Some people think it pretentious to counter,
"Well have you read the book?" when someone says they saw the movie. Perhaps you're a movie buff, or not a strong reader. Perhaps the book bored you and the movie seemed enticing. Perhaps you loved one and not the other. When I was young, I was not a strong reader. I had a "reading assistance" class and teacher in first and second grade. This teacher, Ms. Charna, taught me to love reading and writing ever since. So yeah, I grew up "reading the books first" but for one particular reason: style. I always saw pieces of writing as expression. A writer's style is not easily grasped through a movie (dare I say); to understand a plot or a character, attention must be paid to the style in which the author chooses to express. A description of a character could be say, melancholy. This is easily portrayed in a movie, no? But the style of writing used to describe our melancholy character: now that is the inner mind speaking. The eye of the mind's eye, if you will. The style of the writing changes the so-called "color" of the background to which one reads. The subconscious mind strives to learn by style, much like the modern New York City woman. Style is expression. (Writing, decorating, studying, learning clothing, calculating.) Style is not something molded by today's society, but by the ever-changing background color of the eye...of the inner eye.