Hi!

My general experience with reading a book first and then watching a movie based on that book is disappointing, so I'd advise to decide it on the individual basis. In the case of the GF, it's definitely better to watch the movie first; in many other cases, it's better to read the book and never watch the movie.

Can't help mentioning it here, but what they did to the magnificient "Lord of the Rings" really sucks! I especially hate the very "Eastern"-like struggle of the two wizards - they should've invited Jackie Chan to play Saruman, no disrespect intended. And where from, may I ask, will Merry get his ancient elven sword to kill the Ghost King in the third installment? Surely not from the hands of the future King Arathorn. And so on...

As for the GF, I'll never get tired of repeating that without the film I could've hardly bothered to read Puzo's bestseller. It's a nice if strikingly unfocused companion to the movie, though; it falls well short of the movie as a piece of art.

Running for cover...

Best regards.

Alexander