Susan Cooper Anybody?

I've read and enjoyed them since I was a preteen. Very good. My favorite is "The Grey King."

True classics. She's a fine YA writer.

loved them as a kid and have re-read them and still love them as an adult. she's written a book about her own experiences and ideas about writing for kids-- think it might be called "dreams and wishes"-- which i enjoyed too.

I read those when I was in... sixth grade? Loved them. It's been so long I can't even remember what they were about, though.

Read them as a kid, still occasionally re-read them now. I loved The Dark is Rising and Silver on the Tree best, I think.


Can't wait for the movie to come out!

sunna7kore said:

Can't wait for the movie to come out!

Click to expand...

I'm a huge fan of Cooper's Dark Is Rising books. With that said, I think it's only fair to mention the movie's director has made sweeping changes to the story and characters, and it doesn't sound good. To the point that I'm considering sitting outside the theater with my book and a sign that says, "Save your money - buy the book instead."

Oh, damn. What kind of changes? I noticed the preview looked a bit...off, but I never put much stock in previews (plus I was waiting for HP5 to start, so I wasn't paying much attention).

I loved them as a kid but reread them as an adult and found them a bit repetitive. I still love the character of Bran, though.

sunna7kore said:

Oh, damn. What kind of changes? I noticed the preview looked a bit...off, but I never put much stock in previews (plus I was waiting for HP5 to start, so I wasn't paying much attention).

Click to expand...

The family's American, instead of British.
The parents are career-oriented to the point of almost ignoring their kids.
Will's 13 (remember the book began on his 11th birthday)
Will fights with his brothers.
Max (the older brother in art school, who was a minor character in the book) is Will's best friend and role model.
Speaking of Max, he's pierced and tattooed and very defiant of the father.
Merriman, who was described as tall, gaunt and sharp-nosed, is being played by Ian MacShane. (I love the actor, but he is not Merriman.)
The Arthurian themes are all but wiped out.

Here's a better breakdown of most of the changes: http://community.livejournal.com/authorblog/5880.html

It breaks my heart, since I've loved the books for over twenty years.

Anonymisty said:

It breaks my heart, since I've loved the books for over twenty years.

Click to expand...

I have a cold lump in my chest as well. Given that they paid a lot of money to option the book, why would they change so much? I understand the director's impulse to "own" the film, but good gravy this is beyond the pale!

To address the OP, The Dark is Rising played a fair role in my youthfull decision to become a writer. I happen to agree with you that Greenwitch played a bit slow, but was a worthwhile read in its time as a part of the overall series.

Great book series! Only three changes have been made in the movie, that is, the main character's age, the main character's nationality, and everything else in the story. That the author seems to have approved of these changes, gives me a sick feeling. I smell sellout here.

CoriSCapnSkip said:

Great book series! Only three changes have been made in the movie...

Click to expand...

More than three. And now I just learned they've changed the name to The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=42990&type=0

I wouldn't blame Ms Cooper, though. Once her publisher sold the rights, she had no say in what the movie producers decided to do with her story.

Oh - that is heartbreaking. What were they thinking?


I'm not sure I could watch that without getting seriously POd.

Wow. A lot of those changes I could tolerate, but I simply don't see how they can leave out all the Arthurian stuff (which is HUGE).

Ian McKellan would do a good Merriman, except that he already played Gandalf.

If there has to be a love interest, it really should be Jane (keeping things all in the family, so to speak), although I think she really would have been Bran's love interest, not Will's.

got like 60 pages in of kids running around a mansion. boredom please.

Those books have been some of my favorites ever since I first read them. I'm a bit worried about the changes as well; the ones mentioned sound potentially okay; I'm worried they're going to change the character of Will though. For me, the heart of those stories has always been Will's balance between having the wisdom of an Old One and being an ordinary kid; I'm afraid they're going to change that part to make him more of a Harry-Potter-ish character. (Not that I have anything against Harry Potter, but that's not who Will is supposed to be.)

I loved the Dark is Rising and still do. For the longest time I didn't realize she'd written anything else, then found The Boggart, which I hated. This summer I read The King of Shadows which I thoroughly enjoyed. Began Seaward, but haven't gotten into it yet.

Oh no!

An American director ruining another set of good British books? I shouldn't be surprised, Disney ruined Winnie the Pooh the same way.

Wasn't the first book 'Over Sea, Under Stone' then 'The Dark is Rising,' 'Greenwitch' and the 'Silver on the Tree'?

If you like Susan Cooper you might like Alan Garner's 'Weirdstone of Brisingham' and 'Elidor' or 'Earthfast' by William Mayne.

pdr - The Grey King comes between Greenwitch and Silver on the Tree (I thought Bran was a wonderful character too - and the scene where the dog was pinned to the floor by magic was the one that really stuck in my memory).
Ian Richardson would have made a superb Merriman, if he'd lived.
And Christopher Eccleston is the Dark Rider.

I found it a bit hard to get into Seaward, too, but there are some interesting ideas in there.

Is this the same Susan Cooper who once wrote very dark, but gorgeous adult fantasy?

I saw her in the bookstore the other day and wondered.

I almost cried when I saw the preview -- it's so horribly different. It seems that the director had some issues with some of the more religious-y stuff in the book and after that had been excised, everything else was entirely fair game.

On the other hand, the preview did inspire me to a) re-read _The Dark is Rising_, b) look up Susan Cooper and find a bunch of adult fiction of her's that I never heard of, and c) swear not to waste my hard earned money on a crappy movie.

MMcC said:

Is this the same Susan Cooper who once wrote very dark, but gorgeous adult fantasy?

I saw her in the bookstore the other day and wondered.

Click to expand...

I don't know, but if it is the same person, I'd love to read the adult stuff! Do you remember any of the titles?

These are at least some of her adult titles: _Mandrake_, _Dawn of Fear_, _Seaward_, _The Boggart_, _King of Shadows_ and _Green Boy_.