The Lights Never Quite Came On...

If you're wondering why I didn't yet post my reaction and compare/contrast of the movie City of Ember to the book, The City of Ember, there is a good reason. I have not yet seen it. Cassidy and I wanted to go together on a weekend. But our schedules have not yet allowed us. Bart and I are to see her this coming Sunday, perhaps it will happen then. Perhaps. For my interest in seeing it has waned. From what I heard, the movie did not do so well. Plus, you might recall that Sunshine's students read it for class. They watched the film. Sunshine tells me they returned and asked her, "Did they read the book before they made the movie?" I probably would ask the same thing. For I can be rather fussy when it comes to adaptations as well. It's nice to know that the next generation is learning to be intolerant of sloppy work. To respect art. It's one thing to make allowances and changes to reflect a new medium. It's another to completely alter a work. And from what I have seen in commercials, the other complaints I have heard from Sunshine's students and the fizzling excitement I've read of what is supposed to be a "family movie," this is not one of the better conversions.

If I ever do see it, I'll post about it. But it seems as if I should let my vision of Ember come from Jeanne DuPrau's novel.

My other posts about it are here and here.

Update: Sunshine read the post and told me more. She said she is proud of her students for their disgust. She said, a really precocious girl told me with absolute horror in her voice that they added a MONSTER. "A MONSTER!!! There are no MONSTERS. They missed the point entirely."

Brava, precocious girl!

Don't let Hollywood stomp on literature by thinking they know better. It's the rare case when they do.

Lights Out on "Ember"

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
My initial post of it is here.

Well, I can’t say I didn’t like it. I enjoyed it, yes. My theories proved wrong. (Oh well.) I discovered shortly after buying the book that it is in fact a series of (currently) four novels. But I’m sorry to say that I will not be picking up the others. Again, it’s not bad…I just didn’t feel such a love for it that I needed to know what happens next. In fact, the first chapter of The City of Sparks had been included in my copy. I almost didn’t even read it. But since I had to wait for someone to arrive, I did. And with my apologies to DuPrau, I’m not interested. Ember itself is a bit heavy-handed. I do not intend that as a slam, as I have also been guilty of this literary ‘crime.’ All in all it’s very well done. Well paced, clues and answers neatly in place to keep the interest and momentum. But I just can’t say I love it. I did have a lot of fun discussing its ramifications and symbolism with Sunshine.

I am still going to see the movie. My copy had photos from the movie (yes, I wound up with one of those “Now a Major Motion Picture” editions) and half of the pictures make me wonder where on earth they got such a notion or objects or scenes. For practically none of it is in the book. Having watched the trailer again, they seem to have beefed up the “puzzle” and “adventure” aspect of the novel beyond what is actually there. So it will be interesting to see what their spin on all if it is. My guess is that it will end up being much the same as my reaction to The Spiderwick Chronicles. I longed for a hybrid of the movie and the book, as each had elements that were missing or could have enhanced the other. I’ll let you know when I see the movie version of The City of Ember.

A Glow of Hope from a Fizzled Night

After a trek which turned out to be pointless due to some misinformation I'd been given, I decided to placate myself by buying a book.

Sunshine is reading The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau with her class at Cool School.

I had seen the movie trailer a while back when Bart, Cassidy and I went out to see The Forbidden Kingdom. We all knew we'd be back to see it.

Thus, when Sunshine mentioned the book, I perked up.

She says it's quite fun. So I'm looking forward to it.

I'll be reading it in transit, as per usual.

And also as per usual, I shall give a report about it when I am done.

Oh - for the record, all three of us enjoyed The Forbidden Kingdom. It's not utterly spectacular, but it did entertain greatly. If you like watching the incredible feats of Martial Arts combined with fantasy, then I recommend it.

As for the movie of The City of Ember, here's the trailer: