Book vs Movie

I bought the book as soon as the movie was shown. I couldn't get a copy soon enough as it was out of print already but pure persistance sure paid off. I read the book voraciously and have not gotten tired of re-reading it all over again especially if I complemented it with the movie.

I am glad that they stuck to the majority, verbatim at times, on what was on the book. Although there are certain things in the book I wished had made it to the movie.

On the flip side, I do love that they added certain scenes in the movie that weren't on the book.

My wishlist of what was on the book that should have made it to final cut of the movie. All of it basically MORE interaction between Ray and Livy:

• My all time favorite--chapter 28. This is when Ray gave Livy a back rub and ended up beside her on the bed. There wasn't any non-Hallmark moment there and I don't understand why they did not include this in the movie at all. I think they've all but rolled it into one with the nightmare scene in the movie but not one bit of intimacy there. That nightmare scene gave the viewers more questions than answers. I just couldn't think of what's exactly going through Ray's mind that time, it's purely implied.
• That part where Livy told Ray that she's sorry for all that she's done to hurt him and that maybe she should never have come to him, that she had different dreams, places to go and that there's more about her that he doesn't know. Ray had a great answer to her doubts and it was how he professed his love to her "I love you because you came here to me". I think this is where Ray's understanding of the whole arrangement pretty much explained why he thinks it was God' will that he was chosen (by Rev Case of course) over all the other bachelors in the vicinity. But then, it's a toss up really on this one since I love Ray's speech and his acting when he professed his love for Livy and the baby in the movie's version.
• That they would have shown Ray doing some farm work. The movie felt like Ray had flexible hours but the book really said more about how Ray usually doesn't go home in the middle of the day (out before dawn back after sunset) because their land is big and he's somewhere doing work out there and prevents him from making trips back to their house in between. Ray at work in the barn (moving hay). Even the time that he allowed Livy to help him out in the orchard so that he could satisfy her need to be more involved in the farm would have been impactful because that sets the tone of how Livy sees what farm life is and what she's up for if she decides to stay. It also gives us another insight on Ray's life as a farmer who lives by himself and how he desperately tries to please his wife. The book had effectively established the feel of how Ray's life was before Livy's arrival.
• The time that Ray drove her to the edge of their property, by the railroad tracks and he delivers this line "Sometimes you do find what you're looking for, closer than you think."
• The times that Livy reminisces on their last few days of bonding. Like impressing him with his cooking, Ray complimenting her for any small action or reason. Ray and Livy sharing the divan at nights after dinner. The book does give you those old fashioned closeness and intimacy without the racy stuff added to it. I am just hoping that it was more of a time constraint than anything else that they opted to delete these from the film.
• Ray had relented to driving Livy to a telephone so she can make a call to the sheriff about the POW. Of course the sweetest part of this is that, he tried to drive through a blizzard without even knowing the reason behind the need for her to make the phonecall. It was pure Ray support for Livy no matter what.
• They share a geniune hug when he notices that Livy can't tell him what was bugging her (about the POW incident) and gave her a hug to comfort her.
• The part where Ray asks her if there is something she needed to tell him and she finally faced up to telling him about Edward. Ray had asked her if she loves him still and she questions if it was indeed love. I think this would have been a powerful scene in a way because it would have closed that loop about how Livy decided to stay with Ray.

Livy: Once you told me that this is a beginning. But how do you know, Ray? How do you know it's the beginning of something good?

Ray: I know -- because someday you're bound to forgive yourself. (in the movie)

• The part where Livy admitted to Martha and Rev. Case that she indeed loves Ray!
• And of course chapter thirty four is the part where they actually share a bed before she had Danny. It doesn't have to be graphic but you know just to see them share the bed would have been okay for a lot of us.

Scenes that are on the movie that weren't on the book but am grateful that they added them are:

• THE DANCE SEQUENCE! I enjoyed watching them dance and how they had fun for the first time!
• Of course everyone should love the TROY dinner scene. The look on their faces is just unforgettable.
• How Ray gave her a wedding ring and saying all that mushy stuff, it's so darn romantic.
• the scene after Daniel was born all the way to the porch scene.
• Ray putting up the old oxen yoke up on the mantle--whoa! that was one strong sexy scene by Ray-- I can just imagine if Livy was looking at the yoke's position on the wall or if she's checking Ray's backside (haha!).

I can't imagine I've left out anything but I could have still--I just love everything about the book and the movie!