Jaws

This was the January Cousins Book Club selection. Jaws was one of Becky's favorites, so the selection was fortuitous. I've seen the movie so many times I can recite several sections from memory.

The book carries many elements that were removed from the movie, which turned a social commentary into a monster hunt. That's harsh, I know, and I don't mean to disparage the movie - it is one of my favorites. But while the movie and book share a major plot point and many of the characters, the underlying tension between characters in the book is absent from the movie. Infidelity, small-town pressures, mob pressure - little of that appears in the movie.

I'm no prude, but the restaurant scene between the two characters planning a liaison was 'forced'. A male author writing a scene with heavy sexual innuendo (and explicit references) felt a bit off. I'm a guy, and Ellen's inner dialog reads like a guy wrote it. I cringe to think what women think of it. But perhaps I am wrong.

With those comments aside, it is, of course, a great read. Just don't think that because you've seen the movie, you know everything in the book. You don't.

The ending of this book is the only time I can recall ever throwing a book across the room, stomping on it, and chucking it in the trash. I just couldn't believe what I had read and tried to get so invested in. I thought it would redeem itself a bit in the end, but nope, not for me. The basic premise was a fantastic idea; just wish it'd gone better. There was too much and not enough going on through much of it.

Yes, the film is iconic as hell, and yes, it's an adaptation, so it'll make changes, but those changes tightened the story and streamlined it so well half the book was unnecessary. What got me was how utterly unlikeable most of the characters were in the book. If they weren't complaining or bad-mouthing each other (to their faces or elsewhere), then they were pursuing their own agendas with relish. I hadn't seen a fiction book so populated with unlikeable people that I can recall. It's like watching old episodes of "House, M.D.", but EVERY freaking character acts like House!

There were too many side plots, some which had something going for them but were vaguely fleshed out (the mob and pressure to keep the beaches open by the mayor could've had a bit more, probably the only integral side-story that would've helped the movie a touch regarding the mayor's story).

Maybe if I'd read this before seeing the movie 100-ish times, I would've liked it better, but considering how much I despised the characters, it probably would've led me to not want to watch the movie. I think this is the one time I can say "the movie was better" without sarcasm or much defense.

Jaws has been one of my long time favorite films, so when I saw the book on a shelf at the library, I had to pick it up.

The book lived up to expectations! The writing style was wonderful and all of the characters felt like people on the page with their thoughts, fears, and feelings.

Though there were times where I was like "I see why they didn't include any of this in the movie." Specifically the very long subplot involving Ellen cheating on Brody with Hooper during an insecure time in her life. It wasn't a bad subplot, but it did take me out of the story. The relationship drama felt unrelated to the hunt for the shark and slowed down the story, but it wasn't bad and it was nice to get to know Ellen more as a character.

It might have been better if it'd been weaved in more naturally, like the subplot concerning why Vaughan was so against closing the beach, which was built over over the narrative with his increasing desperation to convince Brody not to scare away the tourists until the reveal. It was a great addition to the main plot and gave more depth to Vaughan's character. It made me feel for him more than the film did.

Overall it was a great read and reminded me how much I missed reading an omnipresent narrator. I'm really glad I got a chance to read it.

(Though I never did get used to them all referring to the shark as a "fish.")

I was seven when the movie version of Jaws came out. My parents, not having any clue as to what was appropriate for a small child, took me along with them to the drive-in. I was terrified to take a bath for years afterward.

I figured the book would be pretty fun and since it's offered for free to Amazon Prime members through Audible Channels, I decided to take the plunge. I mostly wish I'd skipped it.

While I absolutely loved all the parts that had the shark involved in the scene, everything else was pretty bad. Well, maybe it wasn't bad in the early 1970s but yeah, plenty of casual racism and sexism. The biggest thing that made me want to quit mid-way was how much time was devoted to Brody's wife. I didn't care about character development, especially not a character who has nothing to do with the shark. But there you go. It was there and I got through it with some eye rolling and grimacing.

Luckily, there was plenty of shark-related carnage at the end that made it mostly worth the time.