Coraline: The Graphic Novel vs. The Book

vs.

I have often asked myself that age-old question: which format is a book better in? As a text-only book or with pretty pictures. Ok, maybe its not an age-old question, but its still a pretty important one.

To test my love of illustration, I decided to compare two books: Coraline (the book) and Coraline (the graphic novel). It's kind of like reading a book and then watching the movie: same story, different format.

Quick Plot Synopsis: "In Coraline's family's new flat is a door which opens only to a brick wall. But one day, the door opens on a passage to another flat just like her own. At first, things seem marvelous there. The food is better. The toys are magical. But there's also another mother and father, and they want Coraline to be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go." (From the Baldwin Public Library Website) There was also a major motion picture adapted from this story.

So, now the question you've been waiting for, which is better: book or graphic novel?

Categories of Evaluation:

Fastest Read: the graphic novel, which I finished in about half the the time.
Best Characters: the book. I know what you're thinking, "they're the same characters!" Somehow, though, they're not. The book characters have a little bit more depth, a little bit more wit, and are, generally, better developed
Most Imaginative: Tie: the book makes you imagine more for yourself, which in a totally made up world, can get kind of crazy. But the graphic novel had to try to interpret a created-world which, for the lack of a better description, falls apart into nothingness - so kudos to the illustrator.

Winner? There is no winner. Or they're both winners. Or, really, I'm the winner! Both formats were crazy interesting in their own right, and the different format made me notice different things. I noticed dialogue more in the graphic novel (because that forms 90% of the words), but noticed characters more in the book.

If only I could see the movie now...