Though I’m snobby with literature, preferring Churchill to Klosterman, I make up for it with a love of smutty television. I am addicted to shows like “House,” (the only show that can make fun of a little girl with cancer and make you laugh.) And whenever I’m depressed a good glimpse of Farrah Fawcett murdering her children on Lifetime usually cheers me up. But what happens when the two collide? Television plot meets literature. It’s certainly not a new concept, since aught one readers and watchers have consumed a dizzying cycle of book-to-television, television-to-book such as He’s Just Not That Into You, America (The Book) and the new television series “Bones.”
Even books not directly tied to a television show are beginning to show symptoms of this teleliterature revolution. Sue Grafton, Nicholas Sparks and Dean Koontz all swab their books with the tricks and trades of the television industry, such as multiple one-dimensional characters, increasingly violent and sex driven plots, flashbacks, close-ups, commercials and resolving serious moral issues with trite childhood flashbacks or convenient plot twists. This avoidance can be traced back to Henry Winkler. As the Fonz, Winkler was the ladies man who kept himself palatable by never overtly bedding the ladies. Similarly, as executive producer of “MacGyver,” Winkler created a good ole’ boy who managed to kill and woo without, well, killing and wooing.
One of the more recent victims of teleliterature is Adrenaline by new author and anesthesiologist, John Benedict. The book cover proclaims that murder is the ultimate rush and if that’s so then be prepared for the tsunami of carnage waiting for you in this medical thriller. Adrenaline chronicles the mysterious deaths of patients at the hands of confused anesthesiologists. During this time the hospital is contemplating a merger, the protagonist, Doug Landry, is contemplating adultery, the obligatory innocent intern is trying to find his lost mother and the evil department head is reflecting on the nurses he sexually abused over the years. “Karen, Karen” he murmurs contemplating his favorite victim. It’s a perfect mixture of “E.R.” and “Grey’s Anatomy” with, of course, a dash of “CSI” (who doesn’t add a dash of that delicious spice these days?).
Article comments
1 - Colleen
I read "Adrenaline" and relished it. Your review amused me greatly. It seemed to me that you enjoyed the book but feel a little bit guilty about that enjoyment. Don't feel guilty! :) "Adrenaline" was true entertainment in that it diverted readers from their own lives and dropped them into the stimulating world of Mercy Hospital with all its attendant commotion and turmoil.
To continue your television comparison; there's a commercial with the tagline, "Want to get away?". "Adrenaline" was a great getaway. I even felt a little bit smarter after I read it since the story was told from the anesthesiologist's perspective. I was engaged and educated at the same time. "Crime and Punishment" it was not, but far more people enjoy Michael Crichton's "ER" than Dostoevski's works.
2 - Lyz
Nope, not guilty. Just calling it what it is, chips for the brain. Nothing wrong with chips every once in a while but not everyday and honestly, what did you learn from that book that you can apply to the real world? The book made you no smarter than watching an episode of ER or Grey's Anatomy. Learning the fine art of juggling murder, sex and medicine, while alluring is not knowledge you can take to the bank.
And I would disagree with your Dostoevsky point. Dostoevsky has been around much longer than Michael Crichton so just by sheer centuries Dostoevsky trumps Crichton any day. And I would stake a large amount of money on the fact that Dostoevsky will continue to entertain and elucidate long after Crichton.