I just finished reading From Hell, by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and I have mixed feelings. Anyone else read it?
I liked the occult thing and Gull's insanity and his attempt to suppress the Goddess stuff, and the conspiracies were cool. I'm interested in the Victorian age and magic, and I probably would have said it's a stronger book that Watchmen except
In real life you might meet someone and then never see or hear of them again. The same thing doesn't make for a good story. It just wasn't tight like Watchmen, where everything seemed to have a purpose. It seemed like he didn't have anyone to read it and say to him "yeah that's cool Alan, but it doesn't really add much you know? Maybe you should just put that in the notes at the end."
I think it's interesting that the movie is so very different. I actually enjoyed the movie, and even now after I've read the book still do, but I don't think it shares anything much with the book beyond the name. If they'd called it something else entirely and claimed no connection I don't think Alan Moore would have had any grounds to sue, especially since his idea of who the culprit was and why comes from a non-fiction book. Wierd.
Well, I think one part of that From Hell idea was that the book is supposed to be sprawling all over the place. It doesn't seem to be concerned about making a cohesive and tight story (though I admit that chances are Alan Moore is very fond of namedropping...)
And the movie indeed is very different from comic. And I don't think Mr Moore cares enough to sue...after all, he did at some point comment about Hollywood that they want to make movies which have same name as do comics he has written and are willing to offer bundle of cash for him to do nothing...a very sensible approach to creative control in my opinion, to not bother with any.
|
Yeah, I've read it. I thought it was pretty good, but you are completely right in that it meanders through the area without any real idea of where it is going. I think partly that they were trying to create in the reader a sense of frustration, similar to what the inspectors must have been feeling. Far too many red herrings in the book. I liked the movie quite a bit more. Ian Holm was brilliant.
If you read a lot of Moore's stff outside what he did for DC, From Hell is far more typical of his work than Watchmen is. He likes to explore little vignettes that explore character revelations but don't necessarily move the plot forward. In that sense though Moore's work is consistent throughout his ouevre, his much more a character based writer than a plot based writer. His most innovative plots are hte one that put his characters in situations that reveal the most about them.
As for Moore and Hollywood, he wants no part of it. After some of stuff he feels is crap that has been attached ot his name because it was loosely based on his stuff, he has demanded that DC not use his name in association with any movie based off of his stuff and that all moneys he would be due be given to the artist instead. For example, David Lloyd received all the money for the rights to V for Vendetta, Moore did not receive a single penny, nor was his name attached to the project. In fact, he got a court injunction for a cease and desist when early movie posters were released in Europe with his name on them for the movie.
The thing to remember about the stuff that Moore has written since he left DC in the late 80's is that he is now an occultist who writes, not necessarily a pure writer anymore. Books like Promethea, Birth Caul and some of his other stuff are more occult treatises in comic form than actual stories he is trying to tell. The are essentially occult parables, where Moore wants to explore hidden truths and reveal others to the readers who are in the know, rahter then pure entertainment. The fact that he is an extremely talented writer means that these offerings are still readable and entertaining for hte most part, but they have a different intent behind them than the stuff he is most remembered for such as Watchmen, Killing Joke, Swamp Thing, V for Vendetta, Miracle Man, Whatever Happened to Superman, et. al.
His other work has been homages to the stuff he loved as a kid-Supreme, Tom Strong, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc. all good stuff and well written, but again the intent is to celebrate influences of the past with new twists rather than write cutting edge stuff he was known for earlier in his career.
-M