Have you read Justin Cronin’s The Passage? Because I feel like a lot of people haven’t. I stumbled upon it when my old roommate brought it home, years ago. (If you know me, you know the roommate.)
It was a thick hardback with a navy blue cover. I had no idea what it was about. I hadn’t heard of the book. I hadn’t heard of the author. For some reason, I picked it up and read the first page.
And I didn’t put it down until I was finished.*
The reason I’m bringing it up is that I’ve started seeing ads for The Passage the TV show.
I think I read that Justin Cronin had sold the rights to the movie. During the press tour for the third book in the trilogy he mentioned that Fox was making it into a TV series. And now here we are.
I had no idea how a show or a movie would work, though.
Okay, for those of you who haven’t read it, it’s a vampire book. Yeah, I know, another vampire book. But it’s great. Seriously. Give it a read. It’s engrossing and addictive and not at all like Twilight or The Strain or The Vampire Diaries or True Blood or Interview With The Vampire or, hell, even The Lost Boys, which I genuinely like.
It’s much more of an apocalyptic novel that happens to be about vampire-esque creatures. Apparently it’s like The Stand, another book that is unread and gathering dust on my bookshelf (Look, Steven King! I just put you in league with David Foster Wallace, you’re welcome.)
But my esteem for the books aside, there are a few problems. The first is how the virals (they aren’t called vampires) or smokes or jumps will be shown. I think we all have our own internal picture, how could any show get it right for all of us? The second is that present day exists in the first book for about 110 pages out of 900 or so. The rest of the book takes place in an apocalyptic future. So, how will Mark-Paul Gosselaar stay in the series?
And that’s another thing! Mark-Paul Gosselaar was cast was Wolgast! What?! I legitimately like Mark-Paul Gosselaar, he’s part of my childhood. But what?!
I’m weary of this show beyond the normal “I loved the book, how will the movie be?” kind of way. They’re showing ads for this show during Fox Sports football games. Perhaps it’s unfair to say that that’s a bad sign but it kind of is. It says to me that they’re marketing this as widely accessible entertainment when it might not be. I mean, look at you, reader, you’re a smart person, have you read The Passage? Have you heard of it?
Exactly.
Maybe I’m just being precious about a book that I loved but a crappy show can’t tarnish my experience of the books.
I also feel like whenever I’m one of the first of my friends to know about a show, I curse it. So far no one I know has said, “Hey, what’s up with this show The Passage?” The fact that I know about it is problematic, trust me. Remember John From Cincinnati and Terriers?
Exactly.
So, keep an eye out for the ads for this show. Let me know what you think. It premieres January 14th. It might be amazing but I highly recommend the book. I’m a snob like that.
