(no subject)
Jul. 27th, 2007 10:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nonethefewerThere may or may not be spoilers to this. I'm comparing Dresden Files the show to the books. I cut anyways.
[eta] I reference the books a lot to compare things, and I've read all the books. (Twice.) Sooo yeah. Spoiler alert, or at least "You may or may not get it if you haven't read that far" alert.
(I mean, I read books 8 and 9 before ever reading the others. I'm not a spoiler-worrying person.)
I've only seen 5 eps, but don't worry about spoiling it for me. I'm kinky; I like that sort of thing.
I managed to separate the book from the show, and as a result, I kind of really dig the show. Two main things that help:
- The actor who plays Harry is good. He's got that great mix of sarcasm, humanness, and a bit of the bastard.
- TV.Murphy is (a) brunette, (b) tall, and (c) based on the Female Generic Cop stereotype. Books.Murphy is (a) blonde, (b) short, and (c) a bit of an ass-kicker, since she has to be.
Both B and I agree that it doesn't look or sound like how we (individually) pictured it, but it's still pretty good. I had a bit of "That's not right!!", but once I disconnected book from show, it got all right.
Moar:
- I can see why they have Bob manifesting more often than just in a skull. It's easier for TV, you know - same with how Harry's internal dialogue is much less. Bob is entirely different, anyways. Ex-human rather than spirit of air probably accounts for most of it. I like how it really feels like that, too. The differences are many and subtle, and that's kind of neat, and hard to describe. Both book.Bob and show.Bob are on the amoral side, frex, but I get the impression that book.Bob is amoral out of being an air spirit, and show.Bob is somewhat amoral because lord only knows why, but it's contrasted against his being human, which means... grr, words. Which makes it more obvious, since I generally expect people to have morals.
Helps that the actor for Bob is really nifty-lookin'.
- Harry's relationship with Morgan is different. There's still the "Yooouuu did this!" thing to it, but it feels more like a constant test, or Morgan being pissy, rather than how he was described in book... the book with the dinosaur. In that book, Harry finally groks that Morgan's not hateful of Harry the person - it's more that Morgan is a cop, passionate about the law and about protecting those in his charge, and somewhat burnt-out from dealing with life-&c. In the show, it's more like a long-standing grudge.
- Bianca the sympathetic character?? I haven't figured out the whys of this yet. Boredom? At least they got the method of bargaining somewhat right.
- He doesn't use Latin! That makes me sad. I kept whispering "Forzare!" whenever he got into a fight. And he doesn't have his duster! Nothing of the soulgaze, either, but I can see why that got the ax. I like the hockey stick.
- Both book.Harry and show.Harry give off the impression of "I'm fighting because that's what's right, even though the Council, the cops, my friends/allies, my enemies, and sometimes my own clients take turns frustrating the hell out of me". There's frust, there's trying to have a life, there's trying to work with the cops even though he can't tell them much, there's arguing with Bob... fantastic.
- The show, so far as I've seen, isn't set up for long-term intricacies. There's some continuity, but that's different - continuity is different from long-reaching consequences that span books. This'd probably be why it's the "High Council", and part of why Bianca is sympathetic (it's not set up for long-term intrigue), and maybe why it's Laura the server rather than Susan the reporter. It's less a long story and more a series of stories, if that makes sense.
More later, once I watch more and/or wake up.
[eta] I reference the books a lot to compare things, and I've read all the books. (Twice.) Sooo yeah. Spoiler alert, or at least "You may or may not get it if you haven't read that far" alert.
(I mean, I read books 8 and 9 before ever reading the others. I'm not a spoiler-worrying person.)
I've only seen 5 eps, but don't worry about spoiling it for me. I'm kinky; I like that sort of thing.
I managed to separate the book from the show, and as a result, I kind of really dig the show. Two main things that help:
- The actor who plays Harry is good. He's got that great mix of sarcasm, humanness, and a bit of the bastard.
- TV.Murphy is (a) brunette, (b) tall, and (c) based on the Female Generic Cop stereotype. Books.Murphy is (a) blonde, (b) short, and (c) a bit of an ass-kicker, since she has to be.
Both B and I agree that it doesn't look or sound like how we (individually) pictured it, but it's still pretty good. I had a bit of "That's not right!!", but once I disconnected book from show, it got all right.
Moar:
- I can see why they have Bob manifesting more often than just in a skull. It's easier for TV, you know - same with how Harry's internal dialogue is much less. Bob is entirely different, anyways. Ex-human rather than spirit of air probably accounts for most of it. I like how it really feels like that, too. The differences are many and subtle, and that's kind of neat, and hard to describe. Both book.Bob and show.Bob are on the amoral side, frex, but I get the impression that book.Bob is amoral out of being an air spirit, and show.Bob is somewhat amoral because lord only knows why, but it's contrasted against his being human, which means... grr, words. Which makes it more obvious, since I generally expect people to have morals.
Helps that the actor for Bob is really nifty-lookin'.
- Harry's relationship with Morgan is different. There's still the "Yooouuu did this!" thing to it, but it feels more like a constant test, or Morgan being pissy, rather than how he was described in book... the book with the dinosaur. In that book, Harry finally groks that Morgan's not hateful of Harry the person - it's more that Morgan is a cop, passionate about the law and about protecting those in his charge, and somewhat burnt-out from dealing with life-&c. In the show, it's more like a long-standing grudge.
- Bianca the sympathetic character?? I haven't figured out the whys of this yet. Boredom? At least they got the method of bargaining somewhat right.
- He doesn't use Latin! That makes me sad. I kept whispering "Forzare!" whenever he got into a fight. And he doesn't have his duster! Nothing of the soulgaze, either, but I can see why that got the ax. I like the hockey stick.
- Both book.Harry and show.Harry give off the impression of "I'm fighting because that's what's right, even though the Council, the cops, my friends/allies, my enemies, and sometimes my own clients take turns frustrating the hell out of me". There's frust, there's trying to have a life, there's trying to work with the cops even though he can't tell them much, there's arguing with Bob... fantastic.
- The show, so far as I've seen, isn't set up for long-term intricacies. There's some continuity, but that's different - continuity is different from long-reaching consequences that span books. This'd probably be why it's the "High Council", and part of why Bianca is sympathetic (it's not set up for long-term intrigue), and maybe why it's Laura the server rather than Susan the reporter. It's less a long story and more a series of stories, if that makes sense.
More later, once I watch more and/or wake up.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 04:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 05:16 pm (UTC)If you'd like, I can send you what we have of the show.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 05:28 pm (UTC)I just bought the second one last night and am about 70 pages from the end. I'm super glad I went ahead and bought the third.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 05:39 pm (UTC)You know what's funny? I went to a Dragon*Con panel with Jim Butcher last year and didn't know who he was, but every time he made reference to one of his books, I thought to myself, I MUST read these books! (It was a panel on dark fairies.)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 06:25 pm (UTC)I agree with you on the Morgan issue, too. In the books he feels much older to me (can't remember his description, but I pictured an aging army man) and a lot less whiny. He's just a hand for the council and he does what he's told. Show.Morgan is a lot more of an independent thinker.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-03 04:10 pm (UTC)For Morgan, you're on the money, from what I recall.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 06:51 pm (UTC)Frex, no potion making, religion, or nevernever in the show so far, at all.
There is mention of a potion, but not the intensive and v. cool process of making it.
Also, show harry seems to have a better grasp of magic in general than book Harry. Book Harry was a specialist, and not particularly subtle, while show Harry seems more thaumaturgically rounded, as I recall.
Several different backstories, which is a shame in Harry's case, as they tell more interesting stories in the book version. Bob's backstory tells a more interesting story in the show, so I guess there's a tradeoff.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-03 04:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-27 06:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-03 03:58 pm (UTC)The books are worth reading? I haven't read 'em. Maybe I should.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-08-03 04:00 pm (UTC)I would buy the books.
Oh yeah.