I think I've only mentioned my love of A Discovery of Witches in passing here, but it bears repeating. I love this series! The television drama series is a great adaptation of the book (I'm very eager for series 2 in January). Like all great adaptations, the book and the visual drama inform one another, talk to each other.
Sometimes a movie or tv series convinces me to read the book; in the glut of unedited novels currently in the universe, it is often hard to spot the gold from pyrite. (I say that as a writer who is increasingly despairing of modern publishing). The English Patient
was one such, and I remain convinced that book and movie are
complementary to one another, and that full understanding of the beauty of
each is best had in the presence of the other. The movie is a visual
feast and visceral truth, and the book is a poetic rendering of the
human condition. I love them both equally.
Pavillion of
Women was another one that I liked the movie (not outstanding, but interesting) and read the book. The book blew me away, it was so
fabulous. Very occasionally I like a movie better than the book, but usually the book is more fleshed out.
Re-watching A Discovery of Witches rather reminds me of the joy of seasons 1 & 2 of Outlander, which were excellent adaptations that spoke to the text and informed it, rather than the grudging viewing I've done since early in season 3, when the writers went off the rails with the story line. I don't know why I can't quite quit the drama series; I'm so annoyed with all the things the writers have changed from the books for no good reason, and then have to catch up in ways that don't make sense. On the other hand, when they nail it, they really nail it, so I guess the system of periodic rewards keeps me coming back? I dunno.
I read the whole All Souls triology this spring, and then Time's Convert, an add-on novel that explains the backstory of some of the supporting characters. It is a world I enjoy escaping to, and I found myself coming back to the series this month. Matthew B. Crawford's book was great, and while I'm only about 100 pages from the end of Yuri Slezkine's doorstop of a book, I am a bit stalled on it mentally.
So I restarted the first book, A Discovery of Witches, and watched series 1 again. After reading the book, the adaptation is even more brilliant, as I could fill in details from the book in my mind. It made for a very rich and satisfying viewing experience. There have been few enough of those in the past six months, and I'm grateful this one seems evergreen.
Outlander writers: take note.
OK - I've only see till the end of Series 3 (or whatever the latest one that has come out in Canada, though we're often behind things that you get in the US). The third season is wretched - even if I love the costumes and period elements! I can't get with North Carolina (though I love it). I want Scotland (though the weather is my idea of torture). Also, I don't like Clare and Jamie getting old (at 45?) and ceding all the sexiness to the young uns. The young uns are not sexy.
ReplyDeleteThey don't cede the sexiness to the young uns, don't worry. The nuance of their getting older (Claire is closer to 50, Jamie is late 40s; he turns 50 in season 5) is much more satisfying and interesting in the books, as you see how the relationship matures with them, yet still retains the heat and fire of their younger days. They capture a fair bit of it in the show, but the books are really great.
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