Recent Literary Adaptations for Television

Where are my book nerds at? Probably reading, stupid question, I apologize. Well, my nerdy cohorts, today’s essay is on the recent trend in literary adaptations for television, a trademark of this apparent “Golden Age of Television”. Though there have been some out-of-this-world literary adaptations in film (Harry Potter, Fight Club, The Godfather) there are just as many terrible and truncated ones (The Golden Compass, Eragon, Cat in the Hat). Even just ten years ago it would have been unheard of to adapt critically lauded, adult minded literature for television because of its ultraviolence and sexual content. Nowadays we have a litany of services and online platforms that can showcase whatever content it chooses.

The first huge literary adaptation to launch this year was Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events starring Neil Patrick Harris. While the books, by Lemony Snicket, have already been adapted into a film starring Jim Carrey, that film squished together multiple books and mangled the plot and tone of the original stories. This newest adaptation has already become beloved by many people, including those who have never read the books (which are very well written and enjoyable for all ages.) Quick on its heels was an adaptation of Marvel comics Legion on FX and the Reese Witherspoon produced miniseries adaption Big Little Lies for HBO. What’s truly fantastic about these three properties is that they span different genres, time periods, readership bases, fandoms, and have much different plots. While the two former properties obviously lend themselves to television as they are series, Big Little Lies is a singular book, written by Liane Moriarty. BLL is a mystery, which always makes for good television, though it begs the question, “Does a book need to fit into a certain criterion to be adapted into a television show i.e. be a mystery or a series?”

For some of the newer adaptations this criteria isn’t needed. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood premiered on Hulu on April 26th, and the book is a singular work that is not a mystery, thriller, or first in a series. It follows the story of Offred, a woman in a dystopic future who works in a household as a breeder for a married couple, as this future sees women relegated to specific roles. The book defies time or political era, though it is a much needed story in our current climate. Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men fame, and Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls, play two of these women, striving to find their individualism and independence within a society that devalues both. The cast looks impressive and it’s been one of the most talked about releases of the past several months. Set to premiere on April 30th is a just as large title, American Gods. Based on the 2001 novel of the same name, by Neil Gaiman, the book follows Shadow Moon, an ex-convict who becomes the bodyguard to a Mr. Wednesday, played by Ian McShane. The book deals with the ideas of old and new gods, the ones that exist in mythology and in our current times, including Media and Technology. This book does not fit the criteria, though it is a sprawling, odd book that needs time and momentum to tell its story, unlike the medium of film.

Other literary adaptations coming to our television screens include Midnight, Texas on NBC, based on the series by True Blood author Charlaine Harris, Sharp Objects on HBO, based on the book of the same name by author Gillian Flynn, and The Terror on AMC, based on Dan Simmons’ 2007 novel of the same name. While I am definitely happy to see some of my favorite books get adapted, I of course would rather see original stories made, rather than have my imaginary literary plots ripped apart by someone else’s interpretation. That being said, The Handmaid’s Tale has already been adapted into a lackluster film and an opera, so having a better, yet different interpretation isn’t all that bad, a sentiment that goes for Unfortunate Events as well. Gillian Flynn has already had two of her books adapted, so it makes sense that Sharp Objects gets some kind of cinematic treatment, and Marvel’s reign will never be tampered. If these properties are going to be made anyway, I’m glad it’s the medium of television, which has yielded some of the best media in the past ten years. Besides, I still have the original books themselves, and there’s really nothing like a good book to put things into perspective.