Imagine a boxing ring. In one corner is a clothbound hardback copy of The Great Gatsby, the glorious, elaborate description spreading across the ring, mingling into the crowd allowing them to visualise 1920’s New York, the parties and most of all, Gatsby himself. In the other corner is the film adaptation, the words of Fitzgerald being interpreted into sound, images and special effects, the characters becoming moving from an image in one’s mind to a physical being. The books against films match resumes.

As an avid reader whose ‘to-read list’ is far higher than the tallest person I know (who happens to be 6 foot 5 inches), I perhaps do not have the most balanced opinion in the ongoing ‘books vs films’ debate.

This is probably due to the fact I am a firm believer in the ‘read the book before seeing the movie’ rule. For me, the fundamental part of a film adaptation is that it pulls the best parts from a much loved book, where a reader relies solely on imagination and their own creativity, and brings the words on a page to life turning them into something more tangible. Therefore, if a film is indeed an ‘adaptation’, a reading of the book the film is based around surely would provide any viewer with better clarity throughout the film as they have the perspective of how the author wanted the elements that make up the story – the setting, characters and events – to be like.

A survey conducted by the Booktrust published this week stated that despite all the various initiatives to get younger generations reading, 45% of adults aged between 18 and 30 would rather watch TV or a DVD than read a book. This sparks the question whether books are becoming less and less popular because of the increasing busyness of our daily lives. The immediacy of film or TV adaptation, that essentially give us the same stories as a book, take far less time than the 300-odd pages of a novel.

Books are popular, but there is a clear distinction in popularity between the books that have been adapted for the screen and those that are still in line, waiting to be brought to life. A quick perusal at the current film listings shows that increasingly, film companies are turned to book adaptations to create blockbuster films for their demanding audiences. The sudden surge in popularity of books such as the The Hunger Games or Twilight as soon as they were created into films show that we, as a nation, want to read but sometimes we need a little push with a film to actually read said book.

I love books. However, I also love films. It’s time like this that the interlinking connections between the book and the film need to be broken so audiences can appreciate one without the other. The conflict between these mediums can be seen as the everlasting clash between traditional – the humble book – and modern – a film. As someone who loves books, if a film directs audiences towards the book it is based upon or at least makes audiences appreciate the story, in some ways it should not matter which is better, the book and film will always win in their own rights.

The match between the book and the film adaptation continues, but maybe it’s time to let them both draw.