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Catlady · 10-21-2018, 01:27 PM

Latest books: The Bad Seed and Baby Teeth, both of which feature ineffective mothers and nasty little girls with murderous tendencies.

The Bad Seed by William March has been adapted for movies/TV at least three times, including the recent rather awful version with Rob Lowe--all of which I've seen, though I never read the novel before. The novel is quite close to the original Patty McCormack film; though the narrator (Elizabeth Wiley) was good, her delivery didn't come close to the performances of Eileen Heckart and Henry Jones in their key scenes in the film. She also used a naive, girlish voice for the mother, which fit the character but was grating to listen to. But the book was creepy fun, and listening to it helped me blot out the Rob Lowe travesty.

Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, narrated by Gabra Zackman, was sometimes excellent and sometimes just dumb. Here, a seven-year-old who won't talk basically wages war against her mother, wanting her father all to herself. The story is told in alternating chapters from the mother's and the daughter's POV.

Spoiler:

The Bad Seed's Rhoda Penmark is a clear winner over Baby Teeth's Hanna Jensen.

10-21-2018, 01:27 PM	#2358
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,345 Karma: 52398889 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Latest books: The Bad Seed and Baby Teeth, both of which feature ineffective mothers and nasty little girls with murderous tendencies. The Bad Seed by William March has been adapted for movies/TV at least three times, including the recent rather awful version with Rob Lowe--all of which I've seen, though I never read the novel before. The novel is quite close to the original Patty McCormack film; though the narrator (Elizabeth Wiley) was good, her delivery didn't come close to the performances of Eileen Heckart and Henry Jones in their key scenes in the film. She also used a naive, girlish voice for the mother, which fit the character but was grating to listen to. But the book was creepy fun, and listening to it helped me blot out the Rob Lowe travesty. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, narrated by Gabra Zackman, was sometimes excellent and sometimes just dumb. Here, a seven-year-old who won't talk basically wages war against her mother, wanting her father all to herself. The story is told in alternating chapters from the mother's and the daughter's POV. Spoiler: I kept waiting for some big revelation or twist, but it doesn't come--the daughter's actions just keep escalating. There are hints of the mother being perhaps as warped as the daughter, but they don't develop as I was expecting. The Bad Seed's Rhoda Penmark is a clear winner over Baby Teeth's Hanna Jensen.