Geeklings, I am up against the clock. I’ve got about three days to read 150 pages. I know that doesn’t sound that stressful, or difficult, and it really isn’t but I’m up against the clock here. Granted, it’s completely a self-inflicted clock that has no real pressure outside of self-inflicted pressure, but it’s a clock none the less.

If you recall in yesterdays super lame Week In Geek I mentioned that the movie Red Sparrow was coming out this Friday. I might have also mentioned that I’m a little more than halfway through the book. That’s right, I’ve been reading Red Sparrow right before it’s theatrical release in the hopes of finishing it just in time to see the movie. This is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Seriously. If I see a movie trailer, think it looks cool, and find out it’s a book then that means I’ve got some reading to do before the movie comes out. I refuse to see the movie first. There’s just something ingrained in my geeky DNA that won’t let me do it. There are actually a number of movies, and television shows for that matter, that I haven’t gotten around to watching yet because I haven’t read the book yet. I’m not sure if I’m punishing myself or not but it’s who I am. I can’t change it.

I was listening to the Bizarre States podcast this morning and they were talking about The Magicians and I was like “I want to watch that.” I’ve heard some pretty stellar things about the show and know that there are two seasons on Netflix so the opportunity to binge is literally at my fingertips. And I already ready read the first book. Years ago, during a time where I worked at Borders Books (yeah waaaaaay back). The only problem though… I don’t remember a lot of it. I read so much that sometimes I forget the important details of the story. Sometimes this means the book just wasn’t that impactful and other times it just means I forget stuff, but with The Magicians I recalled some key elements but not the major points. Like the ending. So what did Kevin do? He went on Amazon and re-bought the first book for Gandalf the Kindle so he can eventually get around to re-reading it. To be honest, from what I recall about The Magicians, I don’t think I was madly in love with it. I liked it but wasn’t like whooooaaaaaa, but I’m telling you this to describe the type of crazy I am. I won’t even watch a show on a book I’ve already read because I don’t remember the book. I’m a special breed.

I had a hard enough time watching The Ritual on Netflix (which was quite good by the way) which was another book I read years ago but couldn’t remember the finer details. Watching the movie didn’t really clear those details up either but some of the larger points resurfaced. But watching the film without going back to the book really bothered me internally. The movie was creepy but the whole time I had this uncomfortable feeling in my chest. Almost like a little voice whispering into my soul saying, “you should have gone back and re-read the book.”

It should come to no surprise to any of you then that I need to finish the book before the movie is released. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. I recall being a kid reading Jurrasic Park for the first time in the hopes of finishing before I watched the movie. While I failed in that task I chalk it up to being young and probably starting the book with a small window. There was a lot of science jargon for my young mind to process, but finishing the book kicked off a serious obsession with Michael Crichton. Since then, I never wanted to be in a position like that again. The book must come first.

Which brings us to today. I’m currently 150 pages away from finishing Red Sparrow with the movie release three days away. It’ll probably be anywhere to four, five, maybe even seven days before I see the movie but I can feel my back against the wall here. It’s probably taken me a bit longer to finish the book than I would like, it does get dense in some parts, but on the whole, I’ve found it to be rather enjoyable. When the plot starts rolling it’s hard to look away, and I’m curious to see how it translates to the big screen. The goal is to watch it while the story is fresh so I don’t have a Ritual like experience. That would be a bummer. The important part is finishing the book so I can see the movie when I want. That’s the freedom.

For me though, I think the urge to read the book before the movie is the need to get the story in it’s truest form. This is how the story was supposed to be taken in. Movies are great. Movies are awesome. But that movie can’t exist without the book so if the trailer looks dope as hell then that must mean the book is dope as hell. With Red Sparrow I saw the trailer on tv or something and remembered that I had bought the book a couple of years ago when it was dirt cheap on Amazon. That was enough to finally force my hand into reading it. Sometimes movie trailers serve a larger purpose than just getting you to see the movie. I’ve read a number of books because of kick-ass trailers.

I can’t be the only one here. How many of you need to read the book first before the movie? Or are some of you heathens who read the book after the movie? Or, even worse, do you just not care about the book? Just give you the movie. Sound off in the comments and let me know. I can’t be the only “crazy” one. Tell me one book you raced to finish before the movie. The comments are yours or you can find me on Twitter @iamgeek32. Now if you’ll excuse me I have 150 pages to get through.