I think comparing a novel to film is impossible, and 99% of the time, the novel is better. The novel can explain things in so much more detail, and if you try that in a movie, it comes off as talking down to the viewer. A book can be 200 or 400 or 800 pages and be a great read, cause you can put it down and start up again tomorrow. A movie is usually around 2+ hours, and some great epics are 3+ hours, but they are few and far between, and it is very hard to pull that off to keep the viewer interested. I try to keep the two seperate, as I either read the book or see the movie, but never both cause you will be letdown in the movie, it is just inevitable. Heck, even the PT novels were actually pretty good!