Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | Book vs. Movie

Today I'm reviewing the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt and its movie adaptation.
Check out the book here: amzn.to/3tpRH8b
Check out the movie here: amzn.to/2TGPQWb
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-NONFICTION NOVEMBER INFO-
Announcing...Nonfiction November 2018!: • Announcing...Nonfictio...
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[@fallenangelz291]

I read this book when it came out. I never looked at it as a true crime drama, but more as a story about quirky Savannah, where a murder happens to take place while the author is visiting. I loved the book, but never watched the movie. I was fortunate enough to have visited a friend who lived in Savannah a few years prior, and, while I didn't delve into its society, I loved the town. FYI: Berendt later wrote City of Falling Angels about Venice. I highly recommend it! When we were there a year after reading the book, we visited places mainly because of this book. As with Midnight, he gets to know some interesting locals and their secrets. AND.... the opera house burns down (I never want to be visiting a place at the same time JB is there!), and part of the book is finding out, who, if anyone, did it. Thanks for the review; it makes me want to re-read both books.

[@druidriley3163]

I have City of Falling Angels and just started it. Fascinating book. I didn't realize it was the same author!

[@jennisrandom42]

I watched the movie during my “I’m obsessed with John Cusack” phase, so I did enjoy it though I agree with your point about the unnecessary romance plot. I really loved reading the book a few years back. Knowing parts of it were fabricated bums me out. Savannah is great to visit.

[@beckyf1890]

I have read the book and watched the movie. I had a friend who got married on Tybee Island in 2012. I reread the book before the wedding. Another friend and I took time during the weekend to take a walking tour of the book. There is a store called The Book Store which is a tribute to all things related to the book and the movie. Savannah is just as quirky and magical as it is in the book. I highly recommend visiting. I'm looking forward to going back.

[@ashleywinter209]

Im so jealous of your bookshelves!!! I just noticed you have so many hardbacks! Im cheap and have mostly paperback.

[@abookolive]

Oh, I'm cheap, too. The VAST majority of my books come from library book sales. I was just at one this past weekend where hardbacks were $1. Filling the shelves has not been as expensive as you may think, haha!

[@ashleywinter209]

Ive never heard of such magic as a library book sale!!! Nowhere ive lived has done that

[@rabrab3]

One of my favorites. I agree completely with your review. I had the great fortune of meeting both John Berendt and the Lady. My manager that I had worked for in retail was a close friend with Chablis. When she wrote her book, "Hiding my Candy" she lived with my manager for a portion of its writing. John Berendt did come down for a visit during its writing. Lucky for me I have signed copies of both books. P.S. love your channel and just subscribed.

[@shaygreene9046]

I loved this book and I'm so glad I read it when I did as it added to the charm when i first visited! I ended up taking a vacation to Savannah, fell in love with it, and now I'm moving in a few days and just a few houses away from Joe Odom's place. As a Yankee that also ended up making friends and eventually finding it hard to leave, this book really painted a beautiful picture. I was also sad that the movie never fully touches on the charm and the eccentricities of the people there. It's a city that feels like a small town. The movie was good, but the book was great. Thank you for your review!

[@karakask5488]

Thanks for reviewing this. I read it back in the day, when it was big hit. I remember liking it, but I didn't remember the details, so thank you for reminding me about it!

[@austindixon23]

Great video, Olive! I absolutely adore Savannah (one of my favorite cities) and also loved this book when I read it years ago. However, your review of the movie is SPOT ON! I wholeheartedly agree with you on every item you mentioned :)

[@tammycochrane2496]

I read the book and loved it so much I went to Savanah and it is now one of my favorite places.

[@georgeshaw8925]

Great review my friend.

[@shawnatheeclecticbookworm2408]

I watched this movie over and over, throughout the years. Sometimes that is what draws me to the book. It was also on my TBR pile for nonfiction November but I ended up having a crazy month, and only read one book of my list. Glad to hear that it’s a good read, I’m hoping to get to it early in 2019.

[@jeanninethompson6243]

I just finished it this month. I enjoyed the atmospheric atmosphere feel of this book.

[@tawallah77]

I never finished the book. I stopped before the murder was even revealed. I felt I was learning about people and Savannah in isolation.

[@TheNovelSanctuary]

I loved Savannah when I went some years back and I saw this book EVERYWHERE lol I read it back in high school but remember almost nothing about it, would be nice to give it a re-read at some point

[@abookolive]

Haha, I read that there's actually a whole bookstore there dedicated to this book? I'm dying to go and visit to see some of the landmarks!

[@nicolem9024]

Hope you get a chance to visit Savannah! I fell in love with it when I visited. It didn’t hurt that we stayed in an AirBnB on the same block of as the Williams house. If you do, take a “ghost tour” at night. You get to walk the city and learn all sorts of fabulous dark history... with adult beverages in hand!!

[@abookolive]

Oh god I love the sound of EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT.

[@halpayne612]

I loved the book.My brother in law lives there.So I had to go and see all the old houses.Met Mandy a very nice lady.

[@RememberedReads]

Interesting that you had such a strong negative reaction to the changes made for the film. I've read the book and seen the movie, but that was back in the late '90s and I barely remember anything from either. Still, I had a friend at the time who was obsessed with both (that's the only reason I read/watched them - she forced me to sit through the movie and strongly encouraged me to read the book) and she was equally in love with the story in both forms. Watching your comparison I almost want to reach out to her and see if she still feels the same way. :)

[@BookishTexan]

I read this book a long time ago without thinking of it as a true crime book. As for the movie, it seemed that it abandoned its source material really early on and never recovered from that decision.

[@jarrellbaxley3798]

Read book and saw movie. Lived in Savannah 2 years. Liked both but had a problem with issue that they totally missed the true Savannah accent in movie.

[@tdward23]

Glad you finally read a good book! We all win

[@jenniferwhalen2104]

I live just outside of Savannah and of course I read it. Have not seen the movie. I loved the book. I didn't read it like a true crime. I am not a true crime fan. I Love this book.

[@wendyvilla2904]

Hola hola! Love your channel! I read this book awhile ago gave it 3/5 stars watched the movie 2/5 stars so I unhauled both. You should do this with the book & movie In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

[@abookolive]

Hi & thank you! I'm certainly planning on doing more book/movie comparison videos in the future. Perhaps I'll do In Cold Blood.

[@ronaldlaregard4321]

I don't think I've ever watched the whole movie, cause it rubbed me the wrong way from the start. The book, I read when it came and absolutely loved. Given that I am a fan, of both southern gothic and Johnny Mercer, made me an easy mark. My only gripe with it, is that I sometimes felt that John Berendt made himself more important to the narrative, than I actually think he ever was

[@circusofdamned3206]

I listened to the audiobook which was amazing. And after the audiobook finish the author did an explantion of the book stating that he arrived before the third murder trial but mad it seem like he was present before the murder happened. And while it made for an amazing book I did find it an odd choice. However I loved the audiobook production and the story was so immersive and beautiful.

[@kate_cooper]

So, if John Berendt only arrived in Savannah after the murder, that would mean he never actually met Danny Hansford, wouldn't it? So the scene where he meets him at Mercer House was made up and presumably based on what he'd heard about Hansford. That certainly does seem an odd thing to do.

[@PungiFungi]

The guy who read it did a great job, especially in doing the voices for Chablis and especially Minerva. I wonder which came first, the movie or the audiobook as he certainly sounded like Irma P Hall in the film.

[@dbc-books6882]

As an aside, as a Georgia native who goes to Savannah fairly routinely, it is a great place to visit. If you have not yet gone, I definitely recommend it. Also, include a visit to Charleston for a similar deep South, coastal destination. As for the book, never read it. Does not appeal to me. I did see the movie which I knew nothing about because a couple of friends drug me to the theater when it was out in the late 90s. The fact that I knew nothing about it was probably the entire reason they wanted me to go. A bit of a prank. Because, as a graduate of Georgia Tech, I have a Clean Old-Fashioned Hate for anything Unversity (sic) of Georgia. Sooooo...when that mutt bulldog appeared on-screen and I almost stormed out of the theater, barely able to contain my sputtering at the dwag....well...they found it quite humorous I do believe! LOL! To H*ll with Georgia!

[@donlarsen5685]

Much like you, the difference I discerned between the book and the movie was the star.....Cusack, Spacey. Chablis.....all big characters of screen, but in the book, Savannah itself was the star.....as much through its residents (who granted some of whom were in the movie) as through the beauty, history...….and underbelly. Savannah as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts (or characters).

[@abookolive]

Couldn't agree more!

[@PungiFungi]

The book should’ve been a mini series.

[@abookolive]

I definitely don't disagree with you. But then again, I think most book adaptations would make better miniseries than movies.

[@cedarabbey]

Eastwood totally missed the boat on this one -- it seemed to be a vanity project for him as opposed to his having any genuine interest in the subject matter. Also, the movie has bad karma because it basically accepts Jim Williams version 100% of Danny's moral character, and doesn't even question it (the book doesn't entirely either). It's like Williams filmed it himself, frankly.. I would recommend people catch the 1997 A&E documentary "Midnight in Savannah" -- it's everything the movie should have been.

[@tamayalyles7448]

I had to know what it about because I have the back

[@druidriley3163]

Read the book, saw the movie. The book was very 80s and dated and I read the book like 15 years ago! The author made a big deal of Lady Chablis, because, I suppose, getting to know transgender/gays/drag queens was a novelty back then? Book spent way too much time covering her and not enough with the characters involved in the murder, which made me believe the author didn't have much access to the people involved in or facts of the crime. That also made me wonder how much was factual about the book. The city as a character was well written, I give it that. I did enjoy the movie, but as usual, they had to make the author part of the plot, when he wasn't, and give him a love interest, which was unnecessary, but I guess the movie producers thought that would help get people into theaters. That was tedious, but the rest of the movie felt rushed. Too many interesting characters not enough time. But I did like they accelerated the time of the murder. That is, after all, why most people went to the movie - to see a murder mystery.

[@imperatrice211]

I watched the movie a few years ago and really liked it but I've been very interested in reading the book!

[@ZoeBeck7]

I read this book soon after it came out and I liked it at the time. Later I heard about how he’d changed a few things and it dropped off my favorite true crime books. I remember thinking the movie was a mess too. This book was one I’ve forgotten most of it as well as the movie. So I agree with you. 😉

[@awshade176]

This presenter would probably have a problem with In Cold Blood . . .

[@abookolive]

This presenter (hi! My name is Olive) hasn't read In Cold Blood, but I guess we'll see what I think of it!