The Dark is Rising

I recently started re-reading The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper. It's been a few years since I last read them and after watching the Dark is Rising movie (The Seeker) I thought I should re-read the books. The movie The Seeker is a mediocre movie if you don't compare it to the book. If you compare it to the book then it becomes an abomination. They completely missed the point of the novel. It's not just a modern adaptation of the story, it's a completely different story. The movie has very little of the symbolism that the book has. The movie is different enough from the book that it is "inspired" by the novel at best. It's like taking The Lord of the Rings and changing the story to the point where Sam kills Frodo, Sam takes the ring, Sam dies, Sauron takes the ring, Merry steals it from Sauron and usurps his place as dark lord. That's an extreme example but the movie The Seeker is nothing like the book The Dark is Rising. I don't think the screenwriters/director/producers read the same book I did. Reportedly, Susan Cooper was appalled (as I would be). It's unfortunate that such a rich and wonderful story was very poorly adapted to film; it could have been a great film.