We interrupt this blog.....

....for the American League Division Series! Yes, the Sox are back in the big time, which means late nights and disrupted guru service. Sorry (but not really--it's the SAWX!)

Today is the release date for The Seeker, the film based, supposedly, on The Dark is Rising. Having recently completed the book, and seen the trailer for the film umpteen thousand times, I'm pretty sure that they are two different beasts. Author Susan Cooper has similar concerns. In rereading the book, I was struck by how little actually happens (hard to translate a lack of action to the big screen.) Even more importantly, the book is steeped in antiquity--the land of Britain itself, the Old Ones who fight the Dark, Will Stanton, the protagonist, who's only connection to modern life is a preference for Chelsea Football Club (he still goes caroling, for pete's sake, and sings carols in French!) This is not simply an everyday-boy-discovers-magic-powers type of story. But that seems what the filmmakers are aiming for. I don't know. If it's a success, I'm sure we'll see the rest of the series eventually.

What I am (re)Reading Today--The Dark is Rising

I would like to note that I am not rereading The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, just The Dark is Rising. The book's title is the first victim of Hollywood tweaking. Hopefully it is the last. I have great distrust for film and TV adaptations of beloved books, and I've heard all sorts of rumors about this one (the most outlandish being that the film is set in the United States. Surely not!!!) But, in light of the fact that the film will probably be a big hit, and that there will be many requests for the book at work, I thought this was a good time to revisit it. I last read it in the late 90's, when I was first playing with the idea of writing for children and consequently rereading many of my old favorites. Also, you never know when you will watch a film adaptation of a book you never meant to watch. In March I found myself on a rainy afternoon settling in at a $1.00 theatre to watch Charlotte's Web, which I certainly had no intention of seeing when I first heard of its release. In fact, I made a point of reading it with my daughter, because the book is so precious to me, I wanted to endow it to her as best I could, and that meant making sure she read it before she ever saw it, which I assumed would eventually happen. And it did--at my own hands! So, should I find myself on a snowy afternoon in December at the local cineplex, settling into a viewing of "The Seeker" (and, since I do like Christopher Eccleston, it's not beyond the realm of possibility,) I want to be well prepared with the words of the original still fresh in my mind.