V for Vendetta

Whenever I leave a movie theatre after watching a film based on a book my general though is "it was good, but the book was better." Now, however, in some odd reversal of fortunes, I find myself believing the inverse to be true. V for Vendetta is good, but the film is better.

I entered upon this read with extremely high hopes. My optimism was the result of two factors. First, V was written by Alan Moore, the man behind Watchmen. I seriously loved Watchmen, and was excited to read Moore's second-most famous graphic novel. Second, I'm a huge fan of the film adaptation of V for Vendetta, and have watched it every fifth of November since 2008. I believe that in approaching the novel with such high expectations I was actually sewing the seeds of my own disappointment. My two frames of reference were Watchmen and the film adaptation of V for Vendetta, and unfortunately I just didn't feel the novel was quite as good as either.

When compared with Watchmen, V seems to lack the complex delicacy and familiarity with which the political arguments are conveyed. Furthermore, though both written by Moore, the two books had different artists and colorists. Where Watchmen is vibrant and detailed, V looks pale and muted. As a result of the art I found I couldn't get sucked into V in the same way I could with Watchmen, since I was frequently losing the thread of the story because I couldn't make out what was happening to whom. The art wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, it just fell short of the spectacular drawing I'd become accustomed to in Watchmen.

It was a mistake from the outset to compare the book to the film. The two are radically different in plot, ideology, and execution. Perhaps if I'd read the book first I wouldn't have cared for the film, but being such a fan of the film I was disappointed when there were points of difference. And there are many points of difference. The film is a vibrant story with gorgeous cinematography and incredible dialogue. Although much of those elements are found in the novel, they feel watered down because there is simply so much more material there. The film seems as though it took the best elements of V for Vendetta, added even more good stuff, and then concentrated the whole formula. In comparison the novel feels rather plain. The other major difference between the book and the film is the maturity of the content. The film is certainly not for kids, but it's also a bit idealistic. The book, though, is dark, gritty, and seemingly hopeless. Furthermore, I have a difficult time accepting that anarchistic politics being espoused in the novel.

Overall V for Vendetta was sufficiently engaging for me to finish it fairly quickly, and it was a pleasant alternative to doing homework. However, all things considered I don't think I'll be recommending this book to many people. It is pretty well-written, pretty well-drawn, and pretty good. But there are so many books that are so much more than pretty good that it seems a waste to settle for anything less. Though the book contains occasional moments of sheer brilliance, in the end I was disappointed that the book didn't live up to my expectations, however unrealistic and unfair those expectations may have been.

Score: 6/10 (It was enjoyable, but just barely)
Read this book if: You find graphic novels interesting and don't have preconceptions about what this book might be like.
Don't read this book if: You like the film and are expecting a similar experience on the page, or you love your graphic novels to have vibrant and vivid illustrations.

N.B. I've received some criticism that my rating system is too soft, so for the last few reviews I've been a bit more liberal with the lower scores. For future reference, a 1 is a book that is basically all bad, a 5 is even parts that I liked/didn't like, and a 10 is a book where I love everything about it. So with this 6, I liked more than I didn't like, but there was still quite a bit that bugged me. You likely won't see many scores below 5 since I research the stuff I read to avoid lemons. This may not be the best system, but it's the one I'm gonna use anyway.