Book Club for One

One of my favorite movies is P.S. I Love You. It has been out for a few years now and for Christmas I asked Charles to buy me the book. I figured if I loved the movie, the book would be even better. That's usually how it goes. I finished the book a few weeks ago and watched the movie again this morning so I can share my thoughts.

I was very surprised at how dramatically different the book and the movie are. Of course, the movie version of a book is always pretty different but this was like a whole different story, except for Gerry dying of a brain tumor. In the book, the characters are all living outside of Dublin, Ireland (which I loved because it is one of my favorite European cities). In the movie, Holly is American and Gerry is Irish. In the book, Holly's parents are still married and she has 2 older brothers, one younger sister and a younger brother and there is a great story about her relationship with her siblings that you don't get in the movie. In the movie, her father left them when she was 14 and she just has a younger sister so she already has abandonment issues. In the book, Holly and Gerry grew up together and everyone was happy that they got married. In the movie, their meeting is much more romantic. They met in Ireland while she was traveling on a college trip. However, everyone thought they got married too young. In the book, Holly receives 12 letters from Gerry all at once, one for each month, and she has to wait until the next month to open each letter. In the movie, the letters are much more unpredictable.

Overall, I think I enjoyed the book more. The movie always makes me cry but the book showed so much more emotion and delved more into what Holly was feeling after the death of her husband. It focused a lot on her strength; she didn't feel like she was strong, but her family and friends all admired her for it. I think I love this book/movie so much is because I know I would be just like Holly if anything ever happened to Charles. He is the love of my life and I can't imagine what it would be like to live without him. In the book, Holly jumps from job to job and after Gerry dies she has to figure out what she wants to do in life. But she feels like her purpose was to love her husband and she was very good at that. I feel I'm the exact same way.

If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Just make sure to have a box of Kleenex handy.