Blood Meridian: Or, What Makes a Book Unadaptable 

bro just hit record and started yapping, get to the point buddy

I think the best way to adapt Blood Meridian is a Brodway musical, and most of it would be a Judge monologue while he tap dances

Ironically, I think Blood Meridian is an incredibly cinematic book. I think a lot of its scope and power comes through things that film is very good at conveying, but in order to do it justice for real it'd need to throw pretty much all easy marketability out the window and a director with the skill and the balls to forego conventional narrative and go as wild and raw and experiential as the prose of the book does. And that's not even counting the type of budget this would require, which makes it all the harder for all the rest to slide into place. It can be adapted, but not in a way that makes it feasible for the film market

For me, the best example for a perfect adaptation is American Psycho. They captured the bizarre comedy and satire of the book amazingly and didn‘t get too deep into the absolutely bonkers violence of the book. Not that I have a problem with that in general, but the experience that Ellis produced - to see Batemans gruesome acts through the eyes of your own imagination - would be completely lost in a gorefest-movie.

I’ve always thought BM would fair infinitely better as a HBO mini series, it would be criminal to try and cram all of the book into at max a 3 hour movie.

Sound & Furry is unadaptable because it so interior. Its possibly the most 1st person book ever written. Blood Meridian is a very 3rd person narrative (like epic poetry). This type of story could easily be adapted to film. The problem is capturing grand surreal imagery. Blood Meridian would work better as an animated film where you can create really dramatic shadows, coloring, and angel's inorder to replicate McCarthys prose.

I recently browsed a reddit thread discussing possible directors for Blood Meridian, and several people mentioned Robert Eggers. I think his style of directing would really fit the vibe of the novel. But in the end, the change in media would probably transform the story into something different, fundamentally.

Many books the plot is the whole point. For McCarthy the plot takes backseat to language setting the mood, creating a visceral image of every scene for the reader which would be very difficult for a movie to be adapted. McCarthy describes smells, touch, the pain, thirst, rage, fear, hope, and every imaginable sensation a person experiences.

Mark Z. Danielewski was actuallt working on adapting House of Leaves as a series a few years back but couldn't get any companies to pick it up. He published the teleplays for the first three episodes he wrote and it's really interesting how he approached it. It was definitely not a faithful adaptation in terms of story and he tried to do interesting and experimental things with the series form in the same vein as with the novel form, rather than trying to directly replicate what he did in the book. I think it had a lot of potential. If anyone else had tried to do something with it though it would have never worked.

Im not sure why we are still so stuck on film. A tv adaptation could potentially work. The Expanse, while not completely in line with the books, tells a 'novel' length story in about six episodes and I think its pretty good structurally.

The biggest reason it's unfilmable is because there are no sympathetic characters, no character development and no hope. It's literally No Country For Old Men if we spent absolutely NO time with any of the 'good' or more identifiable/relatable characters except for their deaths. The structure is fine, the way it's paced is fine, none of those 'physical' reasonings are what's holding back any adaptation. It's not actually unadaptable, it's not at all, a ton of filmakers could make a brilliant movie, the issue is no one would ever bankroll a movie with no 'star', no hope, no obvious message, no answers, it's just not happening. Also as a fan of great books being adapted into movies i'm so happy Franco has been cancelled because now he'll never be able to ruin an adaptation again. Seriously, what's his problem? He's a shockingly bad director and has consistently chosen truly great novels to ruin.

Watchmen is faithful visually, but no, Snyder does not capture its themes

McCarthy's books are partially so difficult to translate into film, I think, due to his use of language. His prose is almost poetic, and unless that is being used as 'script', any film will suffer from its loss. (And, I agree with you, as to 'Hostiles'.)

"That which exists without withholding its consent exists without my consent" James The Judge Holden Franco

Mary Harron is literally right there. She made the psychopathic wet blanket of a man that Patrick Bateman is into an engaging character and managed to wrangle the plotless novel that American Psycho is. The violence in the film is toned down a bit, but like I think she could do a great job. I would also say Antonia Byrd would have done a fantastic job as she has a knack for telling stories about broken, depressed character and working abstract ideas into the narrative of the story, and her one western is one of the best I've ever seen.

I really liked the Watchmen movie. Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think the Doctor Manhattan scapegoat ending was a better idea than extra dimensional squid being anyway.

I've always thought alfonso cuaron would do a good job of adapting blood meridian. He gets the mood so right in films like y tu mama tambien (random I know) makes me feel like he would pay attention to the overall backdrop, the character of the landscape which is ever present in the book, and not just the gruesome violence. The violence itself isn't what's horrible in my view, its the lack of meaning for it, the lack of a chance for any of the victims to avoid being victims, the hemming in of everyone in the story by the hostile environment. I also thought that some of the cinematography in godless would have lent itself well to blood meridian adaptation, similarly the direction and cinematography of the revenent in some ways seems to fit with this book too.

Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I would actually love if anyone tried to adapt this book into a movie. I personally feel that people should be bold and try to make movie versions of "unadaptable" material. I say why not. I know that people hold stories close to them in a sincere and precious way, and I understand that and respect that. But you'll always have the book. Even if an adaptation falls completely flat and lands way off its mark, you have the book, and I think the effort alone in trying to branch mediums with "impossible" material is commendable. That's just my take. Anyways, you made a great video and I hope you make more. I was particularly drawn to this video because I just finished Blood Meridian ten days ago and I've been absolutely devouring any and all thoughts and opinions and analyses related to the book and its author. I think your take is a refreshing one.

One piece of media that was considered unadaptable for live-action TV is the manga and anime One Piece but because the manga's creator was involved in the live-action version and every change had to go through him, One Piece has a great live-action TV show on Netflix that exceeded bottom of the barrel expectations for it, but the changes they made to the show to accommodate it being a TV show and not a long-running anime or manga made it digestible for new fans to enjoy and still kept what makes One Piece the best-selling manga that it is while still being in a different medium.

blood meridian is one of those books i never quite had the courage to pick up, but i did want to tell you i really enjoyed this video essay. the production was just right, the occasional clip, the soundtrack coming in at the end, your pacing was great even though there weren't many (if any!) visible cuts and your perspective was consistently incisive and engaging. instant subscribe, great way to spend 15 minutes :)

The biggest thing Clockwork has in common is the language entry barrier and all the complications stem from there.. Its the reason stuff like Gravitys Rainbow and Infinite Jest are considered unfilmable..

Haven't read Blood Meridian yet, but as soon as you referenced one of the big challenges being structure... My mind immediately went to House of Leaves. Read it in the Fall of 2009 or so and it made a huge impression. Then you pulled out a copy lol Don't you love when things like that happen? Checking out the rest of your channel now.

Catcher in the Rye I would also kinda put in the "unadaptable" category (Not just because of the injunction by the Salinger estate). It's a good story that would not make for a good film. Sure Holden is a strong character, and he technically has an arc, but following an angsty teenager fumbling around as he tries to find himself would get pretty boring in a movie. Especially if you're going for feature length.

I watched this whole video before I noticed your subscriber count. Your video was well informed, interesting and engaging. Hopefully you blow up soon!

It's nice to have a RU-vid video that isn't just a bunch of jump cuts and the same droning background music

Congrats on hitting the algorithm with this vid! I really like your analysis and presentation style, very confident in leading us thru your ideas. I do have a tiny bit of thumbnail feedback (you can take it or leave it considering your current thumbnail is doing very well) - I think your click through rate would go up even more if you removed “it’s the structure” from the bottom right. So you use the vid title to present the question you’re exploring - heighten the curiosity by adding “it’s not just the violence” in the thumbnail - then people are like “well, then what is it?” And they have to click and watch your vid to find the answer. “It’s the structure” is almost a spoiler-summary of your answer, and it might diffuse viewer’s curiosity pressure a bit, removing incentive to click. Also, it might push away a more casual audience who doesn’t think they’re interested in hearing about story structure, until they hear you explaining it. I know for me, I was about to click after I saw “it’s not just the violence” - then I noticed “it’s the structure” in the bottom and was like “oh… mm. Am I in the mood to hear about… structure?” lol. Then I decided to click anyway, enjoyed your vid, and wanted to share this bit of audience feedback. (I have also been working as a content strategist for the last couple years so these are the things I think about all the time, especially when I notice a vid taking off on a new-to-me channel. But like I said, take it or leave it. If you do try it out let me know what happens to your CTR, for science! Lol.) Congrats again! Keep it up!

The only adaptation of a dark philosophical book I can think of that worked well on the Big Screen was Apocalypse Now (Conrad's Heart of Darkness). It would take one HELL of a director to capture MaCarthy's Blood Meridian. Take the Apache attack passage, for instance. Are they actually going to show dying men getting raped, and live men getting scalped? Probably not. So straight away, the impact will be lost, and it will just be another generic battle scene, most likely with fast edits, Wilhelm screams and stupid orchestral music. Can't see it happening.

Totally agree with your definition of "unadaptable," I think many people misuse the term. Also, I absolutely picture Brando's Kurtz when I imagine The Judge.

House of Leaves is such a great book. Purposefully unadaptable, creepy as hell.

I loved House of Leaves. The author is Poe's brother (the band, not the poet). I still often think about it.

Amazing video, well said!

It's a shame that we're 100 years too late but Blood Merdian would have ripped as a silent film epic - I bet Abel Gance could've delivered something sublime. Other than that, I reckon it would work as an animated film/series. Some of the passages and images that McCarthy conjures would definitely be done justice if it were animated. As a medium, it is just less tethered to reality, geography and time in the way that film is, and it would also allow for that interiority that you mentioned. Budget and audience is a whole other matter, however... If it has to be a live action film adaptation, I reckon Paul Thomas Anderson would give it a good go. Inherent Vice as a novel has a sought of sprawling plot that sort of floats and drifts that it felt similarly unadaptable but he somehow made an excellent film out of the book.

Theres a little bit of footage online of James Franco's blood meridian and so far I gotta say i dont think the BM adaptation would've been too good. I say this mostly because of how the judge is protrayed and how anti cinematic imo the mountain scene was. The Judge did not feel mysterious or threatning or even sisnister it felt like physically and personality wise they toned him down way more like they just got the nearest really tall and bald guy to play him. The mountain scene also wasnt too cinematic even if it was test footage in which it mightve been fixed but it felt like there wasnt much stakes when i read the scene it felt like there was a whole lot of pressure. Everyone else was casted fine like the kid and tobin werent too bad especially tobin i think that portrayal was amazing. But if that was a glimpse on James Franco's blood meridian I don't think it would be the best one.

Hillcoat did one of my favorite films “THE PROPOSITION”, which leads me to believe he would be the one director that might come close. I could see him pulling it off with Nick Cave and Warren Ellis doing the soundtrack.

I was going to talk about not thinking that there is anything inadaptable, but the word "adaptation" already says it all just in its semantics, having said that I prefer to say that comics and games are media that would do justice to Cormac McCarthy, but apparently they just weren't considered to do this, but I'm increasingly seeing gaming media as the best way to adapt because it encompasses all the others in its gameplays and for me Blood Meridian would greatly benefit from this or by the captivating drawings of someone comic book author who experiments a lot with graphic narrative.

I read _House of Leaves_ back when it first came out, and while I agree that the book is probably unfilmable, I always thought “The Navidson Record” would make for a good film (possibly a short film / tv series). “TNR” is one of the main narratives of the book - the Navidson family moves into a sort-of-haunted house and they film their experiences on a camcorder. In the book it’s written as a summary of those home videos, so it’s already kinda framed as a ‘found footage’ film to begin with; the book itself could almost function as a shooting script. Anyway I just always thought it would be cool to see an actual movie based on that section alone.

“Because there’s no fucking squid!” Best line in the video.

10:57 Unadaptable is a strong word. I don't usually think video games are valuable as what we know as "literature", but there has been something that is not a direct adaption but a very strong inspiration from House of Leaves in the video game field. It is a long watch and at times requires knowledge about how the game Doom is both structured and written to follow, but still, it's very impressive ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5wAo54DHDY0.html The tl;dw is: Someone created a "found footage" modification for the original Doom. Some parts of it live through the interactivity, but many parts really resemble the "disconnectedness" of parts of House of Leaves I felt when reading that. Anyway. Great video. Glad the algo put you on my recommended videos list!

Judge Holden can't be adapted into a film villain, but we live in a world where Caligula and Redo Of Healer are allowed to be shown on TV and DVD. Hypocrisy.

If Naked Lunch could be adapted for film, so can Blood Meridian

Todd Field worked on a Blood Meridian adaptation for a while. He's one of two people that i would like to see handle it. The other being Paul Thomas Anderson just taking a loose crack at it in some fashion (as he did with Upton Sinclair's Oil!). That being said, there is apparently an adaptation of Blood Meridian floating around out there that was written by Todd Field. I have never found it myself, but have heard it was around 180 pages and leaned more Terrance Mallick / Stanley Kubrick than Hillcoat/ Scott. Hopefully someday we'll get to read it.

I've said that the Soviet director Elem Klimov would have been an interesting person to adapt something like Blood Meridian; if you've seen Come And See, it would be interesting. But, when it comes to adaptation, I think if it was done as, I know people will cringe, a very grounded and gritty anime series, maybe ten to twelve episodes, with no ratings constraints, it could be done; it would also allow for more easily adapted seamlessly as visual poetry on screen.

Great video, guy! Really engaging and with great points

for some reason i started of with blood meridian as my first serious novel. and i finally understand why people call some books a hard read.

Haunted by Chuck Palahnniuk isn't a book that is easy to adapt. At most it can become a miniseries. There isn't much dialogue that is said between stories unless there is going to be narration. Not just because of the bizarre events that unfold. Now Cows by Matthew Stokoe though! That will be difficult to adapt mainly because I can't just put into words what happens in that book. If it does get an adaptation I see it being like a CGI film like those Resident Evil films that aren't live action.

Just give it to Terrence Malick and hope for the best.

Make Infinite Jest into a 23 episode tennis anime and you have a winner

There are only 5 directors in this book's lifetime that should have made it into a movie. Let's get to the one who died in 1999. It's sad that Stanley never got to make a Cormac movie. Marty and Clint are both great at violence but both may be too mature to make it today. They both proved they could make unadaptable material into classics. The next one claims he's only making one more film, but man what he could do with this novel. This novel was made for his skills, and he's really, really great at violent films. That leaves the last two. They had a bit of a minor success with adapting a Cormac novel, and they were born to make this movie. I honestly don't know what's stopping them from doing it. Get off your butkus and do it Joel and Ethan.

great discussion, loved it

Finally someone I agree with on the Watchman adaptation I think it makes a lot more sense and gives a better twist than the damn squid/alien thing in the comic . I always thought the ending was a bit stupid.

Burgess hated Kubrick’s film of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, calling it “Clockwork Marmalade.” The changes to the story (the ending is changed since America’s version of the book had the final chapter removed, when Alex has renounced violence some years later) as well as the withholding of he explanation of the title, certainly annoyed him.

I actually picture the Judge as Marlon Brando as Kurtz! I’m glad to see someone else saw it!!

I always saw the kid as shallow appearing because he was purposely detached from his actions in the book. He didn't want to dwell on the things that he's done and the people he's with.

Hillcoat adapting Blood Meridian is interesting. I always thought The Proposition was the closest we'd get to an adaptation. Obviously they are very different stories, but share very similar themes and tone. I haven't read it in awhile, but the unadaptable part of the book comes from the slog of violent set pieces by the gang. Hear me out. The first half of the book is very adaptable. Watching the kid's descent into violence, parties he meets along the way, and eventually joining the gang can be cinematic. That is the narrative part of the book. Soon after he joins the gang, it becomes going to x place to commit y atrocity...over and over again. I get it, that is the meridian of blood that they are crossing. And cutting it out of an adaptation would be a disservice since that is basically the point. Gratuitous violence. You could pick out a few of those set pieces and bookend it with the demise of the gang and the years-afterward ending? I'm probably wrong and need to read the book again.

If Nick Cave writes the script and Hillcoat directs it, this will be a slamdunk. I hope the psychedelic atmosphere of the novel will be upheld.

The key problem with attempting to adapt Blood Meridian is "the kid." He's a protagonist who refuses to protag. He's just this stoic, damaged kid who allows himself to get swept up in the savagery of his world and has no real conflict with it.

What makes Watchmen unadaptable it’s not its scope, violence or nuance. It’s the way it was designed, like the basis for your video, it’s the structure. In Moore’s own words, Watchmen was structured to make use of the elements only comics can offer. The best example for this is the 5th, or 6th story, Fearful Symmetry. The whole story is structured in a mirrored way that converges in the center fold pages of the comics. This even includes the reader being able to flip the pages back and forth to make the comparisons. With that said, though, I do think Watchmen can be adapted in a very faithful way. One just needs to take the elements in the story that are inherently linked to comics language and change them to film language.

I really need to read Blood Meridian. Especially with multiple people saying it is unadaptable. It must be a great book.

an adaptation of Harassment Architecture would be even harder

Great material, thanks, currently reading BM. Cheers

Blood Meridian is very adaptable just more as a show rather than a film. If someone sought out to adapt the released Game of Thrones novels into three films, it would have ultimately failed. The freedom a show allows give ample room for adaptation.

That book behind him that moved. Kinda funny.

I will never understand why authors allow their works to be made into movies. They are novels, not screenplays. Just write a unique movie. I don’t know of any movie adaptations that are better than the book. I tried to watch Game of Thrones, but stopped after a few episodes. I read the books so I knew what would happen and it wasn’t interesting. My imagination is far superior than the studio sets, which were laughable. Why do they use ruined castles in these shows? The castles would not be ruins. I don’t watch many movies, but I don’t see how this book could be made into one. I think the violence would be the issue even though I guess they show terrible things now a days, but I don’t watch that stuff. If they are faithful, then the scenes of violence would be too overwhelming and people will wonder if they are watching a horror movie. The scene with the dead babies in the tree comes early and I don’t see that going over well with the public. I hope no one makes this movie. It was also extremely surreal and would have to be filmed as such. Kind of like the new Dune movie with it being so atmospheric.

My favorite novel is also the most unadaptable, Gravity's Rainbow. I do kind of want someone with talent to try, but it'd be a mess. What an interesting mess it'd be

This book could be pure cinematic gold.

This was very insightful. Thank you. 😊

i’m … intrigued … to see what happens with this newest adaptation attempt, but i thought Robert Eggers would be a good fit for director. someone else pointed out you’d need to throw all marketability out the window for the film and i think Eggers has done that THRICE, but still created three incredible films because of it. his attention to detail and his breadth and scope would be great for Blood Meridian, and i’m a bit sad he’s not helming this adaptation.

Great video! Really enjoyed!

My best guess is the Blood Meridian film adaptation will primarily focus on Judge Holden, and The Kid will primarily be the placeholder for the audience on experiencing the book's main events. But small details like the Kid hanging out with a hermit who has a particular "heart" in his possession I'm sure will be cut.

I think the screenplay for Blood Meridian is already written for you. Macarthy was a genius, I think he knew full well one day somebody would turn all of his great works into films. For instance, whenever the judge is waxing poetic about lessons from history, or seemingly able to already know everything there is to know about various cultures and languages. The cinema is written in an invisible ink, up to the readers interpretation and ability to decode. A short 5-10 second shot of the judge as a younger man in the halls of some great French castle, or the great room of an adobe fortress, or alone in a dark stable stall with a candle, reading the personal accounting of Spanish conquistadors. Then a smash cut back to real time and a quick, quiet brandishing of his scars, smile, or eyes. Something to humanize him without taking away from his general villainy. His ability to not just endure but flourish in the chaos around him isn’t happen stance. The final battle at the ferry, there is so much intentionally left out of the writing, like how the judge most certainly set up the raid through some back door deal with the Indians. Chaos for chaos sake. He was bored with his long sought after feudal lordship, as a calculating sociopath would be. Maybe show a leaking bucket under an old well pump, always hungry, never satisfied. That’s why he was ready with a cannon and a big old sack of gold. Then the Indians double crossed him and he made his way regardless. I don’t know, I’ve read that book so much over the years and I always seem to come out of it with an entirely new interpretation of what is and isn’t written, and the implications therein. Some day, a mad genius will write that screen play for real, but I doubt Hollywood would let the script be turned to cinema without molestation.

Whether it was a deliberate choice, or just by happenstance, the closest thing we’ve got to a great adaptation of Blood Meridian, so far, is actually the video game, Red Dead Redemption 2. I know many will balk at the comparison, but the themes and plot are incredibly close, if we accept Arthur Morgan as a decade older version of, “the kid,” and Dutch Vanderlind as Judge Holden. Dutch is a hair’s breath away from being the living embodiment of The Judge by the end of the main story, and Arthur meets his end in a similarly obtuse set of circumstances, leaving the audience with as many questions as answers. The Vanderlind Gang has several analogue characters for the rest of the lawless gang in the book too. You can see Captain White’s racist impulses in both Mica Bell and Bill Williamson, for instance, and the spiritually alert, more compassionate side of Tobin in the game’s Hosea Matthews. I could go on, but you get the point? It’s not a perfect retelling by any means, as the female characters of Dutch’s gang would be very out of place in Blood Meridian. But I would struggle to believe that the creators of RDR2 had not read Blood Meridian and used it in much the same way that Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Heart Of Darkness, is always being retold in movies and video games, like Spec Ops: The Line (also a classic). I would argue that RDR2 not only addresses the same themes and story beats, but does so as well as McCarthy’s novel if, perhaps, with more compassion and sentiment than we’ll find in the book. The characters are every bit as eclectic, deep, fascinating to follow and compelling. The nihilism and cynicism are all present, along with a good long, deep stare into the abyss of humanity’s failings. We have a similar period in history and setting, and a similar tale of gradual disintegration of the group into shallow banditry and murder, after the scales of high mindedness fall from their collective eyes. And the charismatic, sometimes wondrous to behold, sometimes banally evil figurehead, sitting at the centre of the plot, impenetrable motivations and all. Though Dutch is not a pedophile serial killer, like the Judge, or based on anyone real like him. But it’s just a different version of the same story. And a damned good one at that.

I just finished writing my first screenplay. All through out the writing process i would ask myself "should i make it a book or a screenplay?". And to this point i have never had an idea that can be strictly made in one of the forms and Not the other. Ive also never seen a a piece of lirature that can’t be adapted. It all depends on creativity and allowing yourself to stray from the source material. So this raises the question what is a good adaptation? Is a good adaptation the most faithful?>…..

I hope if they do adapt blood meridian they capture the almost contemplative quiet nature of it. I imagine lots of long shots and scenes of nature.

Hillcoat has always been a good potential choice, simply due to "The Proposition". Some other directors who could perhaps do it justice are Refn, Lynch, and potentially Eggers. I also think a young Coppola could have maybe pulled it off. It'd be a pretty tall order for any of them tho.

The way you physically handle books is funny. You wring them around with roughness and familiarity. Like how a farm hand jovially whips small animals around. Or how a juggler handles items.

Excellent video - I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this! Subbed 😊

Wheel of Time would have been adaptable while Robert Jordan was alive.

Boils down to being unable to accurately evoke that imagery and the feeling the McCarthy creates with those little one liner bombs throughout.

Would like to hear if you feel the same about Gene Wolfe’s “Book of the New Sun.”

interesting - for me it's the writing in blood meridian that is so dense and rich in parts; hard to see an adaptation that brings it all out. it's more in the literary - the actual experience of reading and the artistry of molding language, than in the broader psychological experience, at least until the dense psychology of the ending. ... off the top of my head, it seems like Suttree is the work that has more readily accessible subtext and locales that could be more easily rendered to cinema. to bring out blood meridian, it would have to be a more abstract and tangential art of interpretation - some type of odd inspiration/vision for how to translate to screen. something visceral and experimental

I feel like a properly animated adaptation of blood meridian could make for a great, and interesting adaptation.

I entirely agree about Watchmen, and like *Im* disappointed there's no squid and that has ripple effects in subplots but like, They managed to keep the Narrative intact, the characters were correct, Its probably not only one of the most faithful adaptations of a Graphic Novel, its also easily Snyder's best work.

I’d love to see a ‘300’ or ‘sin city’ styled adaptation of blood Meridian with a horror feel to it and visually stylish. It might not be perfect but I believe it could be attempted

Blood Meridian, for the most part, is so visual and can’t rely on dialogue or “action” (kind of horrible to think of what constitutes action in Blood Meridian), so the director really needs to have a strong visual language that at least tries to encapsulate a bit of Mccarthy’s grand descriptions. It can definitely be done, but it almost has to be a miniseries with zero content restrictions (HBO might be the only option there) and enough confidence in the audience to allow for prolonged silence and introspection. Paris, Texas meets No Country for Old Men.

I read and loved this book immensely, but I think I missed something in the story. I'll reread it one day.

kind of reminds me of when they try to adapt Eragon it was nothing like the book but it captures the same sentiment

I actually take a stricter view of the term 'unadaptable' - I would say almost any novel, unless it's a very straightforward and simple action-driven narrative, is unadaptable in the strictest sense. But I'd also say that's fine - adaptation isn't and can't be a process of taking every element of a source text and perfectly transcribing it to the screen. It's an act of translation, and like any act of translation there are payoffs and compromises to make. One example I would use is Cloud Atlas (which for the sake of argument I'm going to stipulate is a brilliant film). The novel was considered unadaptable largely because of its structure, and the film completely junks the structure and does its own thing instead. It finds a way to recreate the feel and import of the book without slavishly following the structure, and it's an excellent adaptation/translation. You could say the same about something like American Psycho, which deviates from the novel in a number of ways but successfully maintains the feeling and the ideas, and is a little masterpiece. I think you're also making an unspoken assumption here, which is that 'adaptation' means 'big-budget, wide-release, crowd-pleasing blockbuster movie', which isn't necessarily the case. Under those criteria, something like House of Leaves certainly is unadaptable in any meaningful way. But I for one would love to see an experimental filmmaker like Takashi Ito adapt that book. And I'd push back against the idea that films have to have trite, easy resolutions to be successful or popular. Modern blockbusters might, but there are plenty of (brilliant, well-regarded) films around that absolutely don't. (And on a side note, I'd definitely be one of those people who says Watchmen (2009) is a terrible adaptation, but not because 'there's no squid' or whatever. I think Snyder fundamentally doesn't understand what the book is about; he gets the visuals, and replicates them faithfully, but his handling of some of the characters and sequences is completely wrong for the material)

Great video, subscribed!

the Coen brothers are the ones that should be doing the adaptation if anyone can do it they can

my only argument against "no country for old men" is the hitchhiker/motel girl. and of the eagle pass shootout, and basically no explanation of the cartel men hunting llewellyn [sic]. the film is amazing and I imagine similar visuals for blood meridian, but staying true to a novel in the commission of film adaptation must be harder than it seems.

The stand tv movie series I thought did it well. 1984 has a couple good movies. Really want to watch the catch 22 series. Is that good?

I think a missed opportunity in your essay was the adaptation of McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, which is, in my opinion, one of the best adaptations of a novel ever. Certainly it’s the best adaptation of McCarthy. NCFOM is not as dense and literary as BM, but I feel it’s a fair comparison to The Road in terms of underlying themes and complexity, yet I don’t consider The Road nearly as successful. I would also say that focusing on the themes of BM is fair when talking about its unadaptability, it feels like the failure of past BM adaptations have focused purely on the amount and kind of violence in it. I think it could be adapted, it would just take a filmmaker and a studio willing to not care if the violence was a turn off. Where a faithful adaptation is possible, the real issue is whether it could find an audience. Which, it could, it just might not find a sizable enough audience to make it financially successful.

I've yet to finish Blood Meridian (I'd be on my third attempt). But I think that it actually shouldn't be adapted. From all I've gathered these are reasons it simply shouldn't: 1) It is critical of American ideology and human nature. Which most people I know have no questioning skills whatsoever. The very nature of early expansion was horrific. 2) Audiences won't understand the message. But worse, critics will think it is full of violence and depravity (which it is but that's not the point). 3) The more brutal scenes can't be shown in many extents anyways. 4) Casting would be ridiculously difficult. Very few movies land adaptions because they cast people who shouldn't be in it. Especially casting A-list celebrities for marketing. 5) The director, production, cinematography, and script have to be on point. There needs to be a conveyance of emotions beyond the acting. It needs crisp shots of landscapes. It needs realism that interferes with the abstract. It needs producers who aren't Hollywood elites. Marketing needs to be honest and intriguing so audiences know what they're getting into. Marketing can't just be how every Western film is portrayed and it also can't have a Ed Sheeran remix playing in the background. It might even need shots/scenes that break away from the novel to show character development. I'd much rather the director deepen characterization in non-novel scenes than to have viewers think the story is strictly violent and 1-dimensional. I think that the film can't hypocritically go out of its way to say violence is bad and show tons of it. It needs to say, "This is what we're truly capable of. This is your history," and leave it at that. I guess really my fear is that an adaptation IS made and does have all the best qualities but something like shitty marketing, critics, or non-analytical audiences destroys the film's success.

The main reason it cannot be adapted ,IMO, is because of the kid. When reading its up to the reader to decide how active the kid is in the violence. If he is just there while it happens, but on the sideline, or if he is fully active, or a little active here and there but not fully. Its all up to the reader.

I think sin city and v for vendetta are both good adaptations. Sin city being better. V changes things but works. Fear and loathing is my favorite best adaptation ever

There is no requirement that every successful novel be made into a film.

Great vid I enjoyed

I'd pay 100 a ticket to see a well-done blood meridian. The bar would be so high though for book fans...

The structure of Blood Meridian is literally this happened and then that happened and it was like trying to eat icecream in hell or something yada yada

It's always surprising to me when people say they want a Blood Meridian movie. Like, did you actually read the book? You're asking for a guaranteed bad movie. It's like trying to adapt Catcher in the Rye. There's just no way LOL the movie will only be worse than the book. When i think of this amazing book as a movie, I try to picture the scene with the vampire bat in chapter five and I know for a fact that no movie made in 2023 could capture what is great/ creepy/ funny about that moment. Read it again. They'll mess it up and we'll all hate it .