Bag of Hope

Bag of Bones will be coming to A&E. This is one of Stephen King's best novels. However, like all of his best work I worry that it will fall flat when it hits the screen. The entire book is told from the main character's point of view, and it's him that we learn to love. It's his thoughts that add that extra dimension of pain and terror. Showing us may not be enough.  One article says it falls way short of the book's promise.  I hope they are wrong.

I won't throw any spoilers (major ones anyway) but I have heard a few things that give me pause. First, they kill Jo in an entirely different way, one that doesn't match the underground story that is developing quietly the whole time. She had to die the way she did for everything to add up. Also, I have heard that the grief of losing his wife is shown in a clumsy way. It's no secret that Mike's wife dies. What is important is how it made him the scattered and desperate man that he becomes. It's also the most brilliant part of King's writing. Authors are often told to skip grief because it makes the reader sad or uncomfortable. Not King. He didn't flinch from the pain and he let you feel it right along with Mike. Anyone who has lost someone that meaningful knows how grief lays little traps. You think you're all cried out, you think you have move on, then like a sucker punch you catch a whiff of perfume or see their favorite book and you're right back to where you were the day you learned they were gone.

The terror of Bag of Bones is the same way. What happens is semi-scary by itself, in the context of Mike's universe they are enough to stop your heart. It's going to be hard to capture that without lame segues or "talking to myself" scenes.  The secret language of marriage is going to be hard to portray, and the love stories going on might be too distracting.  We had the advantage of hearing Mike's thoughts on everything, without that the movie may rely too much on 1) assuming the viewer hasn't read the book and 2) that they need to explain too much so they cut crucial parts of the story.

Still, I will be tuned in and hoping for success. Give me back my dust catcher, please.