Baffling Books and Their Movies

Having had a conversation with Imitation Ice Queen about the foundations of sci-fi (and having just read Space Viking) I found and read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Despite being a well-known classic, I started reading and realized I knew nothing about the 1895 novella, except, obviously, that it included time travel. I was somewhat startled to find that the book was not an adventure novel at all, nor did it include jumping around in time (or any visits to the past). While the time traveller does encounter excitement in the distant future, most of the book is really his musings about how the future situation could have come about and what the real implications of evolution, cultural and biological, might be. It's short, thoughtful and does not feel particularly outdated. As I read it, The Time Machine would make a horrible movie. Being true to the tone (musings on social stratification) would make for a real yawner, while being true to the plot would just turn out cheesy in its simplicity. While I have not seen any cinematic or television adaptation, I was not surprised to learn from the Mister that he does not hold the most recent movie in high regard.

On what I thought was a classic sci-fi roll, I immediately picked up The Investigation by Stanislaw Lem. Labeled as a, "tantalizing blend of detective story and science fiction that culminates in a mind-jolting climax" I found the 1974 English translation about as baffling as I would have found the original 1959 Polish. I thought I was fully comprehending what seemed to be a rather silly Scotland Yard detective story, with statisticians and philosophers interjecting a few metaphysical meanderings when I reached the end and I didn't know what had happened. Certainly, I didn't quite "get" the end, but that wouldn't have surprised me. I was shocked to find that I didn't know what I was supposed to think had happened up to that point. I really didn't think I was literally missing any large chunks of text: the book is short and I did not read it while falling asleep, but I was certainly missing something. I re-read the ending and realized that I would need to re-read the whole thing to determine if I had, in fact, missed something, or if the ambiguity of the end rendering the whole thing incomprehensible was what was intended to turn the detective story into sci-fi. I so want someone else to read The Investigation (SalSis?, Raych?*) so that they can tell me if I should read it again, but for now, I am just genuinely baffled.

Having my expectations of sci-fi soundly shattered recently, I turned to a genre I knew I could count on and cried my way** through Fathers and Other Strangers, a Silhouette Intimate Moments Book by Karen Templeton. Neither better, nor worse than others of the same type, I could count on a happy ending and don't think I'll spoil it for anyone to suggest that the sex was great, the life changes dealt with, and a wedding will take place soon.

This morning I finished Robin McKinley's newest, Chalice. I'll admit that McKinley has pacing problems with magical climaxes that are either way too short or way too drawn out, and Chalice suffers from the pacing perspective. I am, however, a great fan, and love the combination of strong heroines, magic and connection to the land woven into McKinley's fairy tale books. Many of my friends will like it and that bees and honey play a pivotal role will further amuse several.

On making movies from books: The Mister and I just watched Adaptation and while the movie is absurd, I think it is really the best one could do from the Orchid Thief text. A decent Time Machine movie might have to divert similarly far from the book. I'm anxiously going to see Harry Potter tomorrow. I think Half Blood Prince is my favorite of the books, so I'm sure to be disappointed, but how could I not? Which brings us to The Time Traveller's Wife. While the baby's arrival will likely make any internal conflict about whether to see the movie made of one of my favorite books irrelevant, I am curious-- how many of you see movies you know can't be anything but disappointing when based on books you love?

*While I was looking for images and links for this post, raych posted a scathing review of The Elegance of the Hedgehog, which she read because I wanted to read her thoughts, so I am being very clear that I don't think she'll particularly like The Investigation, I just want some less-baffled opinions. SalSis might really like it, although I doubt it conforms to her idea of what "sci-fi" is or should be.

**It has always been easy to get me to cry, but lately even the lamest of romances will do, as will most anything that has to do with the space program.