Jaws

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.