I first heard about this book several years ago, but didn’t think it was something I’d be interested in. Since the movie went into production and some of the trailers came out, however, I’m starting to change my mind. I really want to see the movie.

Chances are I’ll see the movie (in theaters today, January 23rd) before I read the book. I generally prefer to see the movie first (when possible) because the books are almost always better and it takes away some of my enjoyment if I go into it with expectations.

What about you? Interested in the movie? Have you read the book? Do you prefer to read the books first, or wait until you’ve seen the movie (when possible)?

Here’s the movie synopsis:

Adapted from the landmark novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road is an incisive portrait of an American marriage seen through the eyes of Frank (three-time Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (five-time Academy Award® nominee Kate Winslet) Wheeler. Yates’ story of 1950’s America poses a question that has been reverberating through modern relationships ever since: can two people break away from the ordinary without breaking apart?

Frank and April have always seen themselves as special, different, ready and willing to live their lives based on higher ideals. So, as soon as they move into their new house on Revolutionary Road, they proudly declare their independence from the suburban inertia that surrounds them and determine never to be trapped by the social confines of their era.

Yet for all their charm, beauty and irreverence, the Wheelers find themselves becoming exactly what they didn’t expect: a good man with a routine job whose nerve has gone missing; a less-than-happy homemaker starving for fulfillment and passion; an American family with lost dreams, like any other.

Driven to change their fates, April hatches an audacious plan to start all over again, to leave the comforts of Connecticut behind for the great unknown of Paris. But when the plan is put in motion, each spouse is pushed to extremes – one to escape whatever the cost, the other to save all that they have, no matter the compromises.

Directed by Sam Mendes (Academy Award® winner American Beauty), from a screenplay by Justin Haythe, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and features an accomplished supporting cast including Academy Award® winner Kathy Bates, Kathryn Hahn (Boeing-Boeing) Michael Shannon (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, BUG) and David Harbour (Awake). The film’s producers are John Hart, Scott Rudin, Sam Mendes and Bobby Cohen; and the executive producers are Marion Rosenberg, David M. Thompson and Henry Fernaine.

First Trailer:

Second Trailer:

This book is available from Vintage Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.