OtterMommy

This is where I think the series made a mistake by starting with the 2nd book. You get to know the town and people of Three Pines in the first novels. Putting this under spoiler tags as it refers to the book: And, yes, Peter is a douche.

I've been really interested to hear what people who have not read the books think of the show. It sounds like those of you here under that umbrella like it, which I'm glad about. I have been making my husband (who has not read the books) watch it. After we finished the most recent episodes, I asked him what he thought of it. He mulled that over for the moment and then said, "What is up with the duck lady?"

That’s right, she was one of the Three Graces, but her role in the show (even though she was still one of the Three Graces) is very different.

I also really like how Isabelle is given something to do here. She's just sort "the muscle" in the books and I've always wanted Penny to use her more. And the fact that they were able to bring Isabelle into a more prominent decision without demoting Jean-Guy is a good move on the part of the showrunners. In the books, we--and Garmache--are given the opportunity to get to know the villagers in the first book. Since this series isn't doing the first book, it seems like we will slowly get to know them as the series progresses. At this point, it would be a shame for Amazon not to renew it. I will say this now, though. It is not possible for me to care less about whatever secret Peter has. I think Peter is the character most like his literary counterpart, and that's not exactly a good thing.

Yeah, Nichol is a foil for Gamache and team in the books. She has a huge chip on her shoulder and is just outright rude to everyone. At least a couple of times, she messes up the investigations with her attitude. She actually plays an important role in setting up Gamache as a character: we get to see him with someone that everyone has dismissed and seeing the potentional in her, much like he did with Beauvoir earlier in his career (as they've refered to at least once in the show). Also, Yes, I'm surprised that Gamache hasn't said his trademark line. Of course, he originally says it to the literary Nichol and there is no reason for him to say it to the Amazon Nichol.

The Cruelest Month is the one book in the series that left little impression on me. I can barely remember what happened in the book (although, according to Goodreads, I apparently liked it enough to give it 4 stars), except that it involved the house, so this all seemed new to me. I do think they were stronger episodes...up until the bear. That was kind of ridiculous. But, other than that, a strong episode with more of the Three Pinesians. I feel about Peter in the show pretty much exactly how I feel about him in the books, which is that he's annoying and unlikable. I loved seeing a softer side of Ruth and the actress did a wonderful job with it. I also enjoyed seeing the interplay between Jean-Guy and Isabelle. I think the Indigenous story line is working well here and I liked how they tied it in, ever so slightly, to the main mystery here. I was never invested in the corruption subplots in the books, but I am invested in this. Finally, bless their heart...they tried so hard to make it seem like it was Spring in Three Pines (the book is expressly set during Holy Week and Easter, but the show in the show they never mention when it takes place. However, the title refers to April), yet all the trees changing colors and leaves on the ground kind of ruined that facade. ETA: I think that if Agent Nichol was a series-only character (like Bea), I'd quite like her. As it is, I'm just annoyed that she is pretty much the polar opposite of her literary counterpart.

It was the unabridged version...all 1000+ pages! Actually, I'm not completely sure of the page count because I read it on my Kobo, but I do know it is over 1000 pages. What gets me is that movie adaptations (not including the French miniseries) are about 90-120 minutes long. Yes, there are some things that could be cut out of the middle, but not that much! I'm almost afraid to watch!

It took me almost a year--well, to be fair, I had planned for it to take the entire year, but I got ahead of the schedule at the end--but I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo. I enjoyed it, although I'm not a rabid fan of it as some are. The middle dragged a bit for me (Seriously, that whole section where the Count and some guy who really doesn't play a big role in the story get high on hashish didn't really need to be there...). I am glad I had done it as a slow and steady read because I think if I had just tried to read it through it would have been overwhelming. In 2023, I'm doing a year long read of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, so hopefully that one will be enjoyable as well.

Interesting! I never knew that...I thought it was just one of those one-off short stories that authors sometimes write to entice people to try their series. The truth is much cooler!

It's filmed near Ormstown, Quebec. It's not in the original book. I'm putting this under spoiler tags as I'm not sure if you've finished the first book yet...

This is where I am with the corruption story line. In the books, it was always sort of in the background and I felt like it was taking away from the main plot. Here, having it more upfront and immediate (as opposed to action that had taken place before the story began), it makes more sense. Also, as I said above, it seems like they've flipped it a bit. In the book, it was all corruption that just happened to be discovered because of a missing Indigenous woman. Here, they are tackling the issue of indigenous women going missing and, if you've read the books, you know the corruption is under there, but it's secondary to the other issue.

No, Rosa didn't come in until later in the series. I kind of wish they had waited because the story of Ruth and Rosa was actually quite sweet.

Glad to hear the subtitle thing is fixed. For me, it was mostly just an annoyance, but I know the lack of subtitles would be a no-go for many. Yes, Clara is very “cleaned up” in this. I was hoping for someone closer to the age of the book character and who looked more like a non-TV character, but I do think the actress captures Clara’s insecurities well. Also, I think if they had gone all in on how messy Clara is in the book, it would have come off as corny and unbelievable in a visual medium. Also, Peter is not at all how I pictured him, but I kind of like it. He’s my least favorite of the Three Pinesians, so being able to laugh a bit at him is fun. That being said, what is NOT funny about him (but I think an interesting choice) is to play up his controlling and jealous side regarding Clara. It will be interesting to see what they do with that.

This is true, but then wouldn't he have an English accent? (Was it Cambridge? My mistake...) I know I'm splitting hairs--Gamache has always had a bit of a "broadly European" accent in my mind when I read the books. But considering that Molina was born and raised in England, I was kind of hoping for that!

^^^^This^^^^ I think that Mrs. Tissel is supposed to be a comic element, but she stopped being funny when she started commiting felonies. Also, they are pretty clear that this is a woman with mental health issues and using that for comedy (when it isn't needed...there is already a lot of comedy in this show) is distasteful Honestly, I would have been perfectly fine if they had just taken her completely out of this last season.

Watched both episodes back to back and I have to say it was pretty good. I think it was the Variety article that said that the first 2 episodes were the weakest. As I would probably give these two a B, I think the series will end up being an overall success. Here's what I didn't like about it: 1 - You don't really get to know the town and the "regulars" in Three Pines in these episodes. I kind of already knew this because Louise Penny said in an interview recently that she wished that the town was a bigger deal in the show, so I was prepared for this. 2- Agent Nichol. I mean, no one likes Agent Nichol. But, in the book, you aren't supposed to like her. She's supposed to be insufferable. Here she is..comic relief? I think this was a mistake. In the book Nichol is a good conduit to see Gamache's goodness and patience. In the show, she's just unnecessarily annoying (as opposed to necessarily annoying in the books). 3 - For some reason, there are no subtitles for the French in the 1st episode. I remember enough French to know what people were saying and none of it was really important. The weird thing is that there were subtitles in the 2nd episode, and the French dialogue still wasn't that important. I'm not sure what happened there. What I did like: 1 - Lacoste! She is so much more involved than she is in the books and I love it. I also love that they made her Native--it really helps with the larger overall plot. Speaking of which... 2 - It's pretty clear that they are taking the corruption storyline that was sort of background in the books and putting it front and center here. I know that sounds horrible. But, they are focusing on the indigenous experience with it and it actually works here. In fact, I think that storyline is more successful in the show, at least so far, than it ever was in the books. 3 - I think they did fairly well with the casting. Molina is great, although I do think he should have either a French or a British accent (they do make a reference to him studying at Oxford). Sutherland is not what I pictured as Jean-Guy, but he actually plays him very well. And, as I said, I'm all about Lacoste in this. As for the Three Pines folks, I can forgive Clara for being a bit too much together here (she's a literal mess in the books) because Peter is kind of hilariously Euro-trashy. Myrna is also a bit toned down, or at least different, than she is in the book (not a caftan in sight), but Gabri, Olivier, and Ruth are all pretty much as they are in the books. 4 - They toned down Crie. In the book, Louise Penny goes over the top with this character to the point that it is offensive. Here's she's just a typical teen. After watching this, I'm not sure if they are incorporating Still Life into the series. There are some changes in these episodes, that would make it hard to do Still Life without some rather large changes. Also, the articles that I've read said they cover 4 books and The Hangman is included, which makes me think they did books 2-4 plus The Hangman. Who knows, Jane Neal might show up and go for a walk in the woods next week. I was totally planning to watch this tomorrow, so I'm quite grateful to whatever intern accidentally dropped this a day early! (J/K...who knows why it came out early...)

Three Pines came early to Prime…watching the first episode now!

I finished A World of Curiosities by Louise Penny first thing this morning (I probably would have read it one day if it weren't for the pesky fact that I have a family who need my attention now and then!). I know Louise Penny isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm a huge fan. I had very high expectations for this book, but it blew those expecations out of the water. I read a lot of mysteries and this is the best plotted mystery I have ever read. It's also, by far, the darkest of the Gamache novels. TW for child sexual abuse. It's not on the page but it is written in a way that you know exactly what happens (it is also early in the book, so not a spoiler). The strangest thing is the SA isn't even the most disturbing part of this book. What an amazing read!

Review from Variety Takeaways: It looks like LaCoste will be more predominately featured, which I appreciate. She is terribly underused in the books. Instead of interweaving the first 4 books as I had thought, they are giving each book 2 episodes, and starting with the 2nd book (A Fatal Grace). They are including The Hangman, which is interesting as it is a short story that is not widely read. It looks like they are adding (or taking a minor character from AFG) and making her one of the main cast.

Please remember that discussion in the episode threads should be focused on the episodes. Once discussion moves away from the episode to "real world" discussion or personal anecadotes, it needs to move to the Small Talk thread. Thanks!

I finished 2 things yesterday. The first was Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. I know that people are hot or cold on this author and I've always been, well, "room temperature warm" with her, but I loved this book. I also hated this book because her dystopian world is far too realistic, but that was intended. This one shook me to my core. Secondly, I finished a short story in the Ruth Galloway series called Ruth's First Christmas Tree by Elly Griffiths. It was a fun little holiday story, although you need to read it after having read at least the first 4 of the RG books (this is listed as RG 4.5). There aren't exactly spoilers in it, but it wouldn't quite make sense if you didn't know what was in those books.

I'm reading Six Against the Yard by the Detection Club right now and quite enjoying it. It features six "unsolvable mysteries" by Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Croft, and Russell Thorndike (plus an essay by Agatha Christie). After each short story, a retired inspector from Scotland Yard--I'm assuming he's real, but I could be wrong--picks apart the mystery. So far, I've read the stories by Margery Allingham and Ronald Knox, neither of whom I've read before. I've enjoyed both of them, but Allingham's isn't an unsolvable mystery--there is never a question of whodunnit. But it is still a fun story. I'm actually glad that I picked this up because it is forcing me to dive a bit more into the Golden Age beyond Agatha Christie.

Discussing the infertility issues of celebrities who have gone public with their struggles is fine for this thread. However, personal anecdotes need to be moved to the Small Talk thread. Thanks!

The first season covers the first 4 books over 8 episodes. It does look like they are going to emphasize the backstory of Gamache's investigation into the disappearances of indigenous women that ran for at least the first half of the series. My guess, mostly from the remark that there were multiple murders going on at once, is that the plots of the 4 books will be sort of intertwined instead of running one after another.

I finished The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak. Guys, this book was an amazingly wild ride. It is about two Merovingian Queens, who were actually sisters-in-law, who both served as regents and weilded an immense amount of power--and who hated each other. The best way I can describe this is House of Cards versus Game of Thrones. It's narrative nonfiction, not a history text, and it is very readable. It is also quite brutal, but Puhak handles the violence with both accuracy and empathy. Totally recommend!