.jpg)
Debra enjoyed the books to tv show conversion of the Sookie Stackhouse series.
Converting a book (or an entire series) into a tv show or movie can be tricky business. Many readers have a set image in their minds of what characters and a setting look like, and when it doesn't translate the same onto the big (or small) screen, it can sometimes be disappointing. In addition, invariably in the shows or movies, things are left out. Some of this is simply a visual thing. You don't need as much description as in a book. Some is due to time constraints, although several recent movie franchises have gotten around this by turning the final book of the series into two movies.
Most often I've read the books before I see the movies. Only rarely do I watch a movie and then read the book. Generally I enjoy the conversions, and in fact, I can think of one case in which I liked the movie better than the book. (Which is rare.) Most often I'd say I like them equally.
Some movies/shows stick fairly straight to the text, other than the needed minor changes that have to happen from a page to screen translation.
The first few seasons of "True Blood" stuck pretty close to the books. A few changes were made here and there, but I could recognize each of the books in a particular season. Eventually, though, as the series went on, it got further and further off book. The final couple of seasons had nothing to do with events that occurred in the books. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about this. I enjoyed the books and wanted to see favorite scenes and storylines played out in a visual format. To be so far off book was a bit disappointing.
But I did enjoy some of the additional content that was created just for the show. It stayed true to style, so I decided it worked for me. There are still a few scenes from the books I wish had made the tv cut, but all in all, my "True Blood" experience, which the hubby and I called our guilty pleasure, was a satisfying one. In fact, I'm just about ready to go back and watch the entire series from season one.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to see my stories translated to the screen. Would I be happy with the results? Or would I feel like they'd changed too much? Maybe one of these days I'll be lucky enough to find out! (A girl can dream, right?!)
Until next time,
Happy Reading (or watching!)
Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com
Must admit I've not heard of that TV series. If it's been shown over here, then I missed it! Generally speaking, I think TV series make better adaptations than films, as they can include more detail than a 2 or 3 hour film. I've been disappointed in some big screen adaptations when too much of the book has been omitted and/or changed.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. An extended tv series certainly does allow for more depth.
DeleteI was devoted to True Blood tv show for the first two seasons, but really rooted for Sookie and Bill to stay together. I have not read the series.
ReplyDeleteI always think about how my characters would look on the big screen, but writing a screenplay is another learning curve. My daughter is a film producer-director and would know how to make it happen. Financing would be the huge hurdle.
See? And I was team Eric all the way!
DeleteAnd without reading the books, your viewing experience was probably way different than mine.
I watched True Blood and didn't read the books. Same with Game of Thrones. I stopped watching TB after a while because I didn't like the direction it was going. I used to always think the books are better than the movies. But lately, they've improved significantly, so I don't mind. Love Outlander!
ReplyDeleteQuite a lot of these series I don't know. But I do agree a tv series is often far better than a film. They have more time for details and generally (not always) don't change endings.
ReplyDelete