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This is an odd book, and that goes whether you've seen the movie or not. If you have seen the movie, be prepared for one surprise after another. Oh, it's still about a Chief of Police unwillingly forced into battle with a mammoth great white shark that is eating people off the beaches of his small resort town. It's peopled with the same characters: Chief Brody himself; his wife; the cynical mayor; Matt Hooper the ichthyologist; and Quint, the colorful fisherman Brody eventually hires to kill the shark. Beyond that, however, it's a different story, for though their names and occupations are the same, these aren't the same people, and their unique motivations and personalities lead them (and the story) into waters uncharted by the film. If you haven't seen Steven Spielberg's blockbuster, its weirdness lies in what Benchley has done to fashion his fish tale into a bestseller. To draw in a female audience, he's added an intimate subplot involving Brody and his wife. But he's done it so ham-handedly that if it isn't hijacking the book, it's lurking in the background with empty threats of making a meaningful difference. Strangest of all is that this subplot doesn't kill the book: it may be extraneous, but at least it's suspenseful. (One of the best scenes in the book -- albeit a book about a killer shark -- has Brody hosting a very tense dinner party.) The mashup doesn't work, narratively speaking, but the various pieces are compelling enough in their own right to make the book a reasonably enjoyable one.
This is an odd book, and that goes whether you've seen the movie or not. If you have seen the movie, be prepared for one surprise after another. Oh, it's still about a Chief of Police unwillingly forced into battle with a mammoth great white shark that is eating people off the beaches of his small resort town. It's peopled with the same characters: Chief Brody himself; his wife; the cynical mayor; Matt Hooper the ichthyologist; and Quint, the colorful fisherman Brody eventually hires to kill the shark. Beyond that, however, it's a different story, for though their names and occupations are the same, these aren't the same people, and their unique motivations and personalities lead them (and the story) into waters uncharted by the film. If you haven't seen Steven Spielberg's blockbuster, its weirdness lies in what Benchley has done to fashion his fish tale into a bestseller. To draw in a female audience, he's added an intimate subplot involving Brody and his wife. But he's done it so ham-handedly that if it isn't hijacking the book, it's lurking in the background with empty threats of making a meaningful difference. Strangest of all is that this subplot doesn't kill the book: it may be extraneous, but at least it's suspenseful. (One of the best scenes in the book -- albeit a book about a killer shark -- has Brody hosting a very tense dinner party.) The mashup doesn't work, narratively speaking, but the various pieces are compelling enough in their own right to make the book a reasonably enjoyable one.
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