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The Soloist

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The Soloist
Discuss The Soloist Compared to the movie, I think the book tells the story in a much more powerful way. The movie seems constrained by its shorter length, and its inability to delve into how the characters are feeling except through what the characters say. The book, The Soloist, portrays the different characters in a vivid and complete way. The book, by including more events, tells the story in a way that allows readers to see how the relationship between Lopez and Nathanial develops. The more detailed string of events provides more context and a better understanding of how Lopez responds emotionally to Nathaniel. The book also provides more information about Lopez’s efforts in a more detailed and descriptive way, and it gives readers a more explicit vision of Steve Lopez and Nathaniel as characters. The book, by showing the process of the development of the relationship between Nathaniel and Steve Lopez, helps form a strong emotional agreement between readers and the author. In contrast, the movie presents the story in a very brief way that does not allow the audience to be affected by the story fully. From my perspective, I prefer the book over the movie. First of all, the book and the movie present the characters differently. The book includes that Steve Lopez has a nice family, while in the movie he is a divorced man. Having a nice family in the book helps readers picture Steve Lopez’s challenges while helping Nathaniel. Lopez states in the book that “I don’t have the stamina to serve indefinitely as his keeper, worrying about his safety while trying to be a columnist, husband and father” (95). It helps the readers to visualize the relationship between Lopez and Nathaniel, and Lopez’s desire to get back to his life. Also, the book’s plot line of Lopez having a family provides the richness of emotional detail provided by Nathaniel’s visiting the family, the questions Nathaniel has about the family, and the connection between Nathaniel


Cited: Lopez, Steve. The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music. New York: Berkley Books, 2008. Print.
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