Total Number of Ratings: 16
Five Things a True Blood Fan Should Know Before Picking Up the Books
Thursday, June 25, 2009 4:03 PM
"The book is better than the movie."
It's true in almost every case I can think of. In the case of the HBO series True Blood, it's not so absolute. Creator Alan Ball has put his unique spin on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries, and before you hop from one to the other, there are some things you will need to keep in mind.
Charlaine Harris is not Alan Ball: Harris is a Southern lady with Southern sensibilities writing from the perspective of a young Southern woman who was "raised right." She may kiss, but she would never kiss and tell. She does not linger on the violent things that happen in her world. Alan Ball does. He seems to be celebrating the HBO'ness off the show with graphic sex scenes and gore (especially that second episode of season two? with Lafayette and the foot? O.M.G.). There is a grittiness and signature Ball-ness to the show that is not found in the books, because the books are written from Sookie's perspective and she is a lady.
The Books Are Mysteries: I am not a lover of mystery novels, and I wanted so much more out of the books than they offered. I wanted Sookie to linger at work and to spend her free time pondering the nature of the plot-irrelevant secret lives of her friends. Instead, she lives a straightforward life, largely focused on solving the problem at hand until something big gets in her way and she has to deal with it. You learn about her world and her people because they are clues or red herrings working towards the goal of the mystery. It's like poetry, really, and Harris is good at it. Not that my opinion on what makes a good mystery writer is really worth much. I enjoyed it once I embraced it, though.
The Books Move Faster: True Blood is on track to turn each book into a season, with plenty of social commentary and subplots to fill in the gaps left by Harris's first-person narrative. It's possible to polish a season's worth of book in as little as 4 or 5 hours. I read 7 in less than a week, but I was pretty focused. Rush through them and suddenly you're right back where you started. You won't have any new True Blood or new stories about Sookie, but you'll have a head full of distracting facts to mess with your concept of what the "real" story line is. Pace yourself and/or accept the consequences.
The Books Are About Sookie: Did you know that Oscar Winner Anna Paquin won a Golden Globe for season one of True Blood? Were you scratching your head like I was? I mean, she was nice and all, but it didn't really seem like there was much to the character that didn't stem directly from her accent, her hair, or her curves. When you read the books, you can see just how much Paquin is putting into her performance. It's impressive. The downside of the first-person narrative is that every other character is cut short and can vanish for books at a time. Harris will occasionally let a character explain themselves to Sookie, but showing is always better than telling. Ball has "fixed" this as part of his own spin on the series, which ultimately means...
It's Best To Think of Them as Two Different Stories: If you've ever read The Shining and then seen the Kubric version, you'll understand. If Ball isn't embellishing on barely-hinted subplots, he's plucking supporting characters out of obscurity and warping them, or just making things up because it's interesting and he's got a bone to pick. You may find this distracting. You may find that you're loyal to certain interpretations of characters and events and when either Harris or Ball does it differently that what came first in your mind, you will be displeased. You will already know the punch line at the end of the season, and like me, you might get frustrated when you realize it's going to take 3 more years for your favorite character to show up.
The bottom line is that I'm not sad that I read the books before the television series ran it's course, but it's led to some serious frustrations in Season Two. I much preferred knowing the killer while reading the first book to watching Bell make Harris' puppets dance in different ways for his own amusement.
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here hoping Ball introduces Quinn early, but without messing up his character too much.
oooh, dexter is a book series? the show is on my "to watch" list, but that's a loooong list. not that my book list is any shorter, mind you, but for some reason that sounds more intriguing.
There are a few neat ideas that the Dexter novels have that aren't playing out in the series. At least, not in seasons 1 and 2. I have yet to watch season 3. The books do go off the rails a bit in the third book but that's a whole other conversation.
Good luck on those lists. Keep on working and they may get shorter eventually. But, probably not.
I agree completely with the idea of accepting them as two different stories. The books are great, the show is great but they are two very different things. I've never seen a perfect book adaptation. I don't expect them.
I just jumped in with True Blood this season. I've still got mixed feelings about it -- some stuff I love, other stuff is just eh. I have a feeling I may like the books better. Thanks for this!
I really enjoy the TV series and have had the books in my To Read queue for a while. However, reading the book version of something first almost guarantees that I will not like the TV/Movie adaptation as much. In fact, 90% of the time I end up hating the TV/Movie because it doesn't live up to the book series. And I often find the converse to be true: 90% of the time if I watch first and read second I usually end up liking both more, and appreciating them as individual pieces. I enjoy this show too much to ruin it so I think I'll hold off on reading the books. Thanks for the insight.
Interesting...
I for one am super glad that Ball chose to keep one of the characters alive who did not survive the first book (I assume it was the first book). I like that character.
(Trying to be spoilery)
yes. i'm aaaaalmost ready to forgive him for a few things he's doing with the second book for that save. (things like that track suit and the one going to bible camp)
I like bible camp lots and lots. I just disapprove of the character that he sent. that character has better things to be doing. if not in this book, then soon enough that either way he finishes out the season (pro-bible camp or anti) is going to throw a wrench. *and* there's another character who should be going, based on Harris' storylines, and I think that's one of her better side-stories.
Take away Twilight in my work (a Borders) and this is the most successful series for our series. Every day people buy this book....it's driving me INSANE!!!!!
But great review and if anything else; probably reading the books is a better idea then the TV show.
the tv show is definitely more my style. it's darker and there is a lot more going on with the supporting cast. i also prefer my books a bit more meaty than Harris' style. I didn't not like them, they're just not my thing and veeery different from the show.
But I'd read and re-read Sookie's stories a thousand times before I'd pick up Twilight again. ;)
Love the show and thought about reading the books. Thanks for the warning. I'll hold off on that for a while...
you could probably get by with reading a book between seasons, but if you like the show, you might devour the books to find out what happens next.
The desire to know what happens next may cause me to spoil the surprise of the show by buying the books. Yet, if Ball continues to divert from the books storyline, then it may make both series more enjoyable. Season 2 has got me completely interested in the new characters and their shady backgrounds, I just don't want the unveil to be soured by reading the books.
Respond
I've thought similar things when I read the books about Dexter and then watched the TV show DEXTER. That last point you make here, about how they're two different stories, really applies to the Dexter-verse (or whatever) as well. Same for how secondary characters get a ton more time on the TV series than the books as the Dexter books are also in first person.