It was just another day in the life of a small Atlantic resort until the terror from the deep came to prey on unwary holiday makers. The first sign of trouble – a warning of what was to come – took the form of a young woman’s body, or what was left of it, washed up on the long, white stretch of beach . . .
A summer of terror has begun
Time for something a little bit different. Welcome to a new semi-regular feature I am going to call – From Page to Screen.
I know I spend quite a lot of time reviewing brand new releases, but recently I decided I wanted to kick it old school* and read a book that is roughly the same age as me (that’s old, very very old). Let me give you some background on how this works.
When I’m not reading then the chances are pretty good I’ll be spending my free time watching a film. A few years back I decided to do an experiment as I was keen to see how the book and movie versions of the same story compared. My first attempt at this was with The Tiptoe Boys (the book) and Who Dares Wins (the film). I wanted to try and understand where the source material and its celluloid counterpart were different and where they were the same. I came at things backwards. I had watched the film multiple times but never considered reading the book. Recently I decided I want to try the experiment again so this time a selected Jaws by Peter Benchley. It’s a film I am extremely familiar with, it has always been a personal favourite, but I have never read the book before, so I thought I would give it a go.
In my head Roy Schieder is always going to be Chief Brody, Richard Dreyfuss will be Matt Hopper and Robert Shaw will always be the salty sea dog, Quint. I can’t help but see these actors as their respective characters in the book. In some respects this makes reading the book that much easier to appreciate, the lead characters are fully formed immediately when I start to read. In other respects however, this does become a bit of problem. Matt Hopper in the book is quite different from Matt Hopper in the film. I found it hard to reconcile these differences when I kept viewing Richard Dreyfuss as the character. I can understand why part of Hopper’s story, particularly his relationship with Ellen Brody, was significantly toned down in the movie version.
One of the things that I really like about the book as that there are sections scattered throughout the main narrative that follow the shark. Benchley does a great job of capturing the entirely alien nature of the creature. This is an apex predator that is driven by pure instinct. The shark must feed. There is no emotion, no premeditation, there is only the drive ever forward.
The politics of Amity Island is also explored in far more detail than it ever was on screen. This small community only exists due to summer visitors, and the prospect of a man eating shark is bad for business as far as local bigwigs are concerned. Initially, Chief Brody goes along with their recommendation and when the situation gets worse he immediately blames himself. Discovering more about the characters internal dialogue gives a better understanding of their motivations. I’m sure it will also enhance my enjoyment of the movie the next time I watch it. There are certain things that are never going to transfer to the screen and the only way to learn them is to read the book.
I do have one issue with the book. There are some attitudes that date the text quite significantly. There are comments regarding race and gender that are more than a little jarring. The book was written over forty years ago, but that’s not really an excuse. These sexist and racists comments don’t add anything to the plot and are entirely unnecessary. I’d like to think that if Jaws was written now, these observations would be absent. Though it doesn’t always appear that way, I think we do live in slightly more enlightened times.
Overall, I think engaging with the original novel has been an eye-opening experience. As I said, before this experience I considered Jaws one of my all-time favourite films and it has been fascinating to learn more of the story. There are certainly moments in the book that help flesh out the characters I already know and I can understand why Steven Spielberg decided to adopt this book for the big screen. That said I can also admit there are things that I’m glad were left out.
Jaws is a study in fear and helplessness. I’ve always felt something primal and terrifying about great white sharks. Just imagine, a creature that doesn’t need to evolve any further because it has reached the pinnacle of its own evolution. Single minded and entirely driven by it most base instincts, a shark will not stop until it has achieved its goal. How can you hope to compete against something like that. In the ocean, the great white is king. Brody and co can do little but wait, and hope, that they catch a break. They can’t reason with this killer. Benchley’s novel does an expert job of tapping into those fears.
In what may be recorded as the least surprising event of 2019, I listened to John Williams soundtrack to Jaws while reading Jaws. C’mon, who amongst you would mess with such musical perfection? I don’t think you can get much better than a classic soundtrack and a classic novel.
Jaws is published by Pan and is available now. Why not try this experiment yourself – find a film or tv show that you love and then see if there is a book version that exists. (For reference I can confirm that yes, movie tie-ins are acceptable. They tend to have some nice extra narrative that you’re not going to find in the celluloid version). Read the book and then re-watch the film… How awesome was that?
I’ll be back soon with another edition of From Page To Screen, be sure to check back regularly.
*As the kids say… Do they still say that? Probably not. I may not be “down with the kids” any more. They probably don’t say “down with the kids” either now that I think about it. Damn kids!
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