Winston Graham - Poldark etc.
Posted: 10 Mar 2017, 01:08
I'm a bit of a latecomer to the Poldark craze that's been sweeping Britain over the last couple of years since the new TV version began; I mostly ignored it until I had a couple of holidays in Cornwall last year and found the Duchy absolutely awash with Poldark merchandise in all the souvenir shops and other tourist traps. I did start reading the first book in the original series of novels by Winston Graham, twice in fact, but couldn't get into it.
I was still curious, though, as to what all the hype is about, so last month I dived in and bought the DVDs and started watching the recent adaptation from the start. Still wasn't so sure what I thought after one episode, but by the end of the second I wanted to know more, by the end of the third I was captivated, and from there on in I was hooked. (And no, not just because of the good-looking chap who plays Ross. ) It's a story that sounds fairly boring in the blurbs, but in actuality, it's full of drama and intrigue and larger-than-life characters — set in almost the same era as Jane Austen (slightly earlier than when she was writing), but with a lot more claws and teeth, so to speak. I'm now just raring to go on with series 3, which is supposed to be on telly some time this spring...
In the meantime, I've just today restarted the first book, and after the slightly slow opening, I'm finding it much more readable and enjoyable — Winston Graham has a great writing style with beautiful descriptions and characterisations and frequent flashes of humour. And of course it helps that I already "know" the characters and the story from the TV series, which is said to be very faithful to the books (apparently the 1970s TV version was less so) and of course includes plenty of stunning scenery from Cornwall.
Any other fans here?
I was still curious, though, as to what all the hype is about, so last month I dived in and bought the DVDs and started watching the recent adaptation from the start. Still wasn't so sure what I thought after one episode, but by the end of the second I wanted to know more, by the end of the third I was captivated, and from there on in I was hooked. (And no, not just because of the good-looking chap who plays Ross. ) It's a story that sounds fairly boring in the blurbs, but in actuality, it's full of drama and intrigue and larger-than-life characters — set in almost the same era as Jane Austen (slightly earlier than when she was writing), but with a lot more claws and teeth, so to speak. I'm now just raring to go on with series 3, which is supposed to be on telly some time this spring...
In the meantime, I've just today restarted the first book, and after the slightly slow opening, I'm finding it much more readable and enjoyable — Winston Graham has a great writing style with beautiful descriptions and characterisations and frequent flashes of humour. And of course it helps that I already "know" the characters and the story from the TV series, which is said to be very faithful to the books (apparently the 1970s TV version was less so) and of course includes plenty of stunning scenery from Cornwall.
Any other fans here?