11/22/63

[ProfessorChaos]

seems that i made a thread about this when i first read the book, but i couldn't find it using the search feature....anyhow, now it's a miniseries on hulu, with new episodes premiering each monday; the first episode (which actually ran two hours) was available tonight.

i've been trying to convince the wife to read the book, as she's a total bookworm, and i think it would be a story she'd love, but she says an 800-page book is a bit too much. once we found it was coming to the small screen, she agreed to watch it with me, then perhaps read the source material (since, as most of us know, books are always better...they even mention that fact tonight during a conversation between two characters).

i was a bit skeptical of casting james franco as jake epping/george amberson (they changed amberson's name to james for the tv series for some reason), due to franco's recent goofy films like pineapple express and this is the end, but he actually came across as rather believable in the pilot tonight.

while i was also a bit put off by the creators of the show mixing things up a bit too much (like the fact that epping tries to change the past for hobbling harry, the school janitor before he even sets foot in texas, along with his accidentally bumping into his future...or past....love interest in dallas rather than later when he gets the teaching job), i really enjoyed what i saw tonight and feel they are going to do this story justice. i loved the sets and attention to detail of 1960's america, and the cast so far has been pretty stellar. very eager to see how the rest translates to film!

has anyone else here read the book? anyone planning to watch the show? both are worth taking a look if you're into time travel, stephen king's odd universe, or the kennedy assassination.

[Neil]

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[EvilNed]

Is there anything King writes that isnt picked up these days?

[ProfessorChaos]

^

still waiting for an adaptation of the long walk!

[shootemindehead]

Haven't read that, but I'm reading 'The Cell' at the mo and enjoying it. First fiction stuff I've read in ages and also the first King book that I've touched since I was a kid. I got a goo to read something of his recently, for some weird reason.

As for 11/22/63, I'd agree with Mrs Chaos in that it's a long old tome and I just don't have the time these days.

I might audiobook it. But the problem with that is that I usuall miss out on a lot of stuff that's going on as my mind tends to wander.

[MinionZombie]

As for 11/22/63, I'd agree with Mrs Chaos in that it's a long old tome and I just don't have the time these days.

But the problem with that is that I usuall miss out on a lot of stuff that's going on as my mind tends to wander.

Yeah, very long books put me off. I do a lot of reading, but I really do wonder if some of these epic tomes really require that amount of material to tell the story. I'm fond of the 300-400 page length (the average length novel) - I think that is ideal.

Hey, I have that problem too! Sometimes it's when reading, or usually when watching something, or sometimes listening to podcasts, if I'm not careful my mind does wander off on various tangents. Then I have to re-read/rewind. It's not all the time, but it does happen regularly - I'll find my mind wandering off somewhere else, having picked up on a particular idea in whatever I'm reading/watching/listening to that leads me down a separate path.

As for 11/22/63 - looks interesting. Is this just a one-off eight-part 'event' series? (i.e. no needless stretching into further seasons). If it swings by UK telly I'll give it a go ... hopefully it won't end up being like Under The Dome, though - that show started okay and descended into mind-numbing crapness within a few episodes (I never bothered with season two - has the show finished/been cancelled?)

[shootemindehead]

Yeh, it's dead and good job too.

If ever there was a book that would have made a good, one series, contained, show...'Under the Dome' was it. But, no, they had to bugger it up.

[ProfessorChaos]

@ MZ: 11/22/63 will be a proper miniseries, not stretched into multiple seasons.

[Neil]

^

still waiting for an adaptation of the long walk!

He didn't write that?!

Some bloke called Bachman did :)

[MinionZombie]

@ MZ: 11/22/63 will be a proper miniseries, not stretched into multiple seasons.

Ah, good news! :cool:

[EvilNed]

Yeh, it's dead and good job too.

If ever there was a book that would have made a good, one series, contained, show...'Under the Dome' was it. But, no, they had to bugger it up.

I really wanted to like that show. The writing was just crap tho.

[shootemindehead]

I liked the first couple of episodes of 'Under the Dome', but then it went downhill very rapidly to where I just couldn't care any more. Like you, I was really making excuses to con myself into liking it, but just had to be honest eventually.

Just finished 'Cell' there. I thought King ended the book well enough, although a lot of people are really pissed off about it. In fact I think it's a classic horror ending. It isn't the best read, I have to admit, but I haven't read a Stephen King book since the 90's. It runs out of steam about half way and makes me lose the vision in my head of the characters and their situations. I suppose after the group fry some "phoners" and the horde make contact with them, I've sort of tuned out (pardon the pun). There's a film in the works too, I hear, but I think they may make a balls of that as well, judging by the cast. John Cusack is way too old for the main character (who's a young and struggling graphic artist) and Samuel L Jackson is going to ruin the character of Tom (who's a white, soft spoken, middle aged, gay man who loves his cat).

On the whole, though, if you like end of the world fiction, I'd give it a spin.

[ProfessorChaos]

been out of town for work, just got around to watching the second episode with the wife this evening.....and i'm kinda let down. i feel they're taking waaaay too much liberty and deviating from the book, particularly with the dumb-ass cliffhanger ending tonight.

in the book, jake/george (james for sake of this show which is starting to stumble a bit already in my opinion) doesn't have much interaction with frank dunning before he attempts to change the day that changed harry's life... the way the show depicted things, he practically caused frank to fly off the handle and get drunk and beat his family to death with a sledgehammer. also, i don't recall the slaughterhouse scene, the baptist couple whom he rented a room from, and i damn sure don't remember him having a sidekick, which it appears to be the route the show is now taking.

granted, it's been a while since i read the book, but i was pretty let down by just how far from the source they strayed with this entry. readiing the book, i was absolutely hooked and totally immersed when the halloween massacre part of the tale was going down and blown away by the unforseen outcome forty years later.... during this episode, i just felt annoyed and baffled about how they handled it. i now doubt that amberson returns to the present day and discovers that harry would later die in vietnam, which was a huge shocker after he saved his family and prevented the poor kid from becoming "hobbling harry".

the show could still turn out to be great, but after a few minor gripes in the pilot and the second episode just basically fucking up one of the most dramatic and tense parts of the first act of the book, i am starting to doubt it will end up satisfying fans of the novel.

[shootemindehead]

Why can't they get Steven King right?

It's amazing. He practically writes the screenplay for them when he writes the feckin book.

[MinionZombie]

It starts here in the UK in a few weeks time, so keep us updated as to whether it gets good or crumbles.

I might give the first episode a spin out of interest.

[ProfessorChaos]

things got pretty hectic for the wife and i during the process of moving to a new house, and i decided to put this show off until i had a day or two on my hands to binge the whole shebang in short order.

just finished it yesterday, and while there were parts that strayed from the novel a bit too much, the show still hit all the right notes and really finished strong. the ending to the show was nearly identical to the book, and it was maybe even more of an emotional gut-punch at times. i actually shed a tear or two during the final scene, and have decided to re-read the book since it's been a few years.

probably one of the best adaptations of king's work, easily 100 times more engaging and entertaining that under the dome, which was utter shit after about 6 episodes. definitely worth a look if you've not got around to it yet.

[MinionZombie]

I knew I'd forgotten to post something here on HPOTD - yes, I watched 11/22/63 recently as it hit UK shores, and I quite enjoyed it. Not perfect, it has to be said, and at times it felt a little bit like a network TV show that was allowed to swear (as in, it felt as if writers from the strictures of network TV were adapting it, as opposed to those working for cable or the likes of HBO) ... but that aside, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

Certain elements felt a bit hokey and predictable, while others posed some really interesting questions. Overall I think it started stronger than it finished, but at just 8 episodes for the whole thing it rarely dawdled and was quite a lot of fun for the most part. Some really interesting ideas, and the 60s setting was fascinating to see from a 2010's perspective.

I agree about the "Under The Dome" TV series - it was utter shite. Poorly written, dragged out over far too many episodes ... tiresome all-round. "11/22/63" on the other hand was a gargantuan improvement by comparison, and a solid effort in general that I enjoyed watching.