Book To Movie Monday (20)

For this weeks Book to Movie Monday I have decided to cover the Book To Movie conversion of The Girl Next Door.


First Let's Discuss The Book. Below Is The Cover:

Now for a little back story in case some of you aren't familiar with the Novel. The Girl Next Door is a Novel written by the Author Jack Ketchum. The Book was published in 1989 by Warner Books. The book is loosely based on the real life case of Sylvia Likens.

Let's look at some of the characters now shall we.

Main Protagonist

David Morgan- He is the Narrator of the story and eyewitness to the events that ultimately killed Meg Loughlin. David is a kind and caring boy but is constantly conflicted between his loyalty to family and friends and that of Meg who is suffering horrendous abuse at their hands.

Meg&Susan Loughlin- Sisters taken in by their Aunt after their parents die in an accident. Meg the elder sister is brutally tortured by her Aunt, cousins and neighbors while Susan is forced to sit by obediently and watch.

Main Antagonist

Ruth Chandler- A single mother of 3 who agrees to look after her two nieces after their parents die in an accident. Ruth is a truly sadistic woman who takes great joy in making the eldest Loughlin girl suffer even going so far as to letting neighbor children participate.

Major differences between the Book and the Movie.

In the Book Meg is a redhead.
vs.
In the Movie Meg is brunette.

In the Book Meg suffers extensive damage to her groin by a tire iron.
vs.
In the Movie the act was implied but not shown.

In the Book Ruth fell down the stairs, broke her neck and died.
vs.
In the Movie David swings a tire iron at her head and kills her.

In the Book Meg dies alone on the floor after flashing a weak smile to her sister Susan and David.
vs.
In the Movie Meg dies while David holds her in his arms.

Ultimately many of the differences between the book and movie deal with torture and while those scenes missing from the movie definitely take away from the impact I do not feel that I need to list them in detail as they are very disturbing.

In the end I feel that the Book is better. The book is dark, disturbing and extremely sad but what it does do is impact the reader. I felt that because the movie did lack so much of the torture that we never truly feel how desperate the situation was for the Loughlin sisters or how their neighbors and community failed them. It truly is one of the most heartbreaking aspects about this story. If you have a weak stomach then I suggest skipping both. Both of these are definitely R-rated and not for young readers.

Well that about wraps up this weeks Book to Movie Monday. I'll post the movie trailer down below in case your curious. Leave a Comment down below telling me which you liked better and why. Have a recommend for an upcoming Book to Movie let me know that as well.