The Crimson Petal & The White by Michel Faber

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Wed March 30th, 2011, 8:48 am

I've just seen who is playing William Rackham in this adaptation: comic actor Chris O'Dowd (best known for The IT Crowd).
Interview with him here:
http://www.metro.co.uk/tv/859422-chris- ... ious-actor

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Mon April 11th, 2011, 2:16 pm

Did anyone else see the first episode of this yet? Would be interested in hearing impressions both from those who'd read the book and those who hadn't.

I agree with the rave reviews in thinking it was excellent. And I actually think it worked better in the telescoped TV version than the overlong novel.

Sure, some things moved more quickly and nuances were skirted over. (For example, I couldn't see any suggestion in the TV version that Sugar was Mrs Castaway's daughter, and so far, at least, there is no mention of Rackham's daughter, who is a crucial character in the book, and surely she would have appeared or at least been mentioned by now if she's around in this version...)

But I don't think anything critical was lost and lot was gained.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Mon April 11th, 2011, 8:17 pm

SPD that's a major spoiler for those who haven't read the book!!!

I really enjoyed the first episode - it caught the knowing, ironic tone of the book, which I thought might be lost among the corsets and bustles, and the casting was excellent. The guy who played William Rackham was spot on - just idiotic enough, without being a complete dimwit.

Yes it looks like they've missed out the daughter, which is understandable but a shame...

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Mon April 11th, 2011, 8:28 pm

[quote=""Leo62""]SPD that's a major spoiler for those who haven't read the book!!![/quote]

Oh, I hope not. I don't think I mentioned anything that we're not supposed to already know by this point... Unless something that was quite clear early in the book is, in the TV version, supposed to be a revelation later on.
Apologies if anything I said was a spoiler. I'm normally very conscious not to do that...

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Tue April 12th, 2011, 9:08 am

I enjoyed the first episode - I thought it was very atmospheric. To be honest I can't remember a lot of the plot, so I'm not aware of any spoilers. I remember the daughter - I thought she was quite a lot to do with the outcome of the story? So it'll be interesting how they interpret it instead.

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Thu April 14th, 2011, 4:03 pm

Another excellent episode last night. The queries earlier in this thread regarding Mrs Castaway and William Rackham's daughter were solved last night!

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Thu April 14th, 2011, 4:42 pm

[quote=""Vanessa""]Another excellent episode last night. The queries earlier in this thread regarding Mrs Castaway and William Rackham's daughter were solved last night![/quote]

A-ha! I'll try and watch it tonight or at the weekend....

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Fri April 15th, 2011, 9:38 am

[quote=""Vanessa""]Another excellent episode last night. The queries earlier in this thread regarding Mrs Castaway and William Rackham's daughter were solved last night![/quote]

Indeed

I'd remembered the reveal about Mrs Castaway being much later in the book, but it's a few years now since I read it...

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Wed May 4th, 2011, 9:03 am

Shame I could never post the article Faber wrote in The Sunday Times but here's his article for The Guardian on his reactions to the adaptation:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/ap ... ovel-faber

Libby · Post by **Libby** » Sat June 11th, 2011, 10:51 am

I didn't watch the television version as I thought the squirm factor might be too high for me to watch it with my (adult) son. But having read a few reviews of the book I decided to give it a go. It took me an age to read it but the fact that I persevered to the end says something in its favour. I can't say that I loved it, but I liked it even if the ending seemed a chapter short of a novel.

I may try the adaptation - sometime when I'm home alone if the descriptions in the book are anything to go by!