Jaws

by Peter Benchley

Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Random House (2005), Hardcover, 320 pages

Description

With the 1974 publication of the novel Jaws and the release a year later of the film based on the book, an American cultural phenomenon was born. Today, the remarkable bestseller by Peter Benchley still towers as a thrilling classic of suspense, drama, and the eternal conflicts of man against nature ... and man against himself. As the movie continues to broadcast all over the world, entire generations may know the Jaws story only through its cinematic rendition. Those unfamiliar with the literary forerunner are in for a wonderful surprise, for the novel contains many twists of plot and character that were omitted in the film. Peter Benchley's Jaws is an extraordinary experience of its own, a masterpiece as mesmerizing today as it was in 1974, when it first took us into the watery world of a creature designed by nature to kill ... and into the terror it brings from the silent darkness of the deep.… (more)

Media reviews

National Public Radio

While Jaws the movie is a bone-chilling update on Moby Dick, Jaws the novel is more like Peyton Place by the sea. Everyone swears like a sailor, and the hunt for the shark comes a very distant second to a bunch of hot summer trysts.

User reviews

LibraryThing member daiho.k

I don't like sea.
Because I can't swim.
In this book,jaws kill many people.
I became not more favorite the sea.

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LibraryThing member ViragoReads

This book was a nightmare. An utter disaster.

I went into it expecting it to be far better than the movies, because that is typically the case. It was not.

At least the movie got it mostly right. It was about the shark and it's unexplainable appearance and extended stay in the waters of the small

island town. What the movie got wrong was the the shark was not a monster, but a victim. I always cheered for the shark. What the book got right was... Quint dying--which is not a spoiler because it happens in the movie and if you haven't seen the movie at least once, I just don't know what you've been doing with your life.

So it started off really great, the initial shark attack, they immediately knew it was a shark attack, and the Chief of police was strong-armed into covering the whole thing up in order to save the summer tourism for the island. And to some degree, it's almost understandable. They need the summer tourism boom to live through the winter, and the statistics suggested that there wouldn't be another attack. Even if the Chief had a bad feeling about it. And of course the Chief was right to want close the beaches, because two more people get attacked--in the same day. They can't hide it any more. News outlets have gotten hold of the story and it's beginning to look bad for Amity.

Then a good third of the books goes on to focus on Chief Brody and is wife and their marital problems. Ellen who is portrayed as loving and strong in the films is a selfish, weak [insert bad word] in the novel. Long story short, she regrets giving up her life of means to marry Martin and she makes him suffer for it. She has an affair with Hooper and the whole thing just makes me hate her character completely.

They uncover information that the mayor is in deep with the mafia which is why he's been pushing Chief Brody to reopen the beaches in time for Independence Day. Which, actually kinda makes more sense than the entire town council being a bunch of heartless jerks who didn't care if tourists died in a shark attack as long as they made good money that summer.

This book was definitely a product of the time it was written in. It screamed 1970s from the terminology used to the behaviors displayed. But Quint was by and far the worst. He was a horrible person in both book and film. His methods were despicable and his lack of empathy for animal life... Needless to say he deserved to die even if he didn't get the death he deserved. The shark took him with him, but I feel he should have been the shark's last meal.

I was really cheering for the shark to live and everyone else to die. But no such luck. The best parts of the book were Quint kicking the bucket and Hooper waxing poetic about the possibility of megalodon being a live somewhere in the depths of the ocean and how beautiful she would be.

This was just a disappointment to me.

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LibraryThing member tadashi

There are too people in this book.
I confused the name of member.
I love the JAWS in the movie so much,so I would like to read something about the JAWS in the movie.

LibraryThing member Atsushi.N

This is a famous story around the world.
I think the stories which animals attack people are very fearful.
Jaws should be called monster rather than dangerous shark!
We can experience fear of Jaws at attraction in Universal Studios.
I have already experienced it.
Please experience it by all means!

LibraryThing member KENTO.N

it is very dangerous.

jaws has eaten many persons.

I read this book,I dont want to go the sea.

LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C

I have a great deal of nostalgic fondness for this book about a great white shark stalking the beaches of a small summer island of Amity off the Atlantic.

My mother loaned the novel to me when I was about twelve. But she struck out words with black marker and tore out pages. So naturally I made

note of the page numbers, went to the nearest bookstore where I found the book and turned to the (in)appropriate pages, found a bunch of swear words I was already well-acquainted with and read my first sex scene.

Oh, the book? It's good. Damn scary and suspenseful in parts, but imo this is one of those rare cases where the film is better than the book--much better. The plot is tauter; The film's characterizations are even better--such as Quint gaining a motivation for his vendetta by making him a survivor of the USS Indianapolis and generally the characters are much more likable, so you actually care if the shark doesn't eat them.

There's also one bit of business in the book not in the film *points up about sex scene* I'm glad isn't part of the film: Brody's wife in the book is involved with the ichthyologist, Hooper, and I don't think it adds anything to plot and characterizations being there--if my mom had acted as an editor instead of censor, I might have approved.

The film has more humor, wittier lines, is scarier and more suspenseful. So, although I do think this is a good...beach read. *ahem* I think you're better off renting the DVD instead.

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LibraryThing member yosbooks

A surprisingly good read. I haven't seen all of the movie but my son tells me that it is almost funny because the special effects are so poor compared to modern movies. Like everyone, I think the music to the movie is fantastic - I don't know anyone that wouldn't recognise it. The book has a much

greater focus than just the shark and seems far more complex than the movie. (Is that really a surprise to anyone?) It is quite different in places to the movie. I read it because my 8 year old son is shark mad and started reading it. I said that I thought I should read it first. It is definately not a kids book - some graffic sex scenes and mafia involvement.

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LibraryThing member grady.cameron

In the introduction, Benchley talks about writing the first draft for the screenplay and the producers of the film saying something to the effect of, "We are looking for a straight forward adventure story, so take out all the romance and mob stuff."

That was a very intriguing thing to read before

diving into the book.

It was a quick read, and it was a significant departure from the movie. I love the move, it is one of my all time favorites. The movie, however, would not make a very good book. The book, though, was excellent, but I could see where it would not make a very good movie without adding an hour and a half and taking out half of the excitement.

In the book, we see much more about all the characters, rather than just Martin Brody. We also see a lot more if the interaction between the characters and what they mean to each other and to their world. The impending depression of the town is much more than a bumbling mayor's bull-headedness... it is a real thing that affects the actions of everyone involved. In all of that, the story becomes more rounded and a much deeper story. It also makes for less action and less suspense. The boat scenes, which take up a full third of the movie, are reduced to about a fifth or sixth of the book.

All in all, it was a fun, fast, and intriguing read. I was worried about the mob stuff, but in the end, it all made sense and I was glad it was there.

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LibraryThing member LibraryCin

When a girl is killed by a shark at Amity, Long Island, the chief of police, Martin Brody, wants to shut down the beach, but he is pressured by the mayor to keep it open, so as not to lose the summer residents altogether, as they keep the small town alive. Until more people start dying...

I really

liked this. It was quite suspenseful. I listened to the audio (but had to provide my own Jaws theme music!) and it was done quite well, I thought. It's been too long since I've seen the movie to compare. There was one extraneous part in the middle of the story that I didn't think was necessary and wasn't really interested in, but overall, I really enjoyed it. I hate to see sharks (or any animals) vilified this way, but it was definitely an entertaining story.

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LibraryThing member cblaker

This book is the exception that proves the rule. The movie is better than the book. The terror of the shark is much better captured on film than in words. Jaws the film is such a great, basic action flick that book just is not in the same league.
The characters are not as likeable, particularly Matt

Hooper (played by Dreyfuss). In the book Hooper is an arrogant rich kid who has an affair with Chief Brody's wife. Brody is also not as likeable, but not drastically so. Quint comes off about the same in either medium.
The affair drags the books pace down. The ending of both is similar, but the book lacks the spectacular ending of the film. Finally the book lacks the excellent monologue delivered by Quint," sometimes the sharks would go away and sometimes they wouldn't...Anyway we delivered the bomb." The book is not bad, but you can skip it. Reading the book helps you appreciate the movie more.

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LibraryThing member richard015

This story is very famous in the movie.People were killed by the dogfish in a certain seaside resort. The local police ask Quint who is very few fishermen who can use the harpoon for extermination.
I haven't watched the movie,but I could enjoy this story.So I think I want to watch this movie.

LibraryThing member rogueheels

I wasn't allowed to see the movie when it came out but my parents had always allowed me to read what I wanted. This was my first "adult" book and I remember being shocked and engrossed througout! I'm sure I didn't miss a thing by not seeing the movie!

LibraryThing member kitty0530

This book's story famous story around the world.
This story is shark attack people in the sea. The three persons kill the shark.
When I watched this story's movie,I feel awful and think the sea is dengerous place.
I read this book but, I feel little boring because book doesn't have power like movie.

LibraryThing member earthlistener

I remember watching the movie that is based off this book. In dedication of Shark Week I decided to read this book. A really nice book, and I can tell how it sold many copies when it first came out. It really does work with our fear of the unknown and alien which the ocean certainly is for us. A

really nice story.

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LibraryThing member StefanY

This is the book that launched the film that made us all afraid to go in the water! (And don't tell me that you can't instantly come up with John WIlliam's ominous theme music!)

Having seen the film multiple times (and having experienced the "ride" at Universal Studios,) I wasn't expecting too much

to be surprising in the novel. I was wrong. Although the movie's plot follows the book fairly faithfully, what I was surprised with was the amount of tension that I felt while reading the book even though I mostly knew how things would turn out.

Peter Benchley's prose is not overly descriptive, but powerful in it's simplicity. His characters are realistic and believable and he masterfully builds the tension and suspense throughout his tale giving the audience many big moments leading up to a powerful crescendo at the end.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this familiar tale even more than I anticipated and will definitely be checking out more of Peter Benchley's work in the near future.

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LibraryThing member BryanThomasS

Basis of a great movie, also a great book. Powerful and frightening at the same time.

LibraryThing member edspicer

It was a well written book. It captures your attention and it's a struggle to set down. It's a constant thriller, has suspense, drama, etc. It branches, of it's several different stories made of one, which gives it more depth and reality.
4 to a 5Q, 4 to a 5P.
It is best suited for highschoolers and

adults.
It was selected due to seeing the movie and curiosity of what the movie was based and inspired on.
Grade (of reviewer): 11th
(SA-AHS-NC)

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LibraryThing member akangas

Jaws tells the tale of man versus the sea. It describes characters of a small New England town fight off a massive great white shark. The characters in the book are very strong and detailed. They drive the book more than the plot. The speed and detail of the book made it very enjoyable and fun to

read. The only issue I had was the lack of a few parts in the film which I was looking forward to reading. Beside this, Jaws was a very fun and exciting read.

I thought the characters in Jaws were very detailed. In the film, there wasn’t a lot known about them, but here in the books, the characters are described and shown to the reader as much deeper people compared to what the film says. The chief is shown to have jealousy when he suspects that Matt Hooper and his wife, Ellen Brody, seem to have an affair going on, and his reactions are very human and genuine. Benchley does quite well in adding human elements to fictional characters and making the reader believe they are real. It also shows the history of the characters and how it affects their actions. One such example is how Chief Brody is a native, though his wife is not, and how that conflicts in their social interests. The conflicts between the characters also add depth and intrigue to the characters. Overall, Benchley did well in making the characters multidimensional and full of detail.

There were some surprises that the book had for me. After seeing the film many times, I thought I knew what exactly was going to happen. I was surprised about the whole affair between Hooper and Ellen, considering in the book, there was a lot of stuff leading up to it and following it. I felt that this seemed like an important part of the book and influenced the characters quite a lot. Another main surprise for me was that there was no major cinema-style explosion to kill the shark, rather it just got shot with a harpoon and died from blood loss, which I found to be a bit of a disappointment. The book had a major build up and was really getting me excited for the ending, but I was let down after this epic buildup to the end. These were just too examples that I thought really surprised me.

There were many things I enjoyed while reading Jaws. I thought that the characters were not only strong, but enjoyable to read about as well. They added life to the story, and the book was more about characters than the shark. Though the shark was absent for portions of the story and it made the book more of a character driven novel than a plot driven one. This is something I liked, because usually I read more plot driven stories and this was a good change in my reading material. I also liked the amount of detail in the book. Sometimes there was a little too much detail in describing the attacks, but it made it seem realistic. I really could envision the story, not just because I’ve seen the movie, but also just by the amount of detail given by the author. Finally, the pace of the novel was enjoyable. It had a faster pace, and would just suck me in to reading many pages at a time. This fast pace plus good characters and plot made the book an interesting read that just flowed together well.

There were a few things that I didn’t like about Jaws. Most of it revolved around parts in the movie that weren’t in the book. I was sort of disappointed with the fact that the excellent speech made by Quint about the USS Indianapolis wasn’t in the book. I thought it was a very well done monologue and was looking forward to reading it. This was factor that took away a little bit of the appeal of the book. I enjoyed the dialogue and writing in the book, but I was missing that part of the story. This was the only thing in the entire book that I truly disliked.

In the end, I thought Jaws was an excellent book. I thought most of the characters were very strong and powerful. There were a few surprises in the book that I thought were very intriguing and different than my perceived notion of what the book would be. I enjoyed the details and pace of the book, which always kept it interesting. The missing parts between the film and the book were disappointing that they were absent, but it was fine. Overall, I was very happy that I read Jaws.

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LibraryThing member marukosu

This book is very interesting. But,this book is a little different from movie.

LibraryThing member bigorangemichael

The back cover of the audio book teased that if you'd only seen the movie version of "Jaws" but had never read the book, you were missing out on a lot of interesting subplots and characters that didn't make it into the final script.

After listening to the audio version of "Jaws," I can see why some

of the subplots and characters were dropped. Steven Spielberg was quoted as saying that when he read the book, he found himself rooting for the shark because none of the human characters had any redeeming qualities or characteristics. And he's correct in that. Yes, there's a huge body count of people eaten by sharks, but outside of two of them, pretty much everyone who gets feasted on deserved to die in some way or another.

That's not to say that the book isn't a good one. At times, Peter Benchley's story is compelling, fascinating and really gripped my attention. Any time there's discussion of the shark or the chase of the great white, the book works well. Where the book is a bit of a let down is in some of the characters, specifically Ellen Brody and Matt Hooper. Ellen's background is filled in a bit and we find out that she comes from a well-to-do family and there are times she missed entry into the world of those who are well-off. Or, at least, better off than she and her husband, who is the sheriff of the small town of Amity. Enter Matt Hooper, who had a crush on Ellen when she dated his older brother a few years before and has been out pursuing the life of adventure as an ichthyologist.

The two begin a flirtation that turns into an affair. At least it's a one afternoon affair, but Ellen eventually realizes she has it pretty good with Brody and decides to save her marriage. Of course, it helps if the guy you cheated with is eaten by said killer shark for being a dumb-ass. Kind of cuts down on your chances of succumbing to temptation again.

As I said, the characters in the story aren't necessarily the most likeable. And I could have really done without the long conversation that takes place with Brody is relieving himself and then hearing Ellen's thoughts on the nature of male urination. A bit TMI, there.

However, for all that, I can still see why the book was a bestseller and why someone thought it would make a great movie. By jettisoning the excesses, the movie hits at the heart of the man vs. nature theme. Those parts of the book work, as does the suspense of wondering if and when the shark will attack next. A sequence when a young swimmer takes a dare to swim out a hundred yards and the shark decides to pursue had me on the edge of my seat and really enjoying the story.

The other dropped plotline about the local mayor's involvement with the mafia and a scam to lower and then drive up property values is intriguing enough but is the type of thing that works better on the printed page. Vaughn's obsession with keeping the beach's open makes a lot more sense here. (But again it's been years since I've watched the movie, so that may still be there).

In the end, the book is entertaining and I don't regret the time spent listening to it. I can see why it was the basis for one of the great summer movies of all time and, in many ways, I find myself yearning to find a copy of the film and watch it again.

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LibraryThing member mrsjwilloughby

Surprisingly good, give it a go. The shark isn't the biggest monster in town...

LibraryThing member lecari

This was lent to me by Adam one night before bed, so I’d have something to read if I couldn’t sleep or got up before him. He’d never read it before but thought I might like it. The back page of his copy said that after the first five pages you’d be hooked – so, in the morning, I thought

I’d give it a go, and ended up reading 40 pages before I realised the time and thought I’d go downstairs.

This is quite a short book, and although I’ve not seen the film before, I really enjoyed it. It’s really easy to get into, and is really interesting – it doesn’t attempt to make the shark out to be anything more than just a fish, with no personification, which I liked. Peter Benchley also makes all the characters seem very real, with backgrounds and livelihoods and feelings; despite the book essentially focusing around the shark attacks, this is only a small part of the book. I’d definitely recommend this, it was quite a page turner and I couldn’t put it down. It’s graphic in places (during the attacks) but no more than is necessary (and if you’ve seen the film, I’m sure you expect it). Really addictive, and the writer keeps you guessing until the very end!

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LibraryThing member Cecilturtle

Had the misfortune of reading this one in Hawaii. It worked its magic!

LibraryThing member atsuto

This book is a shark kill many people. This is very famous movie but this book is different from the movie.

LibraryThing member Maydacat

If you’ve seen the movie, but haven’t read the book, you might want to try this audio version. The author gives his audience a scary tale, a thriller that, once known, is not forgotten. That being said, the movie that made swimmers take to a pool instead of the ocean is vastly superior to the

book. In the novel, Benchley tries to bring too much to the story. The thriller about a man-eating shark becomes bogged down by the unnecessary anguish of Brody’s wife concerning her own attractiveness and sexual appeal. In mourning the life she lost in marrying socially beneath her, she becomes a much less likable character than her movie counterpart. Also, unnecessary violence and secondary plot threads detract from the killer shark story. Most of the characters are so flawed as to be unlikable. The movie does a much better job of zeroing in on what is germane to the plot: catching and killing the shark while building suspense along the way. It also has a superior conclusion. Read the book, but then enjoy the movie.

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