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Title: Jaws by Peter Benchley ISBN: 0-449-21963-1 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (103 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Great because it was the first, the original
Comment: I loved "Jaws" when I first read it, because it broke new literary ground and it terrified me to think what could be deep in the ocean where I swam so often. Subsequent readings have disappointed, somewhat, and I gloss over the tawdry relationship between Hooper and Ellen Brody; which has nothing to do with the story and rather cheapens the book, IMHO. The SHARK is what we want to read about; HIS effect on this tiny community, and his fateful encounters with various unfortunates. The reader who first received "Jaws" as part of his daily assignment was fired on the spot when he dismissed the book with the comment: "Who wants to see a movie about sharks?" He was blackballed, quietly, and is now most likely selling vacuum cleaners door to door. The more astute reader who brought this to the studio's attention deserves rich praise indeed, because this was a blockbuster and continues to be, on screen. Not to denigrate the book too much, the shark encounters are fantastic, and the descriptions of the attacks are fabulous, and you really feel for the poor people trapped in the territory of the unseen monster...From the first chapter and the first attack, you are mesmerized, and on the run with Brody, Hooper and Quint (based on the real life shark hunter, Frank Mundus, who landed the largest Great White ever caught on line; 17 feet in length and almost 4000 pounds!!!!)
The REAL Quint:
"Frank Mundus, born in Brooklyn, NY in 1925, is the most famous shark fisherman of all time. Since taking his boat CRICKET II on it's maiden voyage in 1947, Capt. Mundus has caught some of the largest great white sharks on record. He pioneered the sport of sharkfishing and was the innovator of many of the fishing techniques used today. Although Peter Benchley has never publicly acknowledged him, it is generally known that he was the inspiration for the character "Quint". Much of the action in JAWS is based on Capt. Mundus' real-life experiences.
In 1961 Capt. Mundus caught a 3,000lb great white off the bathing beach of Amagansett (Amity?), NY. The following year he caught a larger great white off Block Island. His greatest claim to fame came in 1964 when, after a 5 hour struggle, he captured a 17 1/2', 4,500lb great white 10 miles off Montauk, Long Island. The shark required 5 harpoons, each attached to a beer barrel by a 400' rope, before it could be towed to shore. Benchley refers to this incident during his interview on the 20th anniversary edition of JAWS, but doesn't mention Capt. Mundus by name. In 1986 Capt. Mundus and Capt. Donnie Braddick caught the largest fish ever taken on rod and reel, a 17', 3,427lb great white. Capt. Braddick was the angler, while Capt. Mundus baited the shark, drove the boat, and supervised the capture of the shark."
The book, being the prelude to a whole new genre of shark books, and caused a simultaneous "shark ephiphany" world-wide, is the forerunner of such books since it's publication, and how glad I am it was published!
Well worth reading, if you haven't (how come you haven't?) yet had the expereince, and you can still enjoy it and be frightened by it even if you've only seen the movie...
Rating: 4
Summary: Cheers to Spielberg, Shaw, and Benchley
Comment: Jaws has all the literary elements and devices of a good book: plot, character, setting, scene, conflict and resolution, metaphor, irony, etc. And that's exactly what Jaws is--a good book. A person picking up the book who wants to read the movie, however, will be disappointed. When I first read Jaws, I had already seen the movie. I was looking for parts of the movie that I loved, to be in the book. I couldn't find many of these. I couldn't find Quint's story of the Indianapolis or when the characters sit around the table on the Orca and talk about their scars. I did, however, find a town filled with corruption. There was a mayor who was in up to his neck with the mob, a police chief's wife who had an affair with a much younger shark expert, and people who were so obsessed with killing a shark that they themselves met their own fate (Gardner and Quint).
I think a more fitting title for the book would have been Amity, but I don't think that title would have had the commercial value that the title Jaws did.
I would suggest reading the book, but if you are looking for the movie to be in the book, you will be disappointed.
Rating: 4
Summary: Haven't seen the film...
Comment: By far the most interesting piece of this book is shark. The shark attacks and the investigations afterwards are the glue that hold this otherwise pulpy chick-lit-esque book together. Unfortunately the book strays from the shark for the middle of the book and there are some excrusiatingly boring chapters about dinner parties, thoughts about love affairs, etc. There's one chapter in particular where Mrs. Brody stops at every single restroom she can (about one per every five pages) to a) change her underwear, b) powder herself and c) put powder in her shoes. YAWN. The chapter is so bad that it's almost funny.
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Title: The Jaws Log: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition (Newmarket Insider Filmbooks) by Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley ISBN: 1557044589 Publisher: Newmarket Press Pub. Date: 10 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: White Shark by Peter Benchley ISBN: 0312955731 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Peter Benchley's Creature by Peter Benchley ISBN: 0312965737 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1998 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title:Jaws (25th Anniversary Widescreen Collector's Edition) ASIN: B00004TDTO Publisher: Universal/MCA Pub. Date: 11 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $12.28 |
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Title:Jaws 2 ASIN: B00005A8XX Publisher: Universal Studios Pub. Date: 22 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $12.28 |
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