I've been waiting over 20 years for the book to hit some kind of film medium and have re-read the novel and it's sequel so many times I really need to replace them so I can keep doing it.
But it looks like that's all I'm going to be doing. The movie rights were sold within a year or so of the book's release and episode 1 bears virtually no resemblance to one of the best books I've ever read.... I was shocked at the lack of continuity, the outright disrespect of the characters and the complete departure from the story itself. It's almost as if they deliberately set out to piss off the enormous fan base this book has (along with it's sequel) and to blow the doors off of it so completely that
none of us will be hanging around to see what else they actually do with it. The book is a bloody work of art and the show feels like a really bad comic in comparison (imagine LOTR reduced to Marmaduke). Caleb Carr revolutionized the writing of historical fiction by doing years of research and setting the story during a period in New York that allowed for the inclusion of actual people and places and made all of it feel natural and completely real. Given that I've been spending an enormous amount of time reading that particular genre lately, I can honestly say that his work
still holds up better than most other authors of this type of writing.
Furthermore, as I understand it, they changed directors early on in production from someone with a wonderful background who was an enormous fan of the book who spoke actively about honoring the things the fans loved most and using Caleb Carr as an advisor and a writer; to a guy who never read the novel; done more than likely; because TNT itself went from saying that The Alienist was going to be their "jewel in the crown" and their "flagship program" (in terms of staying true to the written work and making it as intense and important a visual work as GOT has turned out to be), to "weeeellllll... the fans may not be crazy about it but we think it will be good" I don't feel the least bit troubled by saying that not only was there nothing in the first ep. that was true to the book but that the changed specific plot points so much that the series no longer represents the book in any way, shape or from. Think about the statuary of Michelangelo swapped out for a concrete "Homer Simpson". It's gone from something moving, powerful and real to a "duh??????" instead. So while I understand that you can't do in-depth backgrounds on all of the major players when you're limited to 10 hours, I do believe you can remain true to who they are and you can keep the bloody storyline accurate enough that it bears at least some resemblance to the actual story itself. A book that was on the NY Times top 10 best selling novel list for years because nothing like it had ever been done. There was so much missing (and/or changed completely
then included) from the beginning that the killer could end up being "The Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man" and they could probably make it work given the changes they're making. In truth, given Kreizler's statement about "becoming the killer" (nope, never happened) he could end up doing the rest of the murders himself.
I know, I know.... pissed off and ranting much????? What can I say? Vikings conquered much of the world before most other countries even had a successful, seaworthy navy so in some respects;
most of you are lucky we let you live!!!.... Or, maybe I'm just pissed because someone dropped a house on my sister and I didn't get the pretty red CFM party pumps!
Okey dokey, had my rant, didn't try to apologize for it at all (which was rude and snotty at best, I am well aware)......
So have some dancing bunnies on me and know that if there was a Guillotine available, I would cut-off one of their heads in effigy of me because I probably deserve it!
Consider the "cup" at the end of the line as "the basket" my head would drop into!........ or
bring out your dead, bring out your dead, bring out your dead..... and get the Holy Hand Grenade!
