"نقاب سرخ از خون دخترکی کم‌سن‌وسال بر زمین غلتید و پیش پای مرد تعمیرکار افتاد.
دختر کسی بود.
دختر او که نبود.
اما از آن لحظه دختر همه بود."

jesus christ... is this not just a look into the future of america

From comic to film to novel...

I vread this novelization cold, never having seen the film and knowing little to nothing about the story except that it involves a terrorist/freedom fighter in a Guy Fawkes mask. I find myself not having much to say about it except that I enjoyed it. As a standalone experience, I liked the writing and the audio narration.

In my experience, good film novelizations are rare, but they do exist (Exhibit A: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), and I'd say this is another example of a well-done film novelization.

I thought something was fishy when Evey was never raped during her imprisonment and torture. Given the opening scene of the story, not raping a female prisoner seemed quite out of character for the Fingermen. I initially chalked it up to the original authors wanting to incorporate the threat of rape but not actual rape into the story, but it turned out there was a quite different explanation.

ETA: Page vs Screen. After finishing the book, I sat down the next day and watched the film for the first time ever. The book is as faithful to the film as you'd expect a film novelization to be, but one odd detail that was changed for no discernible reason was the type of rose. On screen, it was a red rose and the variety was Crimson Castle, but in the book it was changed to a yellow and peach rose called a Violet Carson. And more background was given in the doctor's journal about the history that the man who became V had with the roses, and their role in V's story.

But even a faithful film novelization is always going to contain more than the film itself - every scene must be described in words, and those words can add entire layers of meaning. I particularly liked the description of the smile on V's Guy Fawkes mask, whose mood seemed to change from moment to moment and with every tilt of V's head - sad, sympathetic, sardonic, and back again, even though it never changes. And the relationship between Creedy and Finch, and Finch's motivations for losing faith in the system, were explored more thoroughly.

Reminds me of: The King's Witch, for reasons I can't explain without spoilers. The reason is the heroine of The King's Witch, Frances Gorges, gets caught up in the original Gunpowder Treason, as told from the point of view of the conspirators.

The tale of the masked V's fight for freedom against government oppression and control that started life as a comic book, was turned into a screenplay by the Wachowskis , became a movie, and finally ended up as a novel. This is a review of the novel. There is something good to say about all the incarnations of ‘V for Vendetta’, and the book is no exception. It moves along at pace and you find yourself drawn into the story. It is interesting to compare the book, which was born of the movie, and the comic book, which was written as a response to the Margaret Thatcher eighties. Evey is now a woman in her twenties working for TV and not the 16 year old sex worker of the eighties comic book. Dietrich, who was involved in organized crime in the original, is now a talk show host. It’s not only those kinds of detail that are not the same, the endings are also completely different. At this stage, one is expected to move from comparisons to making some statement about where one succeeds and the other fails, but I’m not going to take that path. They are both versions of the same story and both to be judged on their own merits. i found both entertaining and stimulating. Enjoy!

“Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gun Powder Treason, and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gun Powder Treason should ever be forgot.” Thus begins ‘V for Vendetta,’ a dark, compelling, and socially relevant story about the enigmatic V, and the overwhelmed Evey Hammond, an innocent young woman simply trying to survive. Based on and named for the popular series of graphic novels, ‘V…’ is set in a dystopian future England where the totalitarian government rules with an iron fist. Our paragon, V, assumes a persona resembling the infamous Guy Fawkes of English history and the Gun Powder Treason and Plot, in which Mr Fawkes intended to blow up the British Parliament in revenge for wrongs done to the British people. In revenge for wrongs done to him at the hands of the state, V sets out to exact revenge against those he believes responsible.

‘V for Vendetta’ examines the enigmatic V, and his relationship with the beautiful Evey, who he rescues from law enforcement thugs when they catch her out after curfew.
V surreptitiously enlists Evey in his plans to right the wrongs done not just to him, but also to society as a whole by the totalitarian government, and the dictator, High Chancellor Adam Sutler.
This novelization is based on the ‘V for Vendetta’ series of graphic novels (this is a novelization of the script for the motion picture). V is out for revenge, and is willing to give up his life to meet those ends.
The story moves quickly, allowing V to confront those who damaged him to exact his revenge. When he meets Evey in a London alley, she is being roughed up by a small number of law enforcement thugs attempting to rape her. V comes to her rescue, dispatching Evey’s attackers with his customary knives in a swift and lethal dose of his personal brand of justice.
V enlists Evey in his plot to destroy the government, showing her that she is a significantly stronger woman than she gives herself credit for. Evey becomes frightened of her relationship with V, still not sure if she is strong enough to accomplish what she is becoming aware V’s plans truly are.
Evey eventually seeks counsel with a family friend, Gordon Deitrich. To Evey’s horror, Deitrich is arrested by the government, never to be seen again. This galvanizes Evey, and she seeks out V.
Detective Erich Finch is hot and close on V’s and Evey’s heels, narrowly missing them at every turn to the constant fury of Chancellor Sutler. Eventually, Finch becomes grudgingly sympathetic to V’s cause.
‘V for Vendetta’ is, in this reviewer’s opinion, the most socially relevant story that everyone should read. It dives into what society will become if we, the people, stop paying attention.

What a load of manure! A crap version of the 1984 of the conspiracy theorists. A diarrhea of description. Cheap dramatization: orphaned child, revenge, rape, anything can fit in for shock value. And once you set aside the crap there's not much of story. The style may indicate an author paid by the word. And the idea, the wonderful comics idea, is at the same level as the rest: an anarchist that dresses like a Brit batman, going against a totalitarian system by using the image of a catholic fundamentalist trying to restore a monarch.

Very Well written and easy,really fast read(sometimes so read only a chapter a week on super long books and drag my heels,but this year I picked up the pace).For some reason I don’t remember the movie except I know I had rented it.But reading always makes things come to life in a better way now—I like knowing what the character think,not just do,I suppose.Evey is a very strong female,so if you like books featuring those,you’ll like this story.Reading a future dystopian British tale written in ‘06 in 2021(in America)....well let’s just say it’s not a stretch.Some of these things are happening here and now.I guess when I saw the movie I was still blissfully unaware but I am red-pulled now so I get it.

★★★★★

AHHHHHHH. Read

I really enjoyed this re telling. Would have liked it to include some more content from the graphic novel, but it did a good job of adapting the movie

I can’t even put it into words…I will be thinking about this for a while, especially for how 2024-2025 will go. How politics are going.

Alan Moore fans will regard this as heresy, but in all honesty, this is better than the original comic. Don't get me wrong, the comic was astonishing, groundbreaking, and superb. I actually liked the movie, whatever Alan Moore thought of it. Where this beats them all is the additional depth of character that doesn't come through in dialog based and visually focused media. Try it. You may be surprised. I was.

One of the best dystopian books I've ever read. Never seen the movie, I don't know that I want to. But the idea of it all is stunning.