I wanted a hefty summer read and so I chose… a book about a vampire pandemic? I blame some NYTimes column of summer reading suggestions for pointing me to Justin Cronin’s The Passage. Blame suggests it was a bad choice. I don’t know. It might have been. Probably the part about reading about a pandemic where there are only a handful of human survivors left was a bad choice. But the part about a virus that creates vampires was excellent.
I was about to write that it would make a great adaptation for TV and then I checked and it has ALREADY BEEN ADAPTED. Clearly TV producers are reading my mind/blog. A great adaptation because it’s super plot driven, with lots of hanging scenes where you’re left wondering if someone is still alive, or why they are having a strange dream, or whether X hero is going to make out with Y hero. Plus lots of descriptions of fancy military equipment and gritty technology that makes for excellent set design.
Reasons you could probably skip the EIGHT HUNDRED PAGES and just watch the show:
- There are many, many other better things to read
- The characters aren’t all that interesting or well developed and so the novelistic interiority wouldn’t be missed
- There are many, many other better things to read
Reasons you might want to read EIGHT HUNDRED PAGES (and also watch the show):
- You have a newborn/puppy/insomnia/high maintenance plant and are forced to be awake at outrageous hours where the best thing preventing you from falling asleep in your chair and thus RISKING THE LIFE OF YOUR CHILD/puppy/sanity/plant is an epic book about a vampire pandemic.
- You are similarly trapped somewhere and the only thing available to read is this giant book.
- Did I say trapped? I mean, #blessed.
Literary Vice 