Jaws

Fascinating, but not for the obvious reason

I read this book many years ago and knew it differed from the movie, but I thought it would be fun to listen to the audiobook version. First off, yes - the movie is much better than the book - not because the book is awful, but rather because the movie is just so good and memorable. And it is true the dialogue Benchley's puts in his character's mouths is not particularly natural and there are many redundant sections throughout.

(Do note, however, that this book did spend 40 weeks on the NY Times Bestseller list and sold 20+ million copies, so someone certainly liked it!)

However, the book is unintentionally fascinating as a view into mid-1970's US society. I really enjoyed the watching the characters deal with life without cell phones, without microwaves, without the internet, all the while constantly drinking, smoking, dealing with class envy, latent sexism, racism, many references to the "War" (meaning WW II) and 70's era concepts of "swinging". I'm sure Benchley thought his characters were pretty progressive, but almost 40 years later the attitudes are very amusing.

Between the 70's society study and a reasonably good monster story you can definitely enjoy this book, just leave your memories of the movie at the door!

29 of 36 people found this review helpful

Actually....it was pretty good.

Jaws reads like a cross between a Stephen King novel with a bit of Moby Dick thrown in. All in all, it wasn't too shabby. It sure wasn't serious literature by any stretch of the imagination, but it was worth a credit and the time spent listening to it. Sometimes you just want to be entertained!

15 of 19 people found this review helpful

Oh, How Disappointing…!

No review of Jaws could start off without mentioning the movie. I was eight at the time, so, while the rest of the family went to see it, my mom had to take me to Bambi. I remember coming out of the theater to find a woman crying and retching into a Kleenex, so distraught was she by Jaws. (My mom had to take me out of Bambi also: I just lost it when Bambi's mom got blown away by the hunter. Honestly? Between Bambi's mom dying and a freaked out shark, I think I would've handled the shark better.)
When I finally saw it, I thought it was great. And when I read it, I seem to remember finding it to be a good read.
So, it was quite disappointing to find that it just didn't age well. And by no means does it follow the movie. Which is just fine. I understand that. But the book has so many, many layers of the personal lives of the characters which, at first I appreciated. It's nice to have character development. It goes overboard though, and starts to drag. One wonders where the shark is. It is called Jaws, isn't it? The shark is supposed to be the main draw. The daily lives of the characters, their small and even large choices start to get in the way of the narrative, drag it down. Especially since the characters make some pretty poor choices that have nothing to do with the story. It just gets annoying. Who needs to know about a petty affair?
Imagine my surprise, also, when the real action starts, and I looked down and found that there were only six more minutes of the book. Talk about an abrupt ending!
I also had to listen to this at 1.25 speed as the narrator, Erik Steele, makes each line ponderous, with huge pauses in between sentences and concepts. He also has the voice of an anchorman. To his credit, though, is the fact that his dialogue really, really shines. His characterization of Quint is dead on and so very enjoyable, I could have listened to a book with only Quint all day long, as Steele brings him to life with such wonderful tones and a great accent.
Ultimately, this was a decent book, with decent writing and great action in sporadic scenes throughout. It left me hungry for more. Which is unfortunate because it really could've given more. A good enough read but unsatisfying when all is said and done.

21 of 28 people found this review helpful

"JAWS"

I had seen this movie years ago, but really found this book drew the best pictures in my mind. It is vividly written, although not a classic, it will forever be frightening. Author Peter Benchley does a fantastic job of describing the disturbing events caused by a massive shark, and how they tramatically effect the town people. Most attacks are not graphically described, if you are looking for that read Jaws 2. After being aquainted with Jaws who of us hasn't had a shudder run down their spine as something hits their leg in the murky ocean water???

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

The Perfect Book for the Beach

I was fifteen when the movie was released, and I loved it then. I read the book shortly after seeing the movie, and I remember liking it. Thirty some-odd years later, I listened to the audiobook and loved it even more. The narration by Erik Steele was pitch perfect. I was transported back to the 70s, and it was a rollicking nostalgia trip. Peter Benchley definitely caught the spirit and attitudes of the time and somehow wove them into a story that is like Moby Dick meets Fear of Flying meets the Old Man and the Sea meets Godzilla! I am surprised that it took so long for this iconic piece of Americana to be published as an audiobook. My only regret is that I was unable to wait until beach season to give it a listen. It would be the perfect accompaniment for a long weekend by the ocean.

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

Better than the movie

Really good story. The movie obviously is able to really scare you with the visuals, or lack of depending on the scene. But I have to say this is a great companion to go with the movie. Read this first and then watch the movie.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Unsatisfying Ending...DN DN...DN DN... dndndndndnd

***Some spoilers*** Man... I am so glad that the author allowed some screen writing liberties because if the movie would've followed the book very closely, the ending would have stunk. This book starts off very engaging, but quickly moves into a lengthy section regarding an adulteress affair of the protagonists wife. She is regretful of not having a life of notoriety and finds her marriage to the police chief unfulfilling, resulting in the adultery. During this section the shark is fairly inactive... resulting in a desire to skip ahead. In my opinion, this part does nothing to move the main idea of the story forward. The book does contain vulgar language and some sexual immorality. I really feel let down with the last chapter of this book because there are SO many unanswered questions: 1) Why did Jaws live? 2) What does this mean for Amity? 3) Does Brodie confront his wife? 4) What happened to Mr. Vaughn? I needed and expected closure via a dead shark!... like in the movie! It was ended so abruptly that I'm actually kinda angry. Anyway, the narration was awesome and I could listen comfortably at 1.5X speed. I hope this helps someone. Later.

4 of 7 people found this review helpful

Loved this Shark tale

I saved this listen for the beach vacation so I might have enjoyed it even more because of that - just fun. I was very surprised how different the book is from the movie. I rented the movie after the listen and plot varies greatly. I prefer the book. Much more backstory. Movie is great for suspense but listen to the book for a real story. Excellent narrator - great listen.

5 of 9 people found this review helpful

Jaws

First read the book when it came out and read it more then once - great summertime read. At the time I was a young mom of three and vowed that my little ones would never swim in the ocean, of course, that vow was broken many times over. Decided that it would be a great summertime Audible book and I was right - love it - it is like visiting with an old friend - bringing back good memories. Also Erik does a great job.

6 of 11 people found this review helpful

Fun and easy read/listen.

This is the perfect summer read if you are not vacationing near an ocean. It was a fun listen. Recently, I said a movie was better than the book but this is so much better. Considering the movie is one of my all time favorites, that says a lot. The character development is amazing and makes the book that much richer. I never thought about the similarities with Moby Dick but it is pretty obvious in the book.