well that was a wash
Oct. 4th, 2009 04:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lauralhI started watching Kalifornia last night but it was so boring that I downloaded the first two Dexter books and started reading those instead. Spoilers. The first one is more or less a match for Season 1, except not as cool. For one thing, it's not much of a mystery - the only hints we get are that Dex seems to be having dreams about the murders, so he is afraid that he is sleep-killing. Also, first person narrators only see the world their own way, so there's almost no other bits of plot beyond Dexter's own fascination with the "ice-truck killer."
The subplots are much more interesting on the show, where we get LaGuerta and Doakes backstory, and Harry flashbacks. Although I never quite got the adoption of Dexter but not not Brian on the show, it's even less explicable in the book, as they are only one year apart in age. Apparently that one year was enough to solidify the insanity in the elder brother. We only get one or two chapters in the book with him, no hint of his existence till he kidnaps Deb. Which makes any hint of attachment to him on Dexter's part rather outlandish.
The dark sarcasm is basically the only reason to read it. The cops are even dumber and more ineffective than on the show, the plot makes less sense, and Dexter only kills like 2 people. Well, 3, counting the nurse, but he doesn't describe it at all, just alludes to it.
The second book is slightly better plotted, as far as a mystery novel goes, but Dexter only kills one person and alludes to another, and is even less apt at social interactions. It starts out sort of similar to season 2, with Doakes stalking him, but the only thing he does to get him off guard is visit Rita more. And he never ever thinks this might give her the wrong idea. He also takes forever to notice Deb's attraction to the Fed who comes down to investigate the murder. Except, oh right, it's not a murder, it's just a torture victim. With no limbs or tongue or even eyelids left. A yelping potato, as Dex puts it.
Anyway there's this convoluted history of the psychopath, with Doakes in El Salvador during the guerrila years, or something. Doakes in the novel is far less interesting than Doakes in the show, which is a problem with first-person narration. Some of the elements are put into the 2nd and 3rd seasons, but the plot, thank god, is not, as a limbless dude or 3 wouldn't make palatable viewing. And they'd already made Doakes a covert ops guy in Haiti in the show when this novel was being written, not that this matters much, but seriously, having Doakes his nemesis during season 2 worked out a lot better than in this book. I mean, I was sad when he died on the show, but that's a far better fate than he gets in this book.
Anyway, it was slightly more entertaining than finishing Kalifornia. David Duchovny, writing a book about serial killers, ends up driving around one of his very own. We don't find out why Early kills, or how many people he killed, and it takes over an hour before Brian and Carrie find out he's a killer. I guess my standards for serial killers are now unnaturally high. Anyway I don't really think Early was supposed to be a serial killer per se, those guys ritualize their kills, whereas he just killed people who pissed him off. He had a conscience, just a very weak one. He did seem to feel really bad about killing his own girlfriend. But, I didn't care about Brian, or Carrie, and I sorta felt bad when Adele was killed, but not really, as I hate Juliette Lewis. (I was also disappointed when she didn't get killed in Cape Fear. Etc.)
So yeah, pretty much bleh.
The subplots are much more interesting on the show, where we get LaGuerta and Doakes backstory, and Harry flashbacks. Although I never quite got the adoption of Dexter but not not Brian on the show, it's even less explicable in the book, as they are only one year apart in age. Apparently that one year was enough to solidify the insanity in the elder brother. We only get one or two chapters in the book with him, no hint of his existence till he kidnaps Deb. Which makes any hint of attachment to him on Dexter's part rather outlandish.
The dark sarcasm is basically the only reason to read it. The cops are even dumber and more ineffective than on the show, the plot makes less sense, and Dexter only kills like 2 people. Well, 3, counting the nurse, but he doesn't describe it at all, just alludes to it.
The second book is slightly better plotted, as far as a mystery novel goes, but Dexter only kills one person and alludes to another, and is even less apt at social interactions. It starts out sort of similar to season 2, with Doakes stalking him, but the only thing he does to get him off guard is visit Rita more. And he never ever thinks this might give her the wrong idea. He also takes forever to notice Deb's attraction to the Fed who comes down to investigate the murder. Except, oh right, it's not a murder, it's just a torture victim. With no limbs or tongue or even eyelids left. A yelping potato, as Dex puts it.
Anyway there's this convoluted history of the psychopath, with Doakes in El Salvador during the guerrila years, or something. Doakes in the novel is far less interesting than Doakes in the show, which is a problem with first-person narration. Some of the elements are put into the 2nd and 3rd seasons, but the plot, thank god, is not, as a limbless dude or 3 wouldn't make palatable viewing. And they'd already made Doakes a covert ops guy in Haiti in the show when this novel was being written, not that this matters much, but seriously, having Doakes his nemesis during season 2 worked out a lot better than in this book. I mean, I was sad when he died on the show, but that's a far better fate than he gets in this book.
Anyway, it was slightly more entertaining than finishing Kalifornia. David Duchovny, writing a book about serial killers, ends up driving around one of his very own. We don't find out why Early kills, or how many people he killed, and it takes over an hour before Brian and Carrie find out he's a killer. I guess my standards for serial killers are now unnaturally high. Anyway I don't really think Early was supposed to be a serial killer per se, those guys ritualize their kills, whereas he just killed people who pissed him off. He had a conscience, just a very weak one. He did seem to feel really bad about killing his own girlfriend. But, I didn't care about Brian, or Carrie, and I sorta felt bad when Adele was killed, but not really, as I hate Juliette Lewis. (I was also disappointed when she didn't get killed in Cape Fear. Etc.)
So yeah, pretty much bleh.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-10-05 08:02 am (UTC)