Book versus movie — “Where the Crawdads Sing”

The novel flew off the shelves when it was published and released to the public in 2018. It was nominated for  Goodreads Choice Awards Best Historical Fiction and Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author. The book goes into great detail about Kya, the main character, and her complicated past. She grew up different from most people in the time period the novel was set in, but her experiences also differ greatly from experiences in today’s world. It also bounces back and forth between her past and her present, which could be confusing, but Owens does a great job of making it clear which period the reader is in. 

The movie adaptation was very similar to the book, but there were some differences that made a big difference when watching the film. One of the main ones being how little the movie went into detail about Kya and her family. Half of the novel described the background details, but the movie only touched on it slightly. 

 Another big difference would be how Kya started writing and drawing her book. Tate, her love interest, suggested a list of publishers that she should reach out to. In the novel, he does this trying to win Kya back and Kya ends up sending in ideas for her own pleasure. In the film, he suggests she publish a book before he leaves and Kya decided to do it due to the fact that she needed the money. 

“I did not read the novel and just watched the movie. I told some friends that had read the novel and they said that I was lucky that I enjoyed the movie since it was a let down for them,” said Jordan McDede (’23).

This is usually the case when it comes to movie adaptations. Films do not have time to encapsulate all of the detail that can be seen in a novel. Many complain that the movies end up leaving out key events or situations after reading the book before seeing the movie. However, the movies by themselves would be much easier to watch if one did not have prior knowledge of the book.

For Where the Crawdads Sing specifically, the novel has an exceptional amount of details between how Kya grew up and the family dynamic to the poems that she read throughout the book. The movie does not incorporate the impact of the poems, but it does try to tie them. The movie shows very little attention to Kya’s past which shaped who she was in the future. The novel gives the reader a very different perspective on Kya and her actions while the film takes a lot of her character away. This is unfortunate since Kya is such a deep person with many facets. 

Saw the movie "Where the crawdads sing".

If I had not read the book already, the movie would have been great.

Because I've read the book, movie is not doing justice to the story.

— Haji Yaqoob (@CoffeeMugga_) October 15, 2022

“I find it hard to go from reading the book to watching the movie, so I honestly just end up reading the book. I hate ruining the idea I have about one thing and then watching the film change it,” said Alana Foley (’25).