--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Here's how adaptation works - almost…" description: "\"Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the movie is in the book in some form. But it's as though the deck has been completely reshuffled an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/walter-kirn-2189_adaptation_here-s-how-adaptation-works-almost-every_509312.jpg" --- # Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the… ![“Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the movie is in the book in some form. But it's as though the deck has been completely reshuffled and some of the cards have been assigned different values, some of the fours have been made into jacks, and some of the jacks have been made into twos.” quote by Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/walter-kirn-2189_adaptation_here-s-how-adaptation-works-almost-every_509312.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/walter-kirn-2189_adaptation_here-s-how-adaptation-works-almost-every_509312.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b1/walter-kirn-2189_adaptation_here-s-how-adaptation-works-almost-every_509312.jpg) > “Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the movie is in the book in some form. But it's as though the deck has been completely reshuffled and some of the cards have been assigned different values, some of the fours have been made into jacks, and some of the jacks have been made into twos.” [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The film reinterprets the source material, reshuffling elements and assigning new significance, showing how stories evolve across media. **In simple terms:** Stories change when moved to new formats. Key Takeaway Embrace creative reinterpretation. Themes adaptation creativity storytelling Mood reflective analytical Type critical interpretive When to use this quote - film criticism - screenwriting - literary analysis - media studies Key Concepts narrative transformation intertextuality Questions to Reflect On - How does altering a story affect its core message? - What responsibilities do creators have when adapting works? A Different Perspective Changes may alienate original fans. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adaptation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Different values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-values/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [I think any musical has so many moving parts and the challenge is unifying all the moving parts in particular because you have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-e-platt/i-think-any-musical-has-so-many-moving-parts-and-the-challenge-is/) [Marc E. Platt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-e-platt/) > [“A psychic friend could come in very handy." I reshuffled my cards. "I predict I will," she said.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cath-crowley/a-psychic-friend-could-come-in-very-handy-i-reshuffled-my-cards-i/) [Cath Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cath-crowley/) > [A movie is a movie and a book is a book, and they have different rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-michael-straczynski/a-movie-is-a-movie-and-a-book-is-a-book-and-they-have-different-rules/) [J. Michael Straczynski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-michael-straczynski/) > [When a movie is being made out of a book, there is a mixed reaction on the part of fans because they are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/when-a-movie-is-being-made-out-of-a-book-there-is-a-mixed-reaction-on/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [“Because we can't, we don't know how to talk about a movie or a book anymore; the moment has come when movies and novels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-zambra/because-we-can-t-we-don-t-know-how-to-talk-about-a-movie-or-a-book/) [Alejandro Zambra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-zambra/) > [The book is even quirkier, but it's hard to bring all of that stuff to a movie. With a book, you use your imagination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jemaine-clement/the-book-is-even-quirkier-but-it-s-hard-to-bring-all-of-that-stuff-to/) [Jemaine Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jemaine-clement/) > [I know a movie and a book are two different things and you are going do different media in different ways. No author can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/i-know-a-movie-and-a-book-are-two-different-things-and-you-are-going/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [A movie is not a book. If the source material is a book, you cannot be too respectful of the book. All you owe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-movie-is-not-a-book-if-the-source-material-is-a-book-you-cannot-be/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [I'm always frustrated when somebody makes a movie out of a book and they leave the book behind, or the heart of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-penn/i-m-always-frustrated-when-somebody-makes-a-movie-out-of-a-book-and/) [Sean Penn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-penn/) > [I have a new book coming out, so I do movie, book, movie, book, movie, book, every place we go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adriana-trigiani/i-have-a-new-book-coming-out-so-i-do-movie-book-movie-book-movie-book/) [Adriana Trigiani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adriana-trigiani/) > [You know, after filming the movie the book was still just as big. I think it was actually bigger. I think Stephen King went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-olyphant/you-know-after-filming-the-movie-the-book-was-still-just-as-big-i/) [Timothy Olyphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-olyphant/) > [There's nothing sacred about the book you've written. The Bible says there's safety in a multitude of counselors. The movie is the movie, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-peretti/there-s-nothing-sacred-about-the-book-you-ve-written-the-bible-says/) [Frank Peretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-peretti/) > [But the animation has become very good, and I think that a movie is not a book, and a book is not a movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/but-the-animation-has-become-very-good-and-i-think-that-a-movie-is/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [Always, with any movie that I do, I have a book of ideas that I've heard, or seen, or whatever, and I always try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-lyne/always-with-any-movie-that-i-do-i-have-a-book-of-ideas-that-i-ve/) [Adrian Lyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-lyne/) > [I am not a scary movie/book kind of gal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jolene-purdy/i-am-not-a-scary-movie-book-kind-of-gal/) Jolene Purdy ## More by Walter Kirn > [Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“I just wasn't ready for his stories. They'd breed with the others I'd heard and hatch new monsters, because there was no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-just-wasn-t-ready-for-his-stories-they-d-breed-with-the-others-i-d/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“For time to pass it would have to go somewhere, and where would that be? Time sits. We move, it sits. Sometimes it trembles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/for-time-to-pass-it-would-have-to-go-somewhere-and-where-would-that/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Once you realize just the sort of glut of books that exists out there, it does become incumbent on you not to add to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/once-you-realize-just-the-sort-of-glut-of-books-that-exists-out-there/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [There are two sides to me. One is the writer. That's a savage person who looks at everything as a story and, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/there-are-two-sides-to-me-one-is-the-writer-that-s-a-savage-person/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-italy-when-i-was-eighteen-i-was/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Quiet cunning bested boastful brawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/quiet-cunning-bested-boastful-brawn/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The idea that Americans favor politicians who either remind them of themselves or can imagine what their selves are like because they too have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-idea-that-americans-favor-politicians-who-either-remind-them-of/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Memo to extreme partisans: If you can't bring yourselves to love your enemies, can you at least learn to hate your friends?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/memo-to-extreme-partisans-if-you-can-t-bring-yourselves-to-love-your/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [People can be so neglectful of each other and of their own heritage - then death intrudes. Conversations we wish that we'd had earlier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/people-can-be-so-neglectful-of-each-other-and-of-their-own-heritage/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I'd assumed that a deal was a deal when Princeton admitted me, but I was wrong. The price of getting in - to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-d-assumed-that-a-deal-was-a-deal-when-princeton-admitted-me-but-i/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-maneuvering-has-become-business/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Meanness on request isn't meanness at all, but kindness carried too far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/meanness-on-request-isn-t-meanness-at-all-but-kindness-carried-too-far/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) [Explore all 177 Walter Kirn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## More Adaptation quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [I do think that theater is a great venue for science fiction, and not just adaptations but also original work. I also think some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-einhorn/i-do-think-that-theater-is-a-great-venue-for-science-fiction-and-not/) Edward Einhorn > [“Why I am Passionate and Dedicated 1000% to producing and bringing my books Loving Summer, Bitter Frost, and other book series to the Screen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailin-gow/why-i-am-passionate-and-dedicated-1000-to-producing-and-bringing-my/) [Kailin Gow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailin-gow/) > [My familiarity with the successful use of very long steel ropes for mining purposes naturally suggested their adaptation to the new purpose of deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-agassiz/my-familiarity-with-the-successful-use-of-very-long-steel-ropes-for/) Alexander Agassiz > [The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-smalley/the-survival-of-the-fittest-is-the-ageless-law-of-nature-but-the/) [Dave Smalley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-smalley/) > [The facts of variability, of the struggle for existence, of adaptation to conditions, were notorious enough; but none of us had suspected that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-facts-of-variability-of-the-struggle-for-existence-of-adaptation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is a law of nature we overlook, that intellectual versatility is the compensation for change, danger, and trouble. An animal perfectly in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-law-of-nature-we-overlook-that-intellectual-versatility-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The world may not be ready yet for the film equivalent of books on tape, but this peculiar phenomenon has arrived in the form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-mitchell/the-world-may-not-be-ready-yet-for-the-film-equivalent-of-books-on/) [Elvis Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-mitchell/) > [“Evolution is more about adaptivity than adaptability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raheel-farooq/evolution-is-more-about-adaptivity-than-adaptability/) [Raheel Farooq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raheel-farooq/) > [There is change by necessity or adaptation, and there is contrived change or novelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/there-is-change-by-necessity-or-adaptation-and-there-is-contrived/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The tendency for depression to repeat reflects the normal default settings of a plastic mood system that is open to experience. The unfortunate consequence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-rottenberg/the-tendency-for-depression-to-repeat-reflects-the-normal-default/) [Jonathan Rottenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-rottenberg/) > [“The unglamorous truth is that there are but a handful of uniquely human traits that we have clearly demonstrated are adaptations evolved to thrive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rutherford/the-unglamorous-truth-is-that-there-are-but-a-handful-of-uniquely/) [Adam Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rutherford/) > [“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/you-must-be-shapeless-formless-like-water-when-you-pour-water-in-a/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [“On the rare occasions on which a movie was shown, there was as much suspense in the audience over whether the electricity would hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/on-the-rare-occasions-on-which-a-movie-was-shown-there-was-as-much/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) > [Working on an adaptation is not as satisfying, because it's not your original work: you're interpreting. With 'L.A. Confidential,' I loved the book. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-helgeland/working-on-an-adaptation-is-not-as-satisfying-because-it-s-not-your/) [Brian Helgeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-helgeland/) [Browse all 476 Adaptation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Here's how adaptation works - almost everything in the movie is in the book in some form. 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