Ed at 2011-05-12 12:08:31:
I know what you mean. I was watching Sunday (ep 4 I think) and was saying, "Wow, they are doing a lot of talking about what they're doing"

BUT. I also read the series a few years ago and loved it because of its density. And its female characters coming to the forefront and was wondering how they would handle that.

They have compressed and collapsed a lot of stuff. I made my wife watch the 'catch the cat' scene the other night and I was chortling over it. She, less so. I realized that I was applying my memories of the books to the scenes and not just watching fresh.

I do love it and think they did a marvellous job but let's face it there are at least 7 characters' stories that each deserve and have ability to be its own standalone.

Sheesh. But fun to watch.
Ed at 2011-05-12 12:08:40:
I know what you mean. I was watching Sunday (ep 4 I think) and was saying, "Wow, they are doing a lot of talking about what they're doing"

BUT. I also read the series a few years ago and loved it because of its density. And its female characters coming to the forefront and was wondering how they would handle that.

They have compressed and collapsed a lot of stuff. I made my wife watch the 'catch the cat' scene the other night and I was chortling over it. She, less so. I realized that I was applying my memories of the books to the scenes and not just watching fresh.

I do love it and think they did a marvellous job but let's face it there are at least 7 characters' stories that each deserve and have ability to be its own standalone.

Sheesh. But fun to watch.

ed
Amy Butler at 2011-05-13 14:40:06:
I read the books, more than once, and I'm just trying to figure out which actor is playing which character. My boyfriend is watching the series with me, and he's never read the book, so sometimes I think all he gets is the plot without the relational results from them.

And then, of course, a lot of relationships haven't been explained in the books either... Basically--more power to those who haven't read the books. But if you like the HBO series, I so recommend the books, despite their 800 page counts.