Books to Film

Tonight Game of Thrones is on again. Thus far, I feel kind of disappointed with the television adaptation. I find myself nitpicking about most details (needless to say, my boyfriend does not appreciate the "critical lens" being cast on the show), and I keep bemoaning how things are "not as I pictured them to be." 

Basically, I've fallen into that trap where I loved the books so much (yes, I've read them all) that no television series or movie could ever live up to my expectations.

Despite my complaints, I'm sticking with the series, though.

My 5 Favourite Book-to-Movie Adaptations

1. Lord of the Rings - Seriously. Peter Jackson did a fantastic job with this trilogy.

2. Let the Right One In - The Swedish film did a wonderful job interpreting the novel. I read the novel after seeing the film, and I was impressed by how true to the story the film was.

3. The Princess Bride - Ah, a childhood favourite of mine

4.  The Exorcist - Blatty's book is horrifying and so is the movie

5. Field of Dreams - The dark horse in this race. The book is a wonderful American yarn and so is the movie.

The Walking Dead Six

Last night my order from Amazon.ca arrived. Inside the package was a copy of Three Day Road and The Walking Dead Six. Three Day Road I’m going to have to read for my students’ grade twelve novel study, and so I’m putting aside for now. Basically, I want to save up my brain power before I undertake the arduous task of coming up with questions for them, analyzing theme, looking for symbolism, et cetera. Instead, I reached for my copy of The Walking Dead: Book Six, and promptly finished it this morning.

It’s a quick read, as most graphic novels/comics are, and can be finished easily in one-to-two sittings.

The aesthetics of this book are beautiful. It’s a hard cover masterpiece, and is completed by glossy pages. There are even colour graphics thrown in and creator notes at the back. The quality of this design adds to the pleasure of reading it. The publishers didn’t skimp when making the book, and that is the reason for the book’s somewhat hefty price-tag of $30.00 plus dollars. It’s not cheap in either way.

I enjoyed the book, but perhaps not as much as the previous books (ok, well I have the fifth book and also the compendium). I found that these comics focused more upon human relationships, and that age-old struggle between civilization and savagery, rather than lots of good ol’fashioned zombie killing. Because of the exploration of the human aspect, I found the plotline to be slow-moving and a little bit dull. There was no suspense in Alexandria for me, there was only boring conversation between tired and contrived characters. Robert Kirkman, quite simply, there wasn’t enough of Michonne wielding her katana!

The only “exploration of human relationships” that I found truly compelling involved Dale and Andrea. I suppose I was interested in this because I felt like I knew Dale and Andrea from the previous books. Andrea was the smart but a little screwed up woman who was in love with a kind and caring older man. The age discrepancy in their relationship and their feelings toward it made sense in the fucked up post-apocalyptic world. And so, I was saddened by Dale’s misfortune, and my heart hurt for Andrea and her grief. Of all the relationship deaths in this story, this one was the most tragic and heartfelt.

After reading The Walking Dead: Book Six, I’m still looking forward to the next compilation in the eventual seventh book, and I’m also in anticipation of the second season AMC’s The Walking Dead.

3.5/5

[THE WALKING DEAD, BOOK SIX]The Walking Dead, Book Six  By Kirkman, Robert(Author)Hardcover On 26 Oct 2010) Robert Kirkman Image Comics (2010), Hardcover