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The Seeker: The Dark is Rising **

LIAM LACEY

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 8:43 PM EDT 08/10/07

The Dark is oh so lite ...Read the full article

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  1. Gizella Oehm from Toronto, Canada writes: Many years ago, I loved Susan Cooper's "Dark is Rising" series, and in memory of that, was inclined to go see this movie. But the review has put me off - I can tell that the charm of those books has been lost. This is such a shame, Susan Cooper's novels wove Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend, and the rest together to form a compelling, beautifully written story - which, by the way, in terms of sheer storytelling, language, character development and the rest, so far outstrip the Harry Potter novels that there is really no comparison. I suppose nowadways we are incapable of seeing any fantasy or science-fiction narration outside the realms of computer gaming, and the art inherent in these genres is lost.
  2. Chris Jull from Toronto, Canada writes: It is definitely not the case that the material is, as the reviewer states, "second-rate". Cooper's series is every bit the match for Rowling's in terms of plot and character development, and is much richer for its use of Celtic mythological elements. However, what is clearly the case here is that folks are jumping on the HP bandwagon hoping to capitalize on the money that is to be made, and some of the results will be lacking. This saddens me because I did, and still do, love the "The Dark is Rising" sequence, but I have high hopes for other projects that are coming down the pipe such as the "The Golden Compass" adaptation this Christmas and hopefully more Narnia movies. I also predict a "Book of Three" movie series coming at some point as well. We can only enjoy what is there, and sometimes just shrug and move on.
  3. Chris Eaton from Fredericton, NB, writes: Don't use this movie to judge the authors work. By all accounts, the movie is a terrible hatchet job, where the director and writers just threw away most of the book and did whatever they wanted.
  4. Josie Waters from Canada writes: "Whether you fully embrace the Harry Potter phenomenon or simply live with it, there's no question that J. K. Rowling is an imaginative story-spinner. The trouble is that she has ruined the field for the legions of the second-rate."

    Please, please read at least one of the novels of the FIVE-BOOK sequence written by Susan Cooper before you condemn her as being second rate - one of them, The Grey King, was awarded the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1976, or is that 'second rate' too?
    The Dark is Rising was written in 1974, decades before Harry Potter had even been thought of: yes, the film has mutilated the book in such a way as to render it unrecognizable, but that is hardly the fault of the author.
    Susan Cooper is a better author and writer than J.K.Rowling can hope to be in her wildest dreams, and I say this as a fan of the Harry Potter books. However, I have no illusions as to her writing style and her capability of creating characters that resonate and will stay with you forever. That ability is one Susan Cooper has, in spades.
  5. P Barnes from United States writes: Hey, before you start disrespecting Susan Cooper by calling her, of all things, a second rate JK Rowling (!!), maybe you should realize that one of the books in her series won the 1974 Newbery Honor award and another won the 1976 Newbery Medal. If anything, JK Rowling is standing on Cooper's shoulders. So you want to say that The Seeker is a second rate Harry Potter movie, I'll agree, but regarding Susan Cooper, you need to get either your syntax or your facts right!

    For many, Susan Coopers is one among the Select Few that includes Tolkein, Lewis, Alexander and L'Engle. Time will tell if Rowling's very enjoyable books will allow her to join this group.
  6. J Cothron from United States writes: I am disappointed that your movie reviewer did not stick to reviewing the movie, The Seeker, and instead chose to denigrate the quality of the books upon which it was supposedly based. Susan Cooper's five-book series, The Dark is Rising, tells a complex story of the conflict between good and evil, using themes from the Arthurian legends. To be disrespectful of an author of Cooper's stature only highlights the reviewer's lack of knowledge in the field of literature.
  7. Jeffrey Canton from Toronto, Canada writes: This disappointing review makes one gigantic error -- whatever this film is, this is NOT Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising -- from Lacey's plot description this is so loosely based on Cooper's novel as to be almost unrecognizable even to those who know the plot of her book well. Let's see, should we start off with the fact that Will's not an American and that he's 11 not 13 and his father is a jeweller which is integral to the plot of the novel. Does it matter that in the novel there's no teenage love interest, no shop-lifting and no sesne that Will is anything buit the much-loved youngest son in a large family? Maybe Lacey needs to think about the hackjob he's reviewing and that writer John Hodge has created a third-rate film that makes a mockery of Cooper's senstive and deeply compelling novel? What I find most interesting about this review is that Lacey seems to fail to realize that Rowling's work is far more hackneyed than he seems to find Cooper's. What's origianl about a school for wizard story for heaven's sake? Ursula LeGuin, Jane Yolen, Diana Wynne-Jones amongst many others have created compelling fantasy worlds where learning magic is part and parcel of the plot long long before the eminently forgettable Harry Potter hit the scene. Sadly his review denigrates Cooper's adept weaving of Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend into her Dark is Rising sequence and while Cooper may not to be ever reader's taste but her work offers much more depth than even the best of the pedestrian Ms. Rowling's books. Lacey's review not only disrespects the work of a far better writing than Rowling; what's worse is that he so obvious shows his lack of any knowledge of one of the great works of contemporary children's literature. God knows how he's going to handle the forthcoming adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials when he has Rowling-coloured glasses that blind him to what is clearly a bad film made from a first-rate book!
  8. cindy webster from Canada writes: I have to agree with the other posters...Susan Cooper's books were excellent. The movie on the other hand, sounds like it only has the remotest connection with the source material.

    Trash the movie all you want...but read the books before you insult the author.
  9. Stephanie Cain from Indianapolis, United States writes: I'm disappointed in this movie review for one reason: the reviewer has chosen to skip doing any research about the source material for the movie. A quick internet or library catalogue search could tell you that Susan Cooper, the author of the Dark Is Rising Sequence, won the Newbery Award for one of the books, and was a Newbery Honor recipient for another. She drew heavily on a sense of place as well as culture and mythology, while not shying away from serious issues such as prejudice and the struggle between good and evil. J.K. Rowling, while a talented writer, can never hope to be half as talented as Susan Cooper--and probably would never have been nearly as successful as she is, without Cooper's having joined other great authors like Alexander and Tolkien in laying the groundwork in the fantasy genre.

    Every article I have read about the movie has further convinced me not to waste any money on a ticket--which is truly sad, as Cooper's marvelous books have been a delight to me for the past twenty years. Initially I rejoiced at the idea of a movie, but as reports came out of the removal of Arthurian content, the decision to age Will and give him an interest in girls, and the horrific idea of making him American rather than English, I knew this movie was NOT the story I have loved since middle school.

    Please, reviewer, do your homework next time you decide to criticise a truly gifted author based on the second-rate movie adaption of her rich novels.
  10. Delaney Murphy from Canada writes: As if the horrible hatchet-job the filmmakers did of Cooper's beautiful, compelling work wasn't painful enough, now you want to blame her for it? The only thing the movie has in common with the book is a scarce few of the characters' names, and yes, it's a crap movie that everyone should boycott so as to not encourage them to go around murdering good books, but don't go around saying it's somehow the author's fault. She sold the rights years ago to the ever respectful and creative Jim Henson, and had no choice in what was just done to them. This? Is a snuff film for books. Skip the movie, read the story instead.
  11. Keith Eggeman from Cleveland, United States writes: I see no need to reiterate what so many other fans of Susan Cooper have said very accurately, but I will note that, in my experience, journalists tend to be more ignorant than one would expect or hope from a professsion that deals in "facts". I hope that this film critic would do the courtesy of responding to the comments. Perhaps the delay is due to him bothering to actually read the Dark is Rising Cycle.
  12. Kimberly Clarke from United States writes: Well, that was rather offensive. I see that everyone else has said pretty much exactly what I am thinking, and therefore won't repeat their admonishments to the author of this article...except for one part. J.K. Rowlings is in no way comparable to Susan Cooper. I have read both series in their entirety, and Rowlings is nowhere near the caliber of Cooper. Her books may be longer, but definitely not better. I have a shelf of books that I consider to be re-readable over and over, and I guarantee you that Harry Potter is not on it - but the entire Dark is Rising sequence IS. It takes a lot for a book to make it to that shelf, because I don't have much room, but that series will always have a place.

    Susan Cooper and her wonderful characters deserved better than this. Shame on you for implying otherwise, Mr. Lacey. I suspect that ANYONE who has ever read The Dark is Rising was also offended on her behalf, after reading your article.

    You really should apologize or at the least, respond to us, as Mr. Eggeman asked. I hope that you reading the books is the only reason you haven't said anything yet.
  13. Marie White from Canada writes: Allow me to add my voice to the chorus - Susan Cooper's wonderful Dark is Rising sequence should not be judged by this excreable movie. Susan Cooper isn't even resposible for them having the movie rights - she sold the movie rights to Jim Henson's production company, who then decided to sell them to this bunch of incompetents.

    The Dark is rising is a wonderful book, and Susan Cooper a brilliant author.
  14. Johan Lynnerup from Copenhagen, Denmark writes: Congratulations on two things: 1) Telling how terrible the film is and 2) getting all us Cooper fans to create a user.
    I will not repeat all the solid arguments the above users have contributed with, so I am just going to make a wish: I wish that you would read the series (or at least one book), so you can make up for the great mistake of calling Susan Cooper's masterpiece 2nd rate.
  15. J Scan from Ireland writes: As mentioned numerous times above Susan Cooper is by far second rate! As a lover of both HP and The Dark is Rising sequence this reviewer has clearly shown he has not bothered reading the source material. If he had he may have realised the reason the possible reason they changed the movies title from 'The Dark is Rising' to 'The Seeker: The Dark is Rising' is that the story has been completely altered. Any research on the web will show that Ms Cooper did not have the luxury that JK Rowling did of having any creative input into the film. As I can see no literary reviews from you Mr.Lacey perhaps you should confine yourself to the film industry until you have the knowledge to do a cross-over review. Response?
  16. A Smith from Toronto, Canada writes: When I was 11 I found the book Over Sea Under Stone nestled on a back shelf in my school library. I was fairly miserable at my repressive, small town Catholic school, and would hide in the corner reading whenever I was able. Susan Cooper's world was so grand, so mythic in scale - as dark and stormy as I imagined the Welsh hillsides to be. The books actually frightened me, and the ending was sad enough to provoke a bout of melancholy that must have lasted several days (seemed like weeks at the time). The series is a masterpiece, and one that should never have fallen into the wrong hands. They deserve to be faithfully adapted by and understanding studio and a first rate director. Until then, I'll pass.

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