The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud | Clare

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud is something I’ve had as an ebook but never read. When the movie came out, I didn’t want to spoil my reading by watching it so I skipped it (even if Zac Efron was playing the lead).

Good thing I skipped the movie.  I read that the story in the film, while it was based on the book, was a bit different and it would have confused me when I actually read the book.

After reading the book and reading how the movie turned out, I’m happy that I stuck with the book instead of the movie. It was a beautiful story.  I don’t think the movie interpretation would have had the same effect on me as the book did.

It would not be too far-fetched to assume that everyone has thought of death and what happens after we die at least once.  The book tackles that in a way that doesn’t come off too religious/preachy or too fantasy/paranormal. It showed death as a part of life, as the transition that most of us believe it to be. For someone like me who has lost someone in my family, the thought that people move on to something better is a big comfort and the book presents the reader with that idea.

I don’t want to go into detail about the story of the book and the movie here because there may be some people who haven’t read or seen it.  I think that it’s better to experience the book without prior knowledge of what it’s about to get a better reading experience.  Sometimes expectations can ruin things so if you need to know more, I’m sure Wikipedia can help you with that.

I was so touched by the book that I literally had tears in my eyes (OK, I was crying) while reading some parts of the book, particularly the parts near the end of it.  It’s something I won’t mind reading again if the opportunity presents itself (but my reading list would probably protest to that).

Has anyone out there watched the movie and read the book?  What did you think of both?

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