Darkly Dreaming Dexter question

The only things in common between the book and the show are the characters. The stories are different (except the first one) so I've never compare them. But read the book to have your own opinion about that, it's better without having any references.

This is one of the few books I have read whose TV show is as good as the book.

I like having the pictures of the characters in my head when I read so I like both. I'd have to say they are as good as each other, but they do diverge after the first few

I have a coupe of the books but haven't read them yet..I think I have seen almost the end of the show but it got too predictable and contrived so I quit watching..

Even though I am usually a reader, I'm really hearing thaT the show is better. Which should I choose to delve into and why? Just wondering...(after so much great hype about the show people were so angry about the ending...and I don't know the details of it).

I feel that, in this specific situation, you can get the ideal experience with BOTH.

IMHO, people find themselves more attracted to the show because there is more focus on the ancillary characters than in the book- which doesn't flesh them out at all.(Mind you, this is hard to do in the book as its a 1st person narritive which can be limiting compared to the show...you really don't get any Angel/Deborah/Masouka-threads). In the books, you end up with Dexter in your face the entire time, with the extra characters playing the same roles in the background for each book (Deborah bullies Dexter, Rita stammers and fusses, Masouka praises Dexter for donuts.)

The differences between the Show-universe and Book-universe are different enough to make reading the books definitely worth it (Doakes...man, just...Doakes)

One thing that I will say is that, proportion-wise, there are a lot less crappy-plot ideas in the books than in the show (with the exception of Dexter in the Dark, which I know many to have found...weird)

So basically, if you use the show's character-palatte to paint the book's characters, you will end up with a Voltron-like experience that will trump either alone!

No book, no TV series. 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' set up the world and style of the show but, as others have noted, the two incarnations of Dexter then went off in different directions.

Although I will continue to read Jeff Lindsay's novels now that the show has ended, I have always felt that the endings are the weakest part of his books.

I read 3 of the books and then had to stop, the storyline veers off pretty quickly from what I'd known from the show and frankly - becomes much too weird for me. I feel like the characters in the book are also different from how they were portrayed by the actors, maybe a bit too different to even be able to compare.
But the fact that I didn't read all the books and yet have watched all the shows says something to answer this question...

I tend to disagree with most Dexter fans, I like the books a lot. And with the Dexter show being all said and done (with a horrible series finale) I just rather read the books again. Dexter seasons 1,2, and 4 are the best. I didn't care for the other ones too much. The last three seasons were the worst IMHO, of course.

both are awesome.
I can't agree with the original novel haters..

The show is infinitely better than the book. Whole other league. I kind of wish I had never read Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and I am a huge fan of the show.