The Alienist by Caleb Carr

[tessathereaper]

On 3/28/2018 at 10:58 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

I thought in the end the show did a few things right and many things wrong. Sara was practically an automoton, and I have no idea if that's what the director instructed her to do or it was her own decision. She would make a perfect Vulcan for the next Star Trek movie. Speaking of directing, it drove me crazy how often there was a camera stuck right in an actor's face and they looked straight at it. I think they were trying for intimacy, that the viewing audience would feel the characters were speaking to them directly, but it was terrible. I had forgotten Joseph was killed. Was the dalliance by the detective with the girl from the Socialist meeting in the book? Because that brought absolutely nothing to the story and was totally unnecessary. And the Croton reservoir. It was a presence in the book and got mentioned numerous times before the climax. Here it just got thrown in at the end with no groundwork.

I just happened to watch Professor Marston and the Wonder Women on Monday only a few hours before this. Luke Evans played the title character and it was like, 99% the same as he played John. Which leads me to believe he is isn't very versatile as an actor.

I thought it was interesting as I was watching it I didn't find myself thinking of Bard the Bowman or Gaston or Vlad Dracul or Aramis or Detective Fields or Owen Shaw, I really just thought of him as John Moore, the other roles didn't enter my thoughts.  So for me that's enough to make me think he's got pretty good range as an actor. (On the other hand he did nearly get typecast as Greek gods - he played Zeus in Immortals and Apollo in Clash of the Titans, so maybe you've got a point. LOL)  He's done a lot of theatre, I just checked Wiki and it looks like he worked pretty exclusively in theatre, for the first ten years of his career, until 2010.  I knew he could sing obviously but I'd never really listened to anything that wasn't right in my face, which was only Beauty and the Beast, so I just got lost down a little youtube rabbit hole of Evans singing for about an hour, Gaston isn't a role that really does his voice justice - a few I particularly liked are one from La Cava in 2000 called I Stayed Behind that's just stunning and he does a wonderful cover of Delilah by Tom Jones at some sort of charity thing in Dublin in 2013 and the duet from Rent, Without You, his part starting at about 3:15 is powerful, but it's only the girl singing for more than half the song(she has a lovely voice, it's just a shame his part of the song wasn't bigger, One Song Glory is obviously his character's big solo number and he does a great job on it but the 2007 London version has been softened up from the rockier original and it's not as dynamic, lots of good singing from his leading role that Boy George musical Taboo too).  

Edited March 30, 2018 by tessathereaper

[Neurochick]

I watched the first episode of season 2 and the start of the episode, the execution was interesting considering the way The Angel of Darkness ended.  I wonder if this version will end differently than the novel.

[DkNNy79]

While I've read both books I haven't watched the show yet.  I just found the books really disturbing (not enough to stop reading them) and I don't think I can handle reliving it.

[Neurochick]

26 minutes ago, DkNNy79 said:

While I've read both books I haven't watched the show yet.  I just found the books really disturbing (not enough to stop reading them) and I don't think I can handle reliving it.

I watched the first episode and part of the second but stopped because it feels very similar to the first book.  Rich people and higher ups in the police department want to thwart the team's efforts.  I'm like, please, if they found the last killer, leave them the fuck alone and chill the hell out.  

The way this episode began is contrary to the way the book ended, which I thought was interesting.

"Angel of Darkness" is told from the POV of Stevie.

The books are supposed to be disturbing because some people have this romantic view of the the past.  Caleb Carr was saying that the past was nasty and dirty and violent.  

[Vermicious Knid]

From my very vague recollection Kreizler had mostly retired and moved Upstate, Sara and John are the ones who bring the case to him. The killer was the Matron character? And I think she got away with it. Really don't remember much of the details except I thought it was a terrible book.

[Neurochick]

11 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

From my very vague recollection Kreizler had mostly retired and moved Upstate, Sara and John are the ones who bring the case to him. The killer was the Matron character? And I think she got away with it. Really don't remember much of the details except I thought it was a terrible book.

Yes, she got away with it because the court system thought people would freak out if a woman went on trial for the murder of children, which is how the show started, a woman going to the electric chair because of a murdered baby.

[Josette]

She did not get away with it.  She took a deal due to the forensic evidence against her.  But then she escaped.   She winds up killed by a poison dart.

 The entire story is recounted here: http://17thstreet.net/alienist-books/the-angel-of-darkness/timeline/