Diana Gabaldon's Concerns about Tragic Adaptation of Stories
Diana Gabaldon, the author of the 1991 bestselling romance novel about a time-travelling nurse, seems to be happy about the 16-part adaptation of her novel. The series premieres on Starz Aug. 9.
She said in an interview that when one line from the book which the 18th-century Scotsman Jamie Fraser says to protagonist Claire Randall: "Ye need not be scairt of me. ... Nor of anyone here, as long as I am with ye. No, you have to say that," was kept as it is in the narrative, she knew it was going to be ok.
She says, Ronald D. Moore, executive producer and Maril Davis, the producing partner slowly brought her into the process. First they showed her footage, then scripts and then edits. They invited her to his Pasadena production office and a studio built for "Outlander" in the Scottish town of Cumbernauld, where she sat in on the filming process and has even played a cameo.
Gabaldon says, Moore was the first person to show her a screen shot of the adaptation of the book "that didn't make me turn white or burst into flame." reports the Associated Press.
The producers took the author's opinion into account though they were under no legal compulsion to do so. Gabaldon was concerned "what would happen to the material." Her other author friends had regaled her with horror stories of their film adaptations.
"It is absolutely impossible to jam a book of that size and complexity into a two-hour movie and have it look anything like the original, it can't be done," she said.
There are some changes in the TV series but "there's nothing in there that's inconsistent with the books." She predicts fans will love the TV series as a well, calling it a "good, convincing realization of 'Outlander.' "
