Stephanie
asked
Matt Ruff:
I’m very intrigued by your response to the TV series adaptation. I have said many times,”But the book was so much better!” With Lovecraft Country, I can’t wait for the next episode. Even though elements and details and order have changed somewhat, it is a beautiful adaptation of your work. Why do you think as readers we are often reluctant to embrace a film adaptation of a favorite book not 100% faithful to the book?
Matt Ruff
In one of my previous answers, I talked about how it’s natural for readers to feel as though they’ve formed a personal relationship with an author whose work speaks to them. I think a similar phenomenon applies to the works themselves. When someone has reread a favorite novel multiple times, it can come to seem as if it’s *their* story—so it’s no surprise, really, if they get possessive about it. And it’s not just film adaptations that readers sometimes have problems with. They can even turn on the actual author, if a sequel or a series goes in a direction they don’t like. (“How dare you kill off so-and-so!”)
Fortunately for my own sanity, I don’t seem especially prone to this sort of possessiveness, even with regards to my own writing. I expect TV and film adaptations to differ from the source material, and am usually pretty good at judging them on their own merits. In the case of Lovecraft Country, it helps that I think the HBO series is incredibly well done, but even if it weren’t, I think I’d be OK with it—my own version of the story still exists, and always will.
Fortunately for my own sanity, I don’t seem especially prone to this sort of possessiveness, even with regards to my own writing. I expect TV and film adaptations to differ from the source material, and am usually pretty good at judging them on their own merits. In the case of Lovecraft Country, it helps that I think the HBO series is incredibly well done, but even if it weren’t, I think I’d be OK with it—my own version of the story still exists, and always will.
More Answered Questions
Mark Power-Freeman
asked
Matt Ruff:
Hi, Matt! I've long been curious about the Ruby arc. How did you find the courage to take her story in that direction? It very easily could be taken the wrong way, even though I think you did an *excellent* job of laying out her motivations for doing what she did.
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