Danielle Steel's "Full Circle" : Movie vs. Book Review

The Story

"Full Circle" traces the story of Tana Roberts from just before her before her conception all the way until her mid-forties. It tells of the trials of her childhood, including a traumatic event that changes the entire path of her life. It shows her college life: friends, enemies, recent events. It follows up to her adult problems: death, loneliness, career, etc.

The Book

The book by Danielle Steel was a very good read. It starts in WWII, where her father served and followed to around Vietnam. It was very descriptive. Steel keeps the reader on a roller coaster of emotion: from angry to sad to mad to happy. The thing I like about the book is that Steel doesn't worry about the readers loving the character at all times. Tana is human and there are times when the reader will absolutely hate her, screaming "Why did you DO that??" (trust me, I scared my husband). The only problem I had is that it was so depressing; if its bad and it can happen, it happens.

****4 1/2 Stars****

The Movie

Not to be dramatic but watching the movie, all I could think was that someone raped and brutalized the novel and then called it a movie script. They made it so her father was in Vietnam instead of WWII. They started the movie when she was in college (a completely different type of college, by the way)... which cut out about the first 1/2 of the book. The character that is her college best friend's mother in the book is now a character chanting in the beginning of the movie... and the best friend was completely written out. Her adult best friend is now her college best friend, and not met in the way she does in the book. The major life event I spoke of in the story line now happens to her as an adult and not a teenager. They made her mother completely different (in the book she starts poor and is modest... in the movie we only see her as rich and snobbish). There are so many differences that I couldn't possibly list them all (without giving it all away). Now I can't say what it would have been like if I had watched the movie or never read the book at all. Maybe when it stands alone its a good movie... but for something that is supposed to be based off of a book, it did it no justice.

**2 Stars**

My Viewpoint - If you have to read this for school... do NOT watch the movie as a way of cheating... you will be cheating yourself. For all - take the time and read the book. It's worth the extra time.