Blasphemy: A Book Based on Movie Based on a Book

I made the mistake of going into Barnes & Noble last night. In the SF section is a bright red copy of John Carter, the film novelization. This is a book, based on a movie, and the movie is based on a book.

Why wouldn’t you just read the original book?

This is like a photocopy of a photocopy. It’s wrong.

If you wanted to read a book about John Carter on Mars, WHY WOULDN’T YOU READ THE ORIGINAL BOOK?

And publishers are doing a lovely job of putting out shiny new editions. Some of them are wonderfully illustrated. They have covers to appeal to a variety of fans. All of them are written by the man who created John Carter, Edgar Rice Burroughs. So why would you read some Disneyfied adaptation?

This is like saying, oh, I like this, but I only like the fake version of it, not the real thing. This is what separates people who read books from mindless consumers.