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100 Books in a Year #72: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

By Brian Prisco | Posted Under Book Reviews | Comments (14)

Dexter-Morgan-1574.jpg

Rarely do I say this about literature, but….

The TV show is so much better.

It’s a rare instance where a program is able to really develop characters in interesting ways, without totally devastating what made the novel so enjoyable. I mean, they’ve fucked the Sookie Stackhouse books into a goddamn telenovela. Only with sparkle porn and a mouthy black girl.

However, in the case of “Dexter,” the writers for the series essentially took every single one of Jeff Lindsay’s tragically underdeveloped and trite characters, polished them off, snipped off the ungodly terrible ending to the book, and then created a fascinating series based on the talent mostly of Michael C. Hall.

Lindsay’s Dexter is more of a legit sociopath, who follows the beck and call of a Dark Passenger who demands blood sacrifice and justice against the wrongdoers who hunt like Dex. While Hall plays Dexter as a bit of a pathological android, the Dexter of the novel is unlikable and savage. All the characters are poor shadows of what Showtime swells them into. LaGuerra is a slang spewing stooge, Deb is an enraged Barbie doll, and the black cop is played off like he’s a psycho, too. Instead of his chained bulldog, he’s more like a fart button, staring at Dexter and grunting “psycho” and “fucker” without any sort of rhyme or reason.

Now while they have to spread a story over several episodes to make a season, obviously the grand finale is bound to be modified to fit your DVD box. But the ending in the novel is so awful, so blindingly stupid that I won’t even risk spoiling it by typing it here. Suffice it to say, I want to read the other novels just to see how plaidly they clash with the stylish series. They’ve already fucked themselves into a boring little pickle, like Lindsay himself didn’t even trust that they were going to give him a chance to write more books. It’s an amazing adaptation, taking shit and turning into a gourmet shit sandwich. On foccacia!

This review is part of the Cannonball Read series. Details are here and the growing number of participants and their blogs are here.









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Comments

You know, I had the exact same impression. I was housesitting for a friend and noticed they had a copy they'd borrowed from the library. I tried to read it before they got back in town and gave up in disgust.

I keep meaning to go back and finish the thing, but after this review, I'm not sure I really want to.

Posted by: Tyburn Blossom at April 22, 2009 9:15 AM

Mini-Diversion: Movie or TV show which is better than the book.

1. Frankenstein (original movie)

Posted by: BWeaves at April 22, 2009 10:28 AM

Mini-Diversion: Movie or TV show which is better than the book.

Stand By Me
The Shawshank Redemption
Fried Green Tomatoes (though it pains me to say so)

Posted by: idgiepug at April 22, 2009 10:43 AM

The Shawshank Redemption.

(A bit obvious, I suppose).

Posted by: Tarn at April 22, 2009 10:46 AM

Damn, thank you Prisco, I really was beginning to think I was the only one who felt that way. I read the book after watching the show, which I guess could have caused some of the bias, but I was amazed at how completely shallow all the characters were. I couldnt even bring myself to be interested in Dexter's internal battle. And the ending, jesus! Unlike you, I have no intention of reading anymore of the books, I will be happy forgetting I ever opened the first one and go on in my happy little Michael C Hall universe.

Posted by: MG at April 22, 2009 11:02 AM

If you thought the first one was bad, try the third. And the characters still are painfully 2D.

Posted by: m at April 22, 2009 11:34 AM

Mini-Div:

Last of the Mohicans
The Godfather

Posted by: Mattfactor at April 22, 2009 12:35 PM

Yep, that's pretty much exactly what I thought when I read the first book in the series (it's all I bothered with). But then again, the TV show hasn't been all that great lately, either.

Posted by: dsbs at April 22, 2009 12:58 PM

Lindsay's writing is so puerile and...just bad...that it transcends its own awfulness and becomes hilarious.

I don't dispute that the series is much better than the books; but I do prefer Lindsay's Dexter to the series'. He's a more believable (and less sympathetic) psychopath than the TV version.

Posted by: Jerce at April 22, 2009 1:06 PM

These books suuuuuuuuuucked. I was so looking forward to them after watching season 1. I ran out and bought them and it's like the only things they use from the book are the character names. I was very disappointed.

Posted by: Rubble44 at April 22, 2009 4:54 PM

You think the first one was bad? The third one is train wreck of the "how did this even get published" variety. It completely alters the reality of the first two books and has a non-ending ending. And the less said about the characters flapping their invisible bat-wings at each other, the better. (And, no, I'm not making that up).

Posted by: spazmodeas at April 22, 2009 5:41 PM

Here's the thing; I passed a lot of the poor character development off initially because we're viewing these characters through the eyes of a sociopath. Of course they're going to be shallow and impossible to relate to, because you're getting to know them from the perspective of someone who sees them as shallow and impossible to relate to. Acutally, I thought it was kind of brilliant. My biggest quibble with the television Dexter is that Dexter is so obviously NOT a sociopath, but I understand that the change had to be made for the sake of sympathetic characterization.

Book 2's not bad, but I have up a review of book three (http://rustymiami.blogspot.com/2009/03/book-26-dexter-in-dark.html) that I regret ever having read. My 13 year old sister regrets having read it. It kind of takes an inkling of a good idea of how to keep the series going and takes a massive shit on it. Which is why I said "initially" up there, because Lindsey's failure to stay consistent to the books he wrote make me question his writing abilities.

Posted by: Genny (also Rusty) at April 23, 2009 12:57 AM

Don't bother w/ the other two novels (nor the new Dexter novel coming out this summer)...the first book I actually liked a little bit, despite the thinly drawn characters, etc. Not great but a fun, quick read. The next 2 novels are like bad monster-of-the-week episodes of X-Files, Season 7-9. Lindsay is a hack; the show is infinitely better.

Posted by: stryker1121 at April 23, 2009 1:02 PM

The 3 Days of the Condor

Posted by: midfan at April 24, 2009 8:51 AM