The movies may not be better than the books, but....

... they are certainly a more effective use of my time.

Friends and blog readers know that I am working my way through the 100 Best English-Language Novels of the 20th Century.

  
Loyal readers also probably remember my incessant whining about there being 12 books in the Dance to the Music of Time series (see here, here, here, and here). It is strange to think I began this long long journey a year ago and now it has come to a fitting end.

Although I finished reading the series a few months ago, I discovered there was a BBC miniseries from 1997. Of course, I could not resist prolonging the torture, so into the Netfix queue they went and they arrived in my mailbox last week.

It is not Downton Abbey by any measure, but the mini series includes all the important plot lines, edits out the inconsequential characters, and most importantly, in about seven hours you are done. All in all I would say the series is surprisingly good and true to the spirit of the series. It was nice seeing the settings and hearing the banter between the characters.

There was also an unexpected twist in the mini series, or perhaps I was so focused on Nick in the books that I overlooked something subtle. It is not obvious at first, but during the final scenes in the mini series you realize that the entire series is really about Nick's relationship with Widmerpool - all the other characters are just decoration. This is much like the Lord of the Rings movies, which made me realize that Sam is actually the hero. Now I need to spend some time reconsidering the books.

For those thinking of tackling the list and who are not purists, I would recommend saving a year of your life by reading a few of the books in the series (the writing is exquisite) and then finishing up by watching the mini series.

Happy reading!