#but I don’t think it would really work for flf because of how internal a lot of stuff is with some of the characters | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist · 7 months

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Ok so like. Film adaptations of books are not universally bad things on principle. I’m definitely not saying that it’s impossible to produce a good one. But at the same time, film and the written word are different mediums that aren’t necessarily suited to telling stories in the same way.

For example, in a book, especially a highly character driven one, you get to directly see and read a lot of a character’s thoughts. And this has a huge impact on your experience of the story. And sure, you can convey this in a somewhat similar way with a voice over in a film adaptation, but depending on the scene being adapted, this doesn’t always work great or feel natural.

And that’s not a bad thing. It just means that it doesn’t translate to film well because film is a different medium that tells stories in a different way. And there certainly are books that translate well to film. But to be honest? A lot don’t. Especially not in a way that even comes close to touching the original that it is based off of. And that’s fine. Plenty of amazing movies and TV shows wouldn’t translate well into books and most people wouldn’t really want or expect them to.

So no. I really don’t think that “achieving” a film adaptation should be seen as a goal the way it seems to be for a lot of books and I think that seeing this as a goal is often doing a huge disservice to the original work. I think that books that are well served by film adaptations are the exception, not the rule, and that most of the drive to produce film adaptations of popular books is driven by the urge to squeeze every last possible bit of profit out of every single creative idea ever rather than like. I don’t know. Actual appreciation for the source material and a genuine wish to understand it in a different light.

#I am not entirely sure where this came from but thank you for coming to my ted talk I guess???#ok no I know exactly where this came from #shadow and bone netflix 🙄🙄🙄#I’m tempted to make another post applying it specifically to sab netflix but idk #book adaptation #film adaptations #this is also why I don’t really want a secret Shanghai adaptation #it might work for tvd if they did a really good job #but I don’t think it would really work for flf because of how internal a lot of stuff is with some of the characters #like I’m sure a passable adaptation would be hypothetically possible #and sure. maybe it would get more people to enjoy the story #but I just really don’t think film would be an effective way to convey a lot of flf without losing really important parts of it #especially if you look at what makes your perception of Rosalind change from tvd to flf #I could make a whole separate post about this honestly #also from what I have observed film adaptations tend to lose nuance and exacerbate issues present in the books they’re based on #and while I don’t really think Orion fits the promiscuous bi stereotype exactly #I think a film adaptation would likely end up losing the nuance that makes him not fit it #ok I could probably talk about this forever but I am going to have impulse control and stop now

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elliepassmore · 2 years

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Foul Lady Fortune review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, spies, multiple POVs, historical fiction, These Violent Delights, morally gray characters I'll be honest, I was a little wary going into this book despite how much I loved the TVD duology because I wasn't really a fan of Rosalind the first time around and much preferred Celia. However, I am absolutely blown away by this book and need to know what happens next ASAP. This book was amazing, and I think it's similar enough to TVD to satisfy fans of the original duology but also different enough in tone, characters, and time(setting) to satisfy people who didn't like the TVD duology as much. In terms of setting, FLF is set in a Shanghai transformed. Since the events of OVE, the gangs have mostly dissolved and the main parties of conflict are now the Nationalists and the Communists, which we got hints of at the end of OVE. Alliances have shifted and now instead of murders in the streets there are arrests and espionage. The tone has also changed somewhat and there's more variety in things like burlesque clubs and high-end hangouts. There's also less tension (I feel at least) between characters on each side of things, though perhaps that's due to Rosalind being the main lead, since there's still plenty of tension between the Nationalists and Communists otherwise. The book is set at the precipice of the Japanese invasion, and in fact the invasion of Manchuria does occur during the course of the book, which adds another serious player to the scene. The Japanese are the ones the Nationalists suspect of being behind the new murders and they act as an interesting third party in that they both do and don't pose a direct threat and yet also act as somewhat of a uniting force since neither the Communists nor the Nationalists want them there. At the same time, there seems to be an additional group that's mostly hidden from view and knowledge, but that also acts a unifying, or at least neutral, party, in the sense that they are willing to work with both of the main Chinese political parties in the book. Considering where things are politically and at the end of the book, it'll be interesting to see where all this goes. The killings are somewhat similar to the ones in TVD and OVE, though I think that's on purpose considering Rosalind also points that out in the book. You'd think people in this world would be a little more hesitant to mess with chemicals and human experiments after what happened with the bugs and stuff last time, but nope. There is a different motive this time, and things play out very differently, imo, so I think the similarities actually work since they end up being fairly subtle. As for Rosalind, I like her much more in this book than I did in either TVD book. I thought it was helpful to get some insight into her character and understanding her motivations helped me understand her and like her more as a character. She's very matter-of-fact about things and is completely uninterested in pandering to other people's sensibilities, much preferring to be rude than give false flattery. It made me wish we saw more of her in this light in the previous two books since her personality here really shines through (of course, one could also argue that the events of TVD and OVE, plus the intervening years made her the way she is now). I also liked that we got to see her soft center in this book, and it's clear that even when she doesn't mean to, she takes people she cares about under her wing and will do a lot to look after them. Orion is the other main lead and is a completely new character. Unlike Rosalind with Celia, Orion is much more black and white about things with his older brother, who is a Communist agent. Orion's internal/family conflict is that he's desperately trying to be enough. Enough to hold his family together, enough to make his father pay attention, enough to overshadow his father's (exonerated) past. At the same time, he puts on a very devil-may-care attitude to avoid any close inspection from people who don't know him well. In the sense that he uses something else as a shield, also in the loyalty to his family, particularly his younger sister, Orion and Rosalind are quite similar. At the same time, Orion is more carefree than Rosalind is, and his joking manner serves to ease some of the tension in the book. The banter between Orion and Rosalind was quite entertaining and I enjoyed reading about them faking it as a married couple. I absolutely loved how so many people looked at them initially and went Yikes. They definitely become friends first, and their relationship is one based on mutual respect for one another, with each of them learning when to give the other space and when to push. Celia was also in the book, though as a more minor character. She has her own mission, though she ends up overlapping somewhat with Rosalind. It's interesting to see how she's changed since OVE since she was also a POV character in that, albeit a minor one. She's still on the Communist side of things and seems to desperately want to see good change in Shanghai and China. At the same time, like Rosalind, she's also willing to bend the rules in order to to make sure her family is safe. I like Celia as a character, so I'm glad she showed up in this book and I'm hoping to see her in the next one too. I can definitely see a few areas where character growth might occur for her in the next book. Oliver, Orion's older brother, is Celia's mission partner, so we get to see a bit of him too. I'm not entirely sure what to make of him yet. Celia seems to trust him, which is a good mark on his side, but at the same time he seems to keep a lot from her, which is not a point for him. He did end up opening up somewhat to her though, so I'm hopeful that he keeps that up in book 2. Phoebe, Orion and Oliver's younger sister, is also in the book as a minor POV character. She plays an interesting role since she doesn't have an official position with the Nationalists yet is still somewhat In the Know and trusted to be a messenger. Orion clearly worries about keeping her safe and wants her to follow a less strenuous, dangerous path than the one he went down, but at the same time he can't help but acknowledge that she is helpful at different points in the book. I like Phoebe, though she can come across as a bit flighty at times, and am looking forward to seeing how she fits into the next book. Alisa (Montagova) is another returning character. She and Phoebe actually remind me of each other a little bit. They're a similar age and have a similar desire for a direction, though Alisa comes across as a bit more mature and a bit more sly, which is perhaps understandable considering her background. She has a very dry sense of humor and I'm glad she showed up as much as she did in the book. She's 100% going to have a major role in the second book, so I'm looking forward to that. For fans of TVD and OVE, there are mentions of Roma and Juliette sprinkled throughout the novel. The ending of OVE left things pretty open for them, and that openness and possible answers are definitely hinted at in FLF. I'm very curious to see where things go and if my own hypothesis is correct about them. Benedikt and Marshall are also mentioned in the book, albeit less frequently. Considering they had a fairly solid ending in OVE and that Alisa mentions at least once in FLF that they fled to Russia to avoid White Flower purges after the revolution, I don't imagine they'll show up in book 2, but a cameo would be nice to see anyway. The ending of this book absolutely blew me away. There was a lot of action right before the end, and while the climax seemed like it happened a bit before that, there is still a lot to unpack from the last 20-30 pages. The reveal of the murderer happens before then, but the mastermind is discovered at that point, as are some of the other elements of it. Then, on top of that, a more minor (if it can even be called that, lol) mystery/bombshell is dropped right at the very end as well. I was quite literally gaping when I read the last page(s), I was so taken by surprise (in a good way). I almost wish I hadn't read the book immediately since now I really really need to know what happens next.

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