It's one thing to have an adaptation- to be inspired by the premise and some such. For example, I see Bridget Jones' diary as an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and that's fine with me. But to use all the same characters- I believe this is wrong when you did not create the characters you did not give them life and make the reader love them and care about them. [Of course there's always the exception that proves the rule, which would be Wide Sargasso Sea in this case but at least it's only one character and he is not lovable]

But hey- it's just not my thing, I totally get that other people may love it.