Zen - The TV Serial

I have finally got to watch this after finishing the first three books.  I had enjoyed the books at first but lost that as they went along.  The first thing I was wondering was how Rufus Sewell was going to fit as Zen.  To put it bluntly he's too much of a looker to play the man in the books.

As soon as I started to watch the first episode the opening credits grabbed me.  They're just wonderful.  See for yourself 

They had altered the timeline of the books so I knew things weren't going to stick entirely in concrete.  I'm glad they gave each episode 90 minutes.  Any more condensing of the stories would not have worked.  I really enjoyed the first two episodes but found the third to be weaker.  It stretched the characters into nudging panto territory.  Strange, as this was my favourite of the books.  I'd say the books had been condensed, certain characters given more to do and some less.  But all in a way as to make the stories fit into their 90 minutes.  Pretty well adapted if you ask me.  

The strangest part of watching was the accents.  Nearly all British and from all over Britain.  It just didn't seem to fit somehow.  I didn't desire them all to be speaking in cod Italian accents but this was weird.

The cast did a great job, especially Sewell.  He gave his character a lightness that made him fun to watch.  No brooding, alcoholic, miserable detective here.  He may be too good looking to be the Zen of the books but he made Zen on screen his own.

I sincerely hope another company does pick up the rights.  As the BBC can't seem to gain the viewers needed to shoot on location, in HD, across Rome :-(

4 out of 5 pawprints

Book 14 of the 50 Book Challenge

Cabal  by Michael Dibdin, 248 pages

Started February 28th, finished March 

This is the third and final book in the Dibdin omnibus I borrowed.  It starts off with a 'jumper' who falls from the dome of St Peter's onto the floor of the Nave during a mass.  Now here is why I resent Dan Brown.  This book, being a mystery, set in the Vatican City, centering around St Peter's, with a church conspiracy, well it reeked of Angels and Demons.  Even though this came many years before and isn't anywhere as silly.  That's what you get for enjoying a silly, fun beach read.

My main problem as I began this book was that I took a dislike to Zen.  Not good when he's the main character.  I wasn't taken with his girlfriend either.  This didn't get any better as the book went along.  The relationship issues were so predictable as to be painful.

The book got sillier as it went along with a seemingly unnecessary strain added in.  It wasn't silly enough to be put in quite the same box as Angels and Demons but it was definitely heading that way.  If it had been that ridiculous I probably would have been more enjoyable.  It was daft enough to make it unbelievable to me.  Without being ludicrous enough for me to throw care to the wind and enjoy the ride.

Now I can watch the BBC adaptations.  Which I'm hoping I will enjoy more.  From the clips I've seen it looks like a gorgeous production.  As I've decided to give Dibdin a wide berth from now on I won't be too bothered about discrepancies from the original text.  And, well, it's Rufus Sewell ;-)

2 out of 5 pawprints

Total so far, Books - 14, Pages - 3,807

Next - The Little Stranger by Sarah Walters