Everyone will enjoy the suspense of Big Little Lies but today's parents will recognize themselves and their lives in the story line. We meet three different moms, each with a child starting kindergarten. Each mom is quite different .. socio-economically, age, educational background.. but in ways they are the same -- vulnerable, survivors, each gave up something for their children. The superficial dramas presented within the new kindergarten community are very familiar: parents who want advanced learners, parents who hover, parents whose identities are tangled with their children's.. all the parents seem a little crazy .. like today's parents.
HBO made a show of the book. After watching the first episode, I lost interest. The characters on the show are not nuanced in the way they were in the book. They are caricatures of the people in the book.. 2 dimensional.. less interesting.. not likable. It's such a great story though that I might return to it.
I thought that as the series went on, the characters became very nuanced. And what fabulous acting! I read the book chapter by chapter along with watching the series but read the book after I watched the corresponding portion of the series. I noticed that the script is word for word from the book. For me--whenever I watch a movie before I read a book I like the movie better and whenever I read the book first, I like the book better.
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