Fight Club the movie was better than Fight Club the book, imho. The book was just a little too slow, whereas the movie was tight-knit and immaculate.
Palahniuk is a great great author, Choke, Lullaby, Invisible Monsters..and even fight club.. all great books. I will say though that the movie was handled so well, that i think the movie is actually better in this cased
I will disagree about Clockwork Orange. I love the movie, but the movie drags on where as the book keeps you hooked.
Stephen King has had some 30+ movies turned to books, and honestly in his case.. his books are always better. Though sometimes i feel as if his books and accompaning movies suck ass. IMO he's a great writer, one of the best. But he's pumped out such a quantity of work, i can't help but feel that the quality has lacked in some stories. He's the horror genre's Daniel Steel imho with 10 times the creativity.
As amazing as Lord of the Rings is visually, story wise and detail wise.. the books are far more incredible. Tolken was an amazing visionary for the time period. For the movies, i do think that the Hobbit should've been redone to match the other 3 better.