The Book + the Movie

Having read the book and seen the movie "The Sterile Cuckoo," here are some impressions:

As others here have noted, the movie is very different from the book. While it might be considered heresy, I liked the movie more. For one thing it is more coherent, not just in its words but in its themes. Plus Pookie and Jerry seem more innocent in the movie, and I find that very attractive. I empathized with both characters in the book, but Jerry is much more cynical in it, and Pookie more hard-edged. I didn't enjoy the emphasis in the book on Jerry's frat escapades, and I also didn't like the wordy narration and the way the writing flails around at times. Much of the narration doesn't quite fit with the character of Jerry, who is supposedly so intelligent and serious. Maybe the writer Nichols is trying to show the confusion of college-days, but it doesn't come across successfully to me. On the other hand I was wishing for more of Pookie's musings. They were enjoyable in the book as in the movie.

Pookie is unforgettable, loveable and heart-breaking in both versions. In the novel the word "hoyden" is used to describe her, and I think the positive qualities of that word suit her very well. Speaking as a heterosexual male, I can easily see why one would fall in love with her, and I never felt the disgust that some others on these boards have expressed. It rings true to me that Jerry softens towards Pookie. She would be infuriating at times, but she's also smart, energetic, self-deprecating, ingratiating, imaginative and very vulnerable. To me that combination is irresistible.

Both book and movie are good at showing two smart, awkward kids learning about relationships and life. Again I think the movie depicts this better. It shows the awkwardness and excitement of a relationship especially well, in images as well as words. While Jerry develops in the movie and Pookie goes off the deep end, they both seem to continue to show their inner core characters throughout. In the book the two seem to change more abruptly--Pookie between high school and college, and Jerry in his pre-fraternity versus frat house days. It could be a matter of opinion, but the movie-makers seem more sensitive to human nature and character than Nichols does in his book.

The book does a nice job of describing how Jerry and Pookie sense something is wrong or missing in their relationship. They know "something snapped" but can't seem to put their finger on it. And things linger on for a while--something that often sadly happens in real life.

While the movie left out some major events of the book, the movie included some special moments of its own. I thought the cemetery scene in the movie was especially nice--much more poignant than the one in the book. And Pookie running to meet Jerry's bus is one among many unforgettable scenes.

Both the book and the movie are terribly sad, especially regarding the end of the relationship, and Pookie's character. In the movie Pookie seemed a bit more desperate, at least outwardly. I like to think that Pookie gets her act together, and finds more than the few seconds of happiness that she theorized about. She's got the smarts and the energy to do it.