Author Peter Benchley's classic tale of a great white shark that terrorizes the small resort town of Amity Island is certainly one of the greatest horror novels-and movies-of all time.
Jaws is the classic, blockbuster thriller that inspired the three-time Academy Award-winning Steven Spielberg movie and made millions of beachgoers afraid to go into the water. Experience the thrill of helpless horror again-or for the first time! Jaws was #48 in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies, and the film earned the coveted #1 spot on the Bravo network's 100 Scariest Movie Moments countdown. This timeless tale of man-eating terror that spawned a movie franchise, two video games, a Universal Studios theme park attraction, and two musicals is finally available on audio for the first time ever.
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[The great fish moved silently through the water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail]***
(BBC Audiobooks America, 6 April 2009, first published February 1974, 9 hours, audiobook, narrated by Erik Steele, borrowed from my library)
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I loved Jaws.
I'm a fan of the movie, one of the best horror films of all time. The sequels were sort of rubbish but the original is a great film. I had a copy of the book years ago but lost it somewhere.
The book exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a corny horror book, a clichéd creature feature. Jaws is the opposite of what I expected.
The book deals not so much with the monster shark, but the people of Amity Island; the grief of those who lose loved ones, the chief of police struggling to protect the island from something monstrous and the various people with vested interests in keeping the beaches open and ensuring the resort thrives.
There are lot of sub-plot's going on here. Ellen Brody's increasing unhappiness in her marriage and her yearning for her old, wealthy life. Martin Brody trying to decide on the best course of action. The major of Amity Island, struggling to control the mobsters who want him to repay an old debt. All of the threads are neatly woven together in a compelling narrative. I could not stop listening.
The characters are all great, they leap off the page and are brilliantly drawn. The major is a much better person in the book than the film. In the book, he has ties to the mob but he is a good person doing his best. He's a louse in the film.
The movie is a good adaptation. However, some unexpected events involving Ellen Brody and Hopper (Richard Dreyfuss in the movie) and the conclusion of the book left me reeling.
Jaws is terrific.