deearr's review
5.0
If you are looking for a rehash of the 1979 cult film, you’ve come to the wrong place. Sol Yurick’s novel has a few pieces of action plucked from the book’s pages and inserted into the flick, but the majority of this book contains a grittier feel.
Mr. Yurick’s tale is a combination of history and an exploration into the depths of New York City gangs. Anabasis (or The March of the Ten Thousand) is the recounting of an army trapped deep within enemy lines and forced to fight its way home to safety. The author uses the premise of this Greek history and inserts it into New York 1960s gangland. The result is more powerful than I could have imagined.
There is still plenty of action as well as the tense feeling experienced during the movie as we wonder if any of the Warriors will make it back to Coney Island. The book’s actual gang “heroes” are known as the Dominators, and the gang culture is a primary feature of this story. Going to war, keeping and losing face, gang hierarchy, soldiering – these are all here, all explained in detail through the interactions of the characters. Explained in gang terms, even the brutality begins to make sense.
The author tells the story through the eyes of an impassionate viewer who patiently explains the action and why the characters act as they do. Details fly quickly, and the characters are well-defined. Even though I knew how the movie ended, there was no guarantee the book would follow the same path. Excellent book, recommended to anyone looking for a combination of a quick-moving plot and an engaging writing style. Five stars.
Mr. Yurick’s tale is a combination of history and an exploration into the depths of New York City gangs. Anabasis (or The March of the Ten Thousand) is the recounting of an army trapped deep within enemy lines and forced to fight its way home to safety. The author uses the premise of this Greek history and inserts it into New York 1960s gangland. The result is more powerful than I could have imagined.
There is still plenty of action as well as the tense feeling experienced during the movie as we wonder if any of the Warriors will make it back to Coney Island. The book’s actual gang “heroes” are known as the Dominators, and the gang culture is a primary feature of this story. Going to war, keeping and losing face, gang hierarchy, soldiering – these are all here, all explained in detail through the interactions of the characters. Explained in gang terms, even the brutality begins to make sense.
The author tells the story through the eyes of an impassionate viewer who patiently explains the action and why the characters act as they do. Details fly quickly, and the characters are well-defined. Even though I knew how the movie ended, there was no guarantee the book would follow the same path. Excellent book, recommended to anyone looking for a combination of a quick-moving plot and an engaging writing style. Five stars.
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