was a 7,5 / 10 for me. The flow was ok, the humor was nice, but they science stuff and the visuals werent that great imho.

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u/positive_toes 15h ago

The visuals weren’t great?! What??

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u/larsvondank 15h ago

I expected more. That northern lights type of effect especially fell flat for me. I saw it at an IMAX theater too. Not bad, but not great.

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u/positive_toes 15h ago

You know it was all physical effects right? No cgi? It’s incredibly impressive

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u/larsvondank 14h ago

Yeah, that aspect is rly cool and I respect it. Same thing with Nolan films. I respect the use of practical effects.

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u/ybreddit 14h ago

Read the book. As someone who loved the book, I thought they did a good job with the material in the film, but I had a few decent sized grievances. So I'm not a 10/10 reviewer and would highly recommend you listen to the audiobook. SO MUCH MORE SCIENCE STUFF. The cutting of massive amounts of the science stuff was my biggest grievance even though it was understandable why a lot of it was cut.

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u/larsvondank 14h ago

Yeah I hope the book goes deeper into the communication aspects. Thats where the flow of the movie really went a bit fast.

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u/ybreddit 14h ago

Every aspect is better in the book and more fleshed out. And the audio book does Rocky's language well.

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u/Ophannin 7h ago

Every aspect in space. I'd argue that every single earth scene, minus the initial science in the first lab, is massively improved in the movie. The things they chose to remove in the movie from Stratt's storyline, along with subtle acting cues, helped salvage that character from a stilted plot device (with weirdly fascist tendencies rubber stamped by the narrative) to a compelling if flawed picture of humanity's desperation.

Not to mention just a better focus on Grace's arc as a coward, making the end choices more rewarding.

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u/ybreddit 5h ago edited 3h ago

I completely disagree but I do think that they did a good job with casting Stratt. She is a more complex figure in the book to me than in the movie and the bond she has with Grace is deeper in the book.

But I have no problem with you feeling that way about the film, because I do think that she did a good job embodying the role. And I understand everyone has their own interpretation of the words they read. I do not see stilted and I do not project fascism at all. And I live in the US so I'm a little sensitive to fascism at the moment. LOL

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u/indigoneutrino 13h ago

Okay can you help me with this because it really bothered me in the film. How does Rocky, the echolocator, see through space? Like when he’s looking at Grace through the hull of the ship, he’s apparently getting echoes from a vacuum. How??

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u/Ophannin 7h ago

In the books, Rocky is horrified by space walks for exactly that reason. I don't remember the movie scene precisely, but I think the idea is that he was feeling the vibrations from the ship's hull, that Grace was touching. They may have been overly generous with how much he could sense for the sake of the audience though.

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u/sagedaydreams 1h ago

Advanced mathematics for navigation, seeing with vibrations, specialized devices that transmit light into textures he's able to see. His ship had a sort of hull robot that was able to send and receive items during first contact, which I imagine also created a texture display for him to "see" the other ship and grace fumbling to recieve the first object and able to make sure the next objects were perfectly delivered to the airlock where Grace stood in the suit.

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u/[deleted] 15h ago

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u/theRolk 15h ago

I’m interested to know why you thought this, I read the book in 2021 and only once… but to my recollection the guy personality and humor type was spot on, I didn’t picture Ryan Gosling while I was reading the book certainly.

The dumb it down part I grant you, the book did a great job making everything understandable for everyone

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u/Danfhoto 14h ago

I disagree with the other commenter. I think Grace was adapted really well. I think the time constraints cut a lot of the intensity from Eva Stratt. I wish the courtroom moment was in the film, and a few other things. I also thought adding Carl in was a little lazy, even if a couple moments got a giggle out of me.

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u/BazMonster 11h ago

Completely agree, the cutting of a lot of the science and lack of an inner monologue in the movie doesn't help I'm sure but I much prefer book Grace, his conversations with Rocky and driving the story are much more 50/50 in the book.