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zakcebulski's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
You know in school when teachers always talk shit about movies "oh the book is always better than the movie"?
This book... Jaws is absolutely the exception.
If I read this book in 1974 upon release I don't know that I would have been able to stomach reading this shit.
Every single character is some level of slimey, or unlikable. I thought the reviews were being funny when they said that they were eventually rooting for the shark. But, holy shit, they were not. I could not stand any of the characters, and I think that that shows what a fucking mastermind Spielberg and Gottlieb are for taking all of these shitty ass characters and making a truly remarkable adaptation of this book.
Why is Hooper such an asshole "shit-don't-stink" type in this book?
Why was there a fucking affair between Ellen Brody and Hooper? Why was this shoehorned in?
I mean this with every single fiber of my being that if this book was 70 pages long and the only mentions of land were when the shark attacked, this book would be so much better.
I don't think that characterization matters when the characterization is fucking garbage.
Like, Ellen is an unsatisfied housewife who opts to have an affair, and then we are supposed to turn around and be so on her side when Brody wants to go risk his life to kill the shark? Fuck off. What an annoying ass character.
That drunk dinner scene was one of the most annoying scenes I have read recently. Fucking hell. And then, the whole affair was in the book for what reason? Who fucking knows. It was just there to I guess add background to Ellen and Hooper and increase tension between Hooper and Brody... But, it ultimately goes nowhere when Ellen realizes that she actually loves her husband and her tryst was for nothing. Great, this would have been such an awesome revelation with some nuance into Brody and Ellen's marriage if either character were not a fucking slog to read.
Quint was colored in to be an animal abuser in the worst way possible, for the sport of torture under the guise of being a weathered sea captain and fisherman. But, in reality it just makes him so hard to care about.
Brody is an uncertain, whiny and stymied at every turn cop who can't do fucking anything and when he does he keeps falling back on him trying to do right.
Boy oh boy can we talk about the lack of depth in subplots? Why is there a whole mafia thing that goes exactly.... nowhere? In the movie the mayor is just worried about the town going under because of the risk of closing beaches... Why can that not be in the book? Instead we have a whole ass undercooked fucking mafia subplot that makes things unnecessarily complicated.
And even the main plot- hunting a giant fucking shark- is boring as shit. Yes, the attacks are intensely written, which is great. But, when the three are on the Orca it is so fucking boring to read. Hooper dying by forcing himself to go in a shark cage? Hilarious. Fucking moron.
Quint going out not unlike fucking Ahab was cool. But, goddamn what a drag to read. I wish that the tension and thriller tone that Benchley had during the individual shark attacks translated over to the "final battle".
I was absolutely rooting for the shark throughout this book. Fuck these melodramatic ass underdeveloped ass whiny ass complaining about everything ass characters.
The only reason that this book gets a 1 star is because it served as the basis for the movie adaptation which holy fucking hell, there is no goddamn competition between this book and the movie. That, and the research that Benchley put in to reading about sharks.Â
This book review could have easily devolved in to a hyping up of Steven Spielberg and Carl Gottlieb and honestly it would have been more worth my time.Â
I don't even have anything else to say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Child death, and Animal cruelty
cabbagecakes's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia and Gore
Minor: Rape, Misogyny, and Racism
perthalus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Fashioning a mean grin like a knife, Jaws is a jagged toothed beast that carves through each page with ease. It perfectly balances character driven drama with its unforgivingly gory horror. Each page feels grimy and dirty with peak summer heat, so much so that you’d think you could smell the fish guts coming from the words. I can see why this is a classic, and why Spielberg chose to adapt it to screen, I would too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Vomit and Toxic relationship
Minor: Rape, Misogyny, Police brutality, Racism, and Sexual assault
mcotton2479's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Misogyny and Rape
Minor: Racism, Homophobia, and Child death
bookishbeccahale's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Animal death
childofmongreldogs's review against another edition
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Wow, another book that's worse than the movie on multiple levels. I felt like I struck gold reading a cult classic (or maybe just classic?) horror with The Stepford Wives. I hoped to do the same here, but no. The movie was just a better overall piece of fiction than this book.
While I don't agree with the assessment that the majority of the book seems tied up in the town instead of the shark (or the fish, as is more commonly used in the book), there's a lot of distracting elements that are pretty much one and done and take up far too much space for what they are.
A brief overview of what I came into reading this book: giant shark terrorizes tourist town by the ocean that's in danger of completely dying off if the shark isn't taken care of. The sheriff, an ichthyologist, and a rough and tumble fisherman/shark killer for hire take on the shark. Subplots includeinfidelity and the mafia involvement.
I definitely disliked this book. It's hella dated all things considered. A lot of random throw-aways when it comes to calling people dykes, faggots, and weird ideas about women as well as some casual racism. I think this sort of stuff probably would fly in the 70s when this was written, but it's just cringey and uncomfortable now. Pretty much every time something like that happens, it's super unnecessary and seems to be humorous? Or tries to be anyways.
There's a line where one of the shop owners says that he "might start a race riot" because he has to choose between two new hires now because he can't justify two. When asked who he will pick, "the black one and thank god the white one isn't a Jew". Jesus fucking Christ.
The wife of the sheriff has around 50 pages where she's fucking the ichthyologist behind her husband's back and they have a lovely conversation where she says that all schoolgirl's have a secret dream of being prostitutes so they can have sex with as many men as possible and she has the very common desire to be raped but don't worry, it's not too crazy! She, and I quote, "some women have fantasies about being raped by black men, but I never have."
Did I mention that the guy she cuckholds her husband with was the baby brother of a guy she used to date and she's a decade older than him, obsessive about him (until she's done with him and realizes she loves her husband, actually, of course), and that she knew him when he was nine years old? Disgusting. I almost believe the author just hated women, considering she's the only woman who says more than a handful of lines and actually has some degree of character development who is a woman.
My main gripe here is that there's a lot in this book that is so totally unnecessary and, most importantly, detracts from the narrative and the tension being built up. This book has three parts. The first is really strong because it introduces the shark and the problems of the town. It introduces the main character and some of the themes that will continue to come up. It offers up a certain mystery and has quite a bit of action and suspense.
The second part is where this truly goes off the rails. It's where we see the adultery plotline which seems to only be around to make sure the readers really enjoythe moment that Hooper, the ichthyologist, is eaten by the shark. Otherwise it's pretty unnecessary and it's written in such a disgusting way. Pretty much all of it was gross on many levels. The mafia plotline justifies why certain characters acted the way they did, but it introduced an idea that essentially goes nowhere and has not much to the plot other than a reason for the sheriff to open up the beach very briefly. Even more so, it added a weirdly cruel animal death that, once again, was just so unnecessary. I get it that this book is gory as hell and you know it as soon as you step in, but it seemed so weird to include it.
The third part is where the plot actually kicks in again and there's character tension, suspense, and action as the three of them actually hunt the shark. I've heard some people say that the ending is a cliffhanger. Well, not really. The resolution of the actual plot is pretty much done. The only thing that's left out is the sheriff getting back home which is implied to be the case, I think. Plus, he already seemed to be nonplussed by the idea that his wife cuckholded him and the mafia plotline should be done with since the beach will reopen.
Were there any strengths here? I think the author is highly readable, definitely. The characters are highly unlikable but that seems to be the point. There was good characterization there and it made them very distinct. Yes, even Ellen, the Sheriff's wife. There was good culture clash as well and in a different book or written in a different way, it might have been interesting. The clash between the summer people and the locals is an interesting concept but it really isn't done much justice because the only vehicle for it was through Ellen. She was made so unsympathetic in every way, from being essentially a harpy, a hypocrite (anyone else want to scream when she said the sheriff didn't love her?), and a degenerate. The action was good, the initial suspense was good, and the overall plot was fine.
While I don't agree with the assessment that the majority of the book seems tied up in the town instead of the shark (or the fish, as is more commonly used in the book), there's a lot of distracting elements that are pretty much one and done and take up far too much space for what they are.
A brief overview of what I came into reading this book: giant shark terrorizes tourist town by the ocean that's in danger of completely dying off if the shark isn't taken care of. The sheriff, an ichthyologist, and a rough and tumble fisherman/shark killer for hire take on the shark. Subplots include
I definitely disliked this book. It's hella dated all things considered. A lot of random throw-aways when it comes to calling people dykes, faggots, and weird ideas about women as well as some casual racism. I think this sort of stuff probably would fly in the 70s when this was written, but it's just cringey and uncomfortable now. Pretty much every time something like that happens, it's super unnecessary and seems to be humorous? Or tries to be anyways.
There's a line where one of the shop owners says that he "might start a race riot" because he has to choose between two new hires now because he can't justify two. When asked who he will pick, "the black one and thank god the white one isn't a Jew". Jesus fucking Christ.
The wife of the sheriff has around 50 pages where she's fucking the ichthyologist behind her husband's back and they have a lovely conversation where she says that all schoolgirl's have a secret dream of being prostitutes so they can have sex with as many men as possible and she has the very common desire to be raped but don't worry, it's not too crazy! She, and I quote, "some women have fantasies about being raped by black men, but I never have."
Did I mention that the guy she cuckholds her husband with was the baby brother of a guy she used to date and she's a decade older than him, obsessive about him (until she's done with him and realizes she loves her husband, actually, of course), and that she knew him when he was nine years old? Disgusting. I almost believe the author just hated women, considering she's the only woman who says more than a handful of lines and actually has some degree of character development who is a woman.
My main gripe here is that there's a lot in this book that is so totally unnecessary and, most importantly, detracts from the narrative and the tension being built up. This book has three parts. The first is really strong because it introduces the shark and the problems of the town. It introduces the main character and some of the themes that will continue to come up. It offers up a certain mystery and has quite a bit of action and suspense.
The second part is where this truly goes off the rails. It's where we see the adultery plotline which seems to only be around to make sure the readers really enjoy
The third part is where the plot actually kicks in again and there's character tension, suspense, and action as the three of them actually hunt the shark. I've heard some people say that the ending is a cliffhanger. Well, not really. The resolution of the actual plot is pretty much done. The only thing that's left out is the sheriff getting back home which is implied to be the case, I think. Plus, he already seemed to be nonplussed by the idea that his wife cuckholded him and the mafia plotline should be done with since the beach will reopen.
Were there any strengths here? I think the author is highly readable, definitely. The characters are highly unlikable but that seems to be the point. There was good characterization there and it made them very distinct. Yes, even Ellen, the Sheriff's wife. There was good culture clash as well and in a different book or written in a different way, it might have been interesting. The clash between the summer people and the locals is an interesting concept but it really isn't done much justice because the only vehicle for it was through Ellen. She was made so unsympathetic in every way, from being essentially a harpy, a hypocrite (anyone else want to scream when she said the sheriff didn't love her?), and a degenerate. The action was good, the initial suspense was good, and the overall plot was fine.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Gore, Sexism, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual content, Death, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Antisemitism, Blood, Racism, Classism, Fatphobia, Grief, and Homophobia
doomluz's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Had some dated casual racism and sexism. Kind of cheesy, but also had some creepy parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Infidelity
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Child death, and Animal death
Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, and Bullying
odrib's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Infidelity, Body shaming, Rape, Lesbophobia, and Fatphobia
rachelfek's review against another edition
4.75
I loved this book, especially Part 3. However, I think the author could have spent more time on the boat catching the shark than exploring Brody and Ellen’s relationship. It felt somewhat unnecessary. However, the tension created in this book is palpable and I could barely put it down.Â
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death