[REVIEW] Jaws: A Novel

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[REVIEW] Jaws: A Novel

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This review contains major spoilers for the book "Jaws", which should not dissuade you from reading it, because unless you are a member of a very specific subset of potential readers, you should definitely not read this book anyway.

Being a (relatively recent) hardcore devotee of the film, and already knowing the general ways in which the book and movie diverged, and also knowing that the general consensus on the book was not altogether positive, I was not overly excited to crack the spine on this one. However, having watched the movie at least a half-dozen times in the past few months, and realizing that instead of just repeating the famous lines as the characters said 'em ("bigger boat", et al), I was trying to see if I could nail every single word of the Indianapolis speech in real time, so I thought maybe it was a good time to take a break, and at least get the achievement, in video gaming terms, of finally delving in to Peter Benchley's best-seller and see what all the fuss was about.

In the broadest sense possible, you could describe the overall plot of the book and the movie exactly the same, and you would think you could just pick your favorite medium and get the same experience. Here it is:

A shark shows up off the coast of Amity, eats Chrissie Watkins, and eats a local fisherman and the young Alex Kintner. Mayor Larry Vaughan wants Police Chief Brody to keep the beaches open. Brody begrudgingly agrees, ultimately leading to more death. Oceanographer Matt Hooper is called in to provide consultation. Ultimately Brody hires local shark-hunter Quint, and Brody, Hooper, Quint head out on the Orca to hunt the shark. Hilarity ensues, until the shark (and some of the crew) are dead. The End.

What struck me most while reading the book was that it felt like the book was written after the movie, and the author said, okay, let's tell the same story, but make every single character as despicable and unlikeable as possible, and then pad it out with a bunch of meaningless side-stories which ultimately amount to nothing except for making the characters as despicable and unlikeable as possible.

If you know anything about it, you know that the main two side-stories that are in the book and not in the movie are these:

The first, and less egregious one, is that Vaughan wants the beaches open not just in the interests of the town's finances, but also because he is indebted to some nondescript mafia group. The main side-effect of this is that a mobster kills Brody's cat, and Vaughan gradually declines into a frightened shell of a man who at the end has to leave town. There are many pages devoted to this story, which adds nothing to the core of the story other than a cat with his neck twisted around.

But the big one, the singularly disastrous decision the author made while crafting this tale, is the romance. Let me back up. Most of the characters bear passing resemblance to their movie counterparts, but their backgrounds are different. Ellen Brody takes a much larger part in the book, and is described as a woman who used to come to Amity, in her younger days, as one of the rich, fun-loving, care-free summer people who was part of the crowd that kept all the businesses on a payin' basis every year. Brody has been Chief there forever, and back in the day, Ellen started dating him, and eventually decided to leave her high-falutin' life behind and settle down with the Chief, trying to fit into the simple life of a local. She still misses her old life, though, and Martin knows it and feels guilty.

Enter Matt Hooper, who Ellen had known previously as the ten-year-old younger brother of David Hooper, who she used to date back when she was living the high life. Now Matt is a rich, handsome fuckboy, and she feels her loins and memories ache, as he represents a link back to the life she once loved and now regrets leaving.

There was probably a good way to do this, though I can't think of how -- if you need a story of lust, regret and jealousy to add dramatic tension to your story about a goddamn mammoth shark terrorizing an entire community, maybe you're not doing it right. Whatever the good way of doing it is, though, Benchley steers clear at every moment.

Matt and Ellen meet at a dinner party at her home, and the next day decide to have lunch together to chat over old times (and in Ellen's mind, maybe get something going.) Here is an actual snippet from that scene:
"To fantasies," [Hooper] said. "Tell me about yours." His eyes were a bright, liquid blue, and his lips were parted in a half smile.

Ellen laughed. "Oh, mine aren't very interesting. I imagine they're just your old run-of-the-mill fantasies."

"There's no such thing," said Hooper. "Tell me." He was asking, not demanding, but Ellen felt that the game she had started demanded that she answer.

"Oh, you know," she said. Her stomach felt warm, and the back of her neck was hot. "Just the standard things. Rape, I guess, is one."
That might be the single worst passage of fiction I've ever read in my life. They hadn't even finished their goddamn entrees. Needless to say they be fuckin' a couple pages later.

What I found amusing was how the movie does echo many of the notes on the book, but presents them so differently, and so, so much better. Mrs. Kintner still slaps Brody upside the head here, but instead of Lee Fierro's cold, seething grief and resentment, here she's screaming and cursing like a goddamn maniac. There is still the scene with the wine in Brody's home. This is my favorite "Act 1" scene in the movie. It has the sweet mimicry of Brody's kid, and then Hooper comes in and there's this awkward, but ultimately amusing scene with Brody, Ellen and Hooper where they get to know each other, hatch a plan, and Brody drinks a lot of wine. In the book, it's the aforementioned dinner party, but there's more people there, there's three bottles of wine instead of two, and instead of befriending Hooper and setting out on their quest, Brody gets drunk and belligerent, and everyone involved acts like a fucking asshole.

Act 2 is still Brody, Hooper and Quint out on the Orca, but this part is much shorter in the book than the movie, and where there is a tense but ultimately cooperative competition among the crew of the film's Orca, in the book, they all hate each other, Brody's (rightfully) suspicious of Hooper, Quint hates them both, everyone is miserable and angry, and that one note never changes.

I read somewhere that the Indianapolis speech couldn't have been in the book because that part of history was, at the time, classified. No, the Indianapolis speech couldn't have been in the book because these characters would shatter under the weight any semblance of depth. They all play their one note from start to finish, and those notes are consistently repulsive. Anything compelling, or even vaguely joyous, has been dutifully excised.

Hooper is still attacked in the cage by the shark, except in the book, the shark eats him, and for the reader, this is the happiest moment in the whole novel. That should tell you all you need to know.

The shark does not blow up at the end, he just kinda dies after being hit with enough barrels. The reader is even cheated of that singular moment of release and relief.

I'll paraphrase and expand on my Amazon review which I wrote quickly in a pique of anger after putting this sack of shit to bed:

If you never saw the movie, don't read this book.
If you didn't like the movie, don't read this book (and see a psychiatrist.)
If you liked the movie, don't read this book.
If you loved the movie, as I do, then definitely read this book, which will increase tenfold your appreciation for the miraculous job Spielberg and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb did in polishing this absolute turd of a book into one of the greatest films of all time.

I do not recognize the book, the original work, as a source of truth for this universe.

NON-CANON!
I don't have to say anything. I'm a doctor, too.

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Re: [REVIEW] Jaws: A Novel

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There's more mafia stuff in the Jaws 2 book but the second book is even worse than the first book. There's no unborn baby dolphins either

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Re: [REVIEW] Jaws: A Novel

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I also left out the latent racism. But it is stated that until the shark showed up, the biggest current threat to tourism was described thusly:
(The summer before, a black gardener had raped seven rich white women, not one of whom would appear in court to testify against him)
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Re: [REVIEW] Jaws: A Novel

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AArdvark wrote: Sat Dec 05, 2020 11:01 am There's more mafia stuff in the Jaws 2 book but the second book is even worse than the first book. There's no unborn baby dolphins either
Goddammit, there's a second book? Well, now I need to get that achievement. Particularly since the reviews on that one seem to agree that at least it's better than the movie.

(Which SUCKED. NON-CANON!!!!!)
I don't have to say anything. I'm a doctor, too.

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