So, I have now read the first seven* Sookie Stackhouse novels twice (I ran out of books while in Europe) and I am caught up on True Blood. I have some thoughts about comparisons.
As I mentioned before, the secondary characters - Lafayette, Tara, Jason, Hoyt, etc. - are all fleshed out much more thoroughly in True Blood than they are in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. I definitely think this is a major positive for the show, since these characters are really the most interesting part of the show, to me anyway.
However. After a second read of the books, and catching up to where we are with the TV show, I've got to say that I prefer Sookie, Bill and Eric in the books to Sookie, Bill and Eric on the show. I've already explained about Sookie. The real issue is Eric and Bill.
In the books, Bill is nowhere approaching the saint he is turning out to be in the television show. The books take a much more middle of the road approach to the whole good versus evil debate than the show does.
For instance, in a recent episode, there was an attack on a vampire nest and Bill was told to go after the humans responsible. He bit one of them, but then said, "Tell your people that a vampire showed mercy where humans did not," or something to that effect. In the correlating incident in the books, Bill kills at least one of the responsible humans. Now, I personally prefer this grey-area Bill to the White Hat Bill from True Blood.
Similarly, Eric seems to be pretty firmly in the Black Hat camp on the show (though there is a little bit of room there). In the books, he doesn't ask Lorena to keep Bill away from Sookie, though he does trick Sookie into drinking his blood.
It just seems to me that the television show is head more into black/white territory, and I like my television with a healthy dose of grey. We'll see if this continues, but as it stands right now, I'm not really on board with the Bill/Sookie/Eric dynamic that's going on in True Blood as compared to the novels.
I will say one thing, though. I hope that television show can keep the number of Sookie's suitors relatively low. In the books there are no fewer than seven men who relatively seriously vie for her affections (if not more). It gets a little out of hand, honestly. I'd like it if the TV show could keep it down to like three - maybe four.
And again, I still prefer the TV show. The acting, the production, and the supporting characters make it a much fuller story and experience. It's just that when it comes to Bill and Eric, in particular, I think the books to a better job of keeping them both in grey area, as opposed to White Hat Bill and Black Hat Eric.
*Disclaimer - I think there are at least two more published books, and possibly some short stories that I have missed, but I doubt they significantly change the points I'm making here.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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I am trying not to compare the books to the series, though it is getting more difficult to keep them apart. I love the fun that is in the books that is not in the show.
ReplyDeleteOne problem I am having, though, is that in the newest book-Dead and Gone-I could only visualize Anna Paquin as Sookie. That troubles me. I even wrote an article about it on Squidoo --Is Sookie Stackhouse Dead and Gone?
I also blogged about it as well.
I really like your comments.
I definitely agree about the fun in the books being missing from the show. However, I've noticed that, now that I've read some of the books, I kind of bring some of that levity to the TV show when I watch it. I definitely am able to "find the funny" easier in the show after having read the books than I could when I watched the first season and had not read the books.
ReplyDeleteThat was a terribly written paragraph, but I think you can get the gist.
As for keeping book Sookie and TV Sookie separate, they are very clearly delineated in my mind thus far, but I have yet to read From Dead to Worse and Dead and Gone, so we'll have to see if I have the same reaction. I'll probably read those two books this week, now that I am back in the U.S. and am not so limited in my English language book choices.
That last comment came out wrong. The show is definitely fun. But - for instance, at the end of the second book, Eric goes with Sookie to one of the orgies clad in lycra. I don't see that happening on True Blood. That's the kind of thing I think we are both referring to when we say that the TV show is missing some of the fun from the books.
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