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71st out of 82 books
—
42 voters
The Warriors
by
Sol Yurick
The basis for the cult-classic film The Warriors chronicles one New York City gang's nocturnal journey through the seedy, dangerous subways and city streets of the 1960s. Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed and chaos prevails over the attem...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
April 7th 2003
by Grove Press
(first published 1965)
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Having seen the bizzare 70's film probably a dozen times as a teenager, I thought I'd give the book a read. Unfortunately, I found the foreword by the author the best part about the book. The author sought to take a little-known Greek story called the Anabasis, an epic about an army's long retreat through hostile lands, and recast the epic in a hellish, gang-ruled New York. The book traces the Dominators' long flight from a violent gang "summit" downtown back to their turf in Coney Island. Yuric...more
Being a fan of the 1979 movie "The Warriors," I decided, upon reading the news this past January 2013 of the death of "The Warriors" author Sol Yurick, that maybe I should also read his original book version. So I had my local library order me up a copy and a week or so later I had it in hand and was ready to read.
The copy I received was a paperback, probably the edition pictured here, with a long...like 25 page-or-so long...introduction from the author, Mr. Yurick. It seemed a bit, uh...long......more
The copy I received was a paperback, probably the edition pictured here, with a long...like 25 page-or-so long...introduction from the author, Mr. Yurick. It seemed a bit, uh...long......more
The Warriors was originally written in 1965 but was slightly updated for the film tie-in [ASIN:B000UTS3VY Warriors - Ultimate Director's Cut Edition (1979) [DVD] but it was all based on the story of Xenophon, an ancient Greek soldier, who in his 'Anabasis', available as The Persian Expedition', describes the march of the army of 10,000 from Babylon to the Black Sea, where they cry "the sea, the sea!" as the Dominators cry "the Ocean, the Ocean!" when they get back to Coney Island from the Bronx....more
Walter Hill's film adaptation of Sol Yurick's novel is one of my favorite movies of the '70s. I realize it has its flaws but it had a huge impact on me as a kid and, together with Taxi Driver and The Out-of-Towners, pretty much defined this Indiana boy's terrifying conception of New York City, pre-Giuliani.
Anytime the credits of a movie informed me that the movie had been based on a book, I inevitably sought out that book (assuming I liked the movie, that is). But with The Warriors this was hard...more
Anytime the credits of a movie informed me that the movie had been based on a book, I inevitably sought out that book (assuming I liked the movie, that is). But with The Warriors this was hard...more
The Warriors by Yol Surick charts the journey of the Coney Island Dominators, A small gang in the Bronx that has to fight their way home after chaos breaks out amongst gang members and cops during a convention of gang leaders. Six members of the Dominators find themselves alone in enemy terrain, and must fight their way to safety and home turf.
These six members of the Coney Island Dominators are put in a situation where they must fight for their own survival. After a convention of gangs leaders...more
These six members of the Coney Island Dominators are put in a situation where they must fight for their own survival. After a convention of gangs leaders...more
The genre of this book is a fiction novel mixed with adventure. It is a very interesting book that makes you want to keep on reading. I chose this book because I found the cover very legit because of the way the Coney Island Denominators looked. I kind of skimmed through it and saw that it was about gangs and street fights which caught my attention. This book is very twisted (in a good way) because it has a bit of everything. This is a story about a gang, the Coney Island Denominators trying to...more
After watching the movie several times and playing the hell out of the video game, I finally got around to picking up the book that started it all.
First of all, let me just say that the film and game are only loosely based on this book. The basis pretty much ends with a gang from Coney Island going to a huge gang meeting that goes wrong. The gang finds itself stranded miles from home.
Unlike the film and game, the gang in the book are not very noble as a whole.
I will not give the story away as a...more
First of all, let me just say that the film and game are only loosely based on this book. The basis pretty much ends with a gang from Coney Island going to a huge gang meeting that goes wrong. The gang finds itself stranded miles from home.
Unlike the film and game, the gang in the book are not very noble as a whole.
I will not give the story away as a...more
So this makes three sensationalistic novels I've read this year about black New Yorkers that were written by white authors. And all three were good: this, Nigger Heaven by Carl Van Vechten, and The Cool World by Warren Miller. Miller's book shares a close affinity to Yurick's, both being about black street gangs in NYC in the 50s or 60s, and it's not surprising that Miller gives a glowing testimonial to this book, printed on the back cover.
My interest in this 1965 novel stems from my adoration o...more
My interest in this 1965 novel stems from my adoration o...more
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I'm a longtime fan of Walter Hill's 1970's film The Warriors, but have only now read the book on which it was based. The story is centered around the Coney Island Dominators (the Coney Island Warriors in the movie) and their dangerous flight back to CI from the Bronx after a mass gang meet-up is busted up by the police.
It's clear that Hill took his own liberties from the book and Yurick's afterword explains many of them (the movie's transformation of the protaganist from Black to White, for exam...more
It's clear that Hill took his own liberties from the book and Yurick's afterword explains many of them (the movie's transformation of the protaganist from Black to White, for exam...more
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The book The Warriors is about a gang from Coney Island going to a meeting in the bronx and have to fight their way back home under enemy lines. This book is full of action, adventure, and subway meyham. I liked this book because its not every day that you read about gangs and hear what they are feeling. The main charachters in this book are gang members Dewey, Lunkface, Hector, Bimbo, and Arnold who go through a rough time trying to get home. i recommend this book to teenage readers looking for...more
I just recently saw the movie and became obsessed with it, so the next logical step was to read the book. It took me a few days to find it though, and in the meantime I read a lot of things about it, which might have been a mistake but whatever. Aparently it was a lot more violent than the movie, and a lot of people found it less satisfying because of this. Views on it are pretty polarized. Either people love it and put it up there with (or even above) Lord of the Flies, or they just don't get i...more
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The concept was good, but the delivery weak. A group of warriors, a street gang from Coney Island, journey home from a meeting uptown. The story is meant to parallel ancient Greek tomes. Some of the characterizations were weak, the authors understanding of street youths despite his background in sociology seemed inaccurate from my own experience, and the story meandered about without a sufficiently strong central focus. I still thought it was a good story, but it could have been much better.
Easily one of the worst books I've read in a long time. It was bland, boring, and while it promoted chaos and anarchy as major themes, it failed to even be remotely interesting. It even promotes on the back flap orgies and rape, and when those are present in a novel, it's usually for shock value or to move something in the plot and this novel even failed to use these edgey concepts to its advantage. This book was easily a waste of brainpower. Not recommended.
Honestly I found it difficult to give the book a fair shake since the movie is a cult classic. I compared the two in my head as I read and it might be because of this that I found the story pretty dull (that subway again!) and lifeless (almost melodramatic). It isn't often I like the movie better, but here it is most definitely the case.
This is the novel on which the cult movie (according to the book jacket) was originally based, and it's based on Xenophon's The Anabasis. In the same way that Xenophon's writing is chock-full of hilarious pre-Christian-ethical-system slang ("he's a trussed lamb, that laboreth under the sun, daddy") that makes it sound dated now, so does the warriors contain a lot of carefully-punctuated like's and man's that constantly remind the reader it was written in 1964. That said: It's totally awesome. Th...more
Movie was AWESOME.
Nov 28, 2008
Geoff
is currently reading it
Given to me by my girlfriend for my birthday this was the book the awesome 70s movie was based on. A lot less flashy, a lot more down to earth I am really digging this so far.
If you're a huge fan of the movie, be forewarned, this book is different. Sort of. Different time period, different gangs, but the same social message.
This was one of those cases where it doesn't hit me until I finish it. The bulk of the book is probably worthy of a 3 star, the final act, pushed it up to a 4, but man... Those last two pages, they hit me like a punch. This is, in my opinion, a novel that defines a generation of youth, a group of kids who don't have a voice. There is no Hollywood ending. This is a real novel, and the ending really struck a chord with me. I hate to be cliche, but to quote the movie, which is one of my all time fa...more
1 like · like · see review
Utterly powerful, with vibrant energy and suspense.
This book is boring and blah. Do not read.
The movie makes this book worth reading.
Jan 29, 2009
Luciano
added it
i learned to stand up for yourself
This, unfortunately, isn't a case of the book being better than the movie. Of course I compared the two, having seen the movie first. For a book about a gang, it really was lacking in action, but what I did appreciate was the fact that a philosophy behind why the characters chose to be in a gang, the structure, and rituals of the gang, and so on, were included, as well as the social commentary. Those things added value to the book, but still weren't able to trump the campy goodness of painted-fa...more
Movie was better
The film is only VERY loosely based upon this book, so don't read it expecting it to be familiar. Very few scenes match between the book and the movie, and most of the characters do not map directly.
In my opinion, "The Warriors" is what "Catcher in the Rye" should have been. I know that's sacrilege to those who consider "Catcher" to be the Great American Novel, but frankly, it stinks. "The Warriors" provides a much richer narrative, with more emotion and drama.
In my opinion, "The Warriors" is what "Catcher in the Rye" should have been. I know that's sacrilege to those who consider "Catcher" to be the Great American Novel, but frankly, it stinks. "The Warriors" provides a much richer narrative, with more emotion and drama.
Note: I've never seen the film.
I understand from the intro in the newer print that The Warriors was based on some Greek myth, and the description of a very different era in New York City is fascinating. Yet, this book didn't quite knock my socks on their asses. The characters were a bit thin and the two most important scenes (Hinton in the subway tunnel and then in Times Square) are not grippingly written. Not bad at all, but not that great either.
I understand from the intro in the newer print that The Warriors was based on some Greek myth, and the description of a very different era in New York City is fascinating. Yet, this book didn't quite knock my socks on their asses. The characters were a bit thin and the two most important scenes (Hinton in the subway tunnel and then in Times Square) are not grippingly written. Not bad at all, but not that great either.
Jul 13, 2008
B. Zedan
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Folks who like and can handle a mid-sixties gang novel
So different from the movie and just as fantastic. Yorick says it well himself, that the movie is "trashy but beautifully filmed." But the book—the book is violent and true, there is no beautiful ending and there are a lot more swears.
This book really should be something more people read. Though the tie to Anabasis is a little heavy at times, the warriors depicted and the gang in focus, the Dominators, are fascinating.
This book really should be something more people read. Though the tie to Anabasis is a little heavy at times, the warriors depicted and the gang in focus, the Dominators, are fascinating.
I wouldn't call this a great book by any means, but I did tear through it. If you're a fan of the movie, you'll be struck at the grittiness of the novel. There are certainly similarities, but the campy appeal of the movie isn't here in the least. For me, that's a plus. The scenes which do occur in both, such as the Central Park episode, are vastly different, and extremely graphic in the novel.
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Sol Yurick (born 1925) is an American novelist. He was born to a working class family of politically active Jewish immigrants. At the age of 14, Yurick became disillusioned with politics after the Hitler-Stalin pact. He enlisted during World War II, where he trained as a surgical technician. He studied at New York University after the war, majoring in literature. After graduation, he took a job wi...more
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“But Alonso kept smiling that smile and nothing made any sense with that smile looking you in the face. 'Jim, don't tell me that, you know, brother-shit. I have been through it all. Take, you know, advice. There is only one thing and that is the kick, the Now. Nothing else counts. Get yours. Get it because, you know, no one cares and they will always put you down in the end, Jim, and the only word that counts is, you know, Now. Not that foolish brother and bopping jazz, Jim. Now. Because if it all don't go up in any, you know, twenty minutes; up, all gone; then they are going to put you down and keep you down. Now.”
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