Jaws by Peter Benchley. Also, the movie.
When we went on vacation over the summer, atomgal had this idea that we all exchange books that at least two of us had previously read, so that we could read them on because we spent so much time on the go that we had very little for reading. But we stuck with the books after vacation; atomgal finally read the Percy Jackson series, and my husband and I finally read Jaws.
I'd seen the movie once a few years ago, but it was with a large group of people, so someone was always talking (myself included) and I missed a lot. So, while I knew the general storyline, I didn't have too much in the way of expectations when I started the book. There were a lot of hmmm, did I miss this or did it just not happen in the movie? moments; they're different in some pretty fundamental ways. The book was worth reading, but it has a lot more backstory for both the main characters and the town of Amity (which wasn't an island!) than the movie, which made things both slower and considerably more depressing. And the level of mundane detail was sometimes agonizing. Without getting into detail, I was also disturbed by some of the ways in which Benchley wrote Ellen Brody's point of view. The shark storyline was the best part of the book, and the crucial confrontation scene at the end was unquestionably my favorite. In some ways it had an even greater impact than the movie.
After I finished the book, we went over to A&J's to watch the movie. And though it's unusual for me to feel this way when comparing a book to a movie, the movie version is far superior. I realize that it only told part of the story Benchley was trying to tell, but it was, in my opinion, the better part. It was much more exciting and immediate, and although the effects are a far cry from those available today, I actually like that. I'm impressed by the extreme creativity that went into special effects back before they had the current technology.
The only change that confused me was that in the book, Brody had spent his entire life in Amity, and he was a newcomer from New York City in the movie. I think it worked better for the character to be a local, but upon reflection, I guess they made that change to add conflict to the story, since they cut out all the issues in Brody's and Ellen's marriage? Whatever the reason, it didn't take away from the movie for me.
I remain far behind on book reviews and probably won't entirely catch up this year, but will try to write at least a few of them. Part of the reason it's taken me so long to write this one is that it means reviewing books out of order, but I finally decided to let it go and just post.
I'd seen the movie once a few years ago, but it was with a large group of people, so someone was always talking (myself included) and I missed a lot. So, while I knew the general storyline, I didn't have too much in the way of expectations when I started the book. There were a lot of hmmm, did I miss this or did it just not happen in the movie? moments; they're different in some pretty fundamental ways. The book was worth reading, but it has a lot more backstory for both the main characters and the town of Amity (which wasn't an island!) than the movie, which made things both slower and considerably more depressing. And the level of mundane detail was sometimes agonizing. Without getting into detail, I was also disturbed by some of the ways in which Benchley wrote Ellen Brody's point of view. The shark storyline was the best part of the book, and the crucial confrontation scene at the end was unquestionably my favorite. In some ways it had an even greater impact than the movie.
After I finished the book, we went over to A&J's to watch the movie. And though it's unusual for me to feel this way when comparing a book to a movie, the movie version is far superior. I realize that it only told part of the story Benchley was trying to tell, but it was, in my opinion, the better part. It was much more exciting and immediate, and although the effects are a far cry from those available today, I actually like that. I'm impressed by the extreme creativity that went into special effects back before they had the current technology.
The only change that confused me was that in the book, Brody had spent his entire life in Amity, and he was a newcomer from New York City in the movie. I think it worked better for the character to be a local, but upon reflection, I guess they made that change to add conflict to the story, since they cut out all the issues in Brody's and Ellen's marriage? Whatever the reason, it didn't take away from the movie for me.
I remain far behind on book reviews and probably won't entirely catch up this year, but will try to write at least a few of them. Part of the reason it's taken me so long to write this one is that it means reviewing books out of order, but I finally decided to let it go and just post.