Monday, January 28, 2008

Coffee Prince Novel

I've finally got to reading the Coffee Prince Novel. Its a really enjoyable read even though the storyline is abit different from the Coffee Prince Drama. I didn't wanna read it that time whien I was watching the Drama coz I was afraid it would be a spoiler. But I'm kinda glad that the Drama is different from the novel but it still retains most of the things in the novel. Really hafta thank the person who translated the whole novel here http://www.xanga.com/CoffeePrince.



I kept imagining GongYoo as Han Kyul and Yoon Eun Hye as Eun Chan in the novel... I could totally imagine their expression and reactions when I was reading the novel and I couldn't imagine other people as Han Kyul or Eun Chan. That was how their image as Han Kyul and Eun Chan really stuck to me.



In the novel, the Han Kyul was described as being slim, lean and a smart dresser. He's also looks abit cold on the outside. Gong Yoo didn't come to my mind after seeing the description of Han Kyul. I imagined the Han Kyul in the novel to be someone who's more pretty boy looking who have a tall and slender frame. But Gong Yoo juz keep appearing in my head everytime I picture the scenes of the novel.



On the other hand, I think that Yoon Eun Hye fit the Eun Chan in the novel totally. I could picture her every actions and expressions which was described in the novel. Eun Chan in the novel seems to be about the same as the Eun Chan in the drama except that Eun Chan's big appetite and love for food is really empathesized in the novel.



Other characters that are abit different includes Min Yeop, Yoo Joo, Eun Chan's mum , Harim and Han Sung. The Min Yeop in the novel is a punk who alway looks for trouble. He didn't end up with Eun Sae in the end. Instead, Eun Sae was together with Sun Ki.... The Min Yeop in the novel is more of a minor character since he's not one of the Coffee Prince staffs.

Yoo Joo is more bitchy and dense in the novel.

Eun Chan mum is more refined and classy. At least Eun Chan mum is more useful in the novel. She is really good in making italian cuisines and make really delicious dishes. But similar to that in the drama, she's a spendthrift and the family had to rely on Eun Chan to earn the living. Harim is described as a cute and adorable guy with yellow hair( I cannot visualize the Kim Dong Wook with yellow hair ).

Han Sung in the novel is more of a cool, charismatic guy who is also abit sneaky and cold. He's very different from the comfortable and casual Han Seung we see in the drama.



Besides that, there's also another character called Nak Kyun in the novel. He's one of the Coffee Prince staffs and I have very little impression on him(maybe that's why they took him out from the Drama and replaced him with Min Yeop instead). The Min Yeop in the drama is like a mix of Harim and the punky Min Yeop in the novel. (I'm glad they make Min Yeop more silly in the drama so as to provide some comic relieves for the audience). There's also the child character, Seung Kyung and Tae Won in the novel. Eun Chan is their Takwando teacher and there're just so adorable in the novel.



Well despite these differences, I love both the Coffee Prince novel as well as the drama. I think the producer of Coffee Prince did a really good job turning the novel into a successful drama and those little addition and difference in plot spice up the drama. I recommend you all to read the novel even though you've watched the drama as you'll get a different feel from the drama but its still really nice and sweet.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

bluedolphin,
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll be reading this. CP is one of my favourite dramas. Also my initial introduction to YEH, and the JYC family I now know!

Bell Tan said...

The novel is very different from the TV. The author Lee Sun Mi is also one of the two script writers for the TV drama. She used pen name Lee Jung Ah for that. She said in the interview that she wrote the script with Gong Yoo in her mind. That explains why Han Kyul in novel and in TV drama is so different. Gong Yoo's Han Kyul has boyish touch, not too cold, most of the time warm when he opened up etc... a little lonely so on. Lee Sun Mi also said that she did not quite finished the relationship between Han Kyul and En Chan, thus, she extended that in the TV series. I much prefer the TV version because other characters developed better and very adorable. There is en Englsih version of the novel online, check xanga.com/coffeeprince

Bell Tan (Singapore)