Differences Between Gayle Forman's If I Stay

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When books are made into movies, some details tend to be lost in translation. When the book If I Stay by Gayle Forman was adapted into a major motion picture in 2014, several key details and events were distorted and changed. Some key differences between the movie and the book include what Mia and Adam, the two main characters’, first date is like, the relationship Mia has with her grandpa, and an important discussion that Mia has with her father that would later influence her decisions of going to college at Julliard. These differences are important because they impact how the reader, or watcher, interprets the story. Throughout the book and the movie, while Mia is in a coma, she undergoes a series of flashbacks. One of her flashbacks is the memory of how her and her boyfriend. Adam start dating. Amdam originally begins to like Mia when he sees her playing the cello, so he begins saving up money for a concert. In the book Adam takes Mia to see an unnamed female cellist, whereas in the book there is a huge emphasis on the the artist that they go see because it is Mia’s favorite cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. This difference is important because in the movie, it shows that Adam listens to Mia’s interest. The importance of seeing Yo-Yo Ma play in …show more content…

This moment is included in the book, but it is not present in the movie. In this scene, Mia is comforted by her grandpa when she expresses that she is nervous for the audition. This is important because it shows the bond that Mia has with her grandpa and how much they mean to each other. This memory of her grandfather makes it more difficult for Mia to choose life or death, as he does not want to live without her parents, but she does not want her grandparent to live without her. The fact that this is left out of the movie causes leaves a key detail to why Mia chooses to live out of the