Tag: HBO series

Television adaptation: ‘I Know This Much Is True’ by Wally Lamb

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The television adaptation of Wally Lamb’s bestselling novel “I Know This Much Is True” premieres on HBO on May 10.  Photo: google

Wally Lamb is an American author of several novels including “I’ll Take You There,” “She’s Come Undone” and “I Know This Much Is True;” the last two were both selected for Oprah’s Book Club. He was the director of the Writing Center at Norwich Free Academy in Norwich and has taught Creative Writing in the English Department at the University of Connecticut.  “I Know This Much Is True” is the bestselling novel about identical brothers Dominick Birdsey and Thomas Birdsey, who suffers from schizophrenia.  Dominick struggles to take care of his twin brother while discovering the truth about his own family.  It has been adapted into a limited television series that will air on HBO and premieres on Sunday May 10. Mark Ruffalo stars in the double role of Dominick and Thomas.

According to Amazon, in “I Know This Much Is True,” Dominick Birdsey, is a forty-year-old housepainter living in Three Rivers, Connecticut.  He finds his subdued life suddenly disturbed when his identical twin brother Thomas, a paranoid schizophrenic, commits a shocking act of self-mutilation. Dominick is forced to care for his brother as well as confront dark secrets and pain he has buried deep within himself—a journey of the soul that takes him beyond his blue-collar New England town to Sicily’s Mount Etna, the birthplace of his grandfather and namesake. Coming to terms with his life and lineage, Dominick struggles to find forgiveness and finally rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his troubled twin.

Television adaptation: ‘The Outsider’ by Stephen King

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Photo: Google

Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows and comic books. He is best known for classic novels like “Carrie,” “It,” “The Green Mile” and the Dark Tower series and most recently “The Outsider,” “Sleeping Beauties,” co-written with his son Owen King, and the Bill Hodges trilogy: “Mr. Mercedes,” “Finders Keepers” and “End of Watch.” “The Outsider” follows a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy. But when an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in. It has been adapted into a 10 part limited series that will premiere on HBO on Sunday January 12 at 9p.m. Cast includes Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Jason Bateman and Bill Camp.

According to Amazon, “The Outsider” the story centers around an eleven-year old boy’s murder. When his violated corpse is found in a town park, eyewitnesses and fingerprint evidence points to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. His name is Terry Maitland, and he is a Little League coach, an English teacher, husband and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a very quick and public arrest even though he has an alibi. Anderson and the district attorney add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and eyewitnesses and assume they have an ironclad case. Typical of King, this is not the ending, for as the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, the story kicks into high gear and brings along strong tension and unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he really?

Television adaptation: ‘Sharp Objects’ by Gillian Flynn

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The series Sharp Objects, based on Gillian Flynn’s book, premieres on HBO on Sunday July 8.

Gillian Flynn is an American mystery author and former television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has written three novels including “Sharp Objects,” “Dark Places” and “Gone Girl.” “Gone Girl” became an instant bestseller and was adapted into a movie starring Ben Affleck. Her debut novel, “Sharp Objects,” follows a newspaper journalist who must return to her hometown to report on a series of brutal murders.  It  has been adapted into a limited series on HBO starring Amy Adams. It premieres on Sunday July 8.

According to Amazon, in “Sharp Objects” Camille Preaker is an emotionally troubled reporter who is fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital. She now faces a troubling new assignment which involves returning to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. It has been years since she has spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or the half-sister she barely knows who is a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Once she is settled in, she finds herself identifying with the young victims and is haunted by her own demons. If she wants to get to the bottom of the story and survive being back home, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past.