[("Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Diary )] [Author: Bob Balaban] [Apr-2003]

by Steven Spielberg

Close Encounter of the First Sighting of a UFOClose Encounter of the Second Physical evidenceClose Encounter of the Third ContactEarth's greatest adventure had begun. The world was being readied for...Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It meant the beginning of the most dramatic event in the history of the world. It will lead to the inescapable ARE NOT ALONE

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Classics, Media Tie In, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Spielberg is a three-time Academy Award winner and is the highest grossing filmmaker of all time; his films having made nearly $8 billion internationally. Forbes magazine places Spielberg's net worth at $3 billion. As of 2006, Premiere listed him as the most powerful and influential figure in the motion picture industry. Time listed him as one of the 100 Greatest People of the Century. And at the end of the twentieth century, Life named him the most influential person of his generation. In a career that spans almost four decades, Spielberg's films have touched many themes and genres. During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, three of his films, Jaws, E.T., and Jurassic Park became the highest grossing films for their time. During his early years as a director, his sci-fi and adventure films were often seen as the archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his movies began addressing such historical issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war, and terrorism.

Reviews

[Rodrigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

No ha estado mal me ha permitido recordar la película que la vi hace ya....
Es el guion prácticamente de la película incluso sale alguna escena eliminada.
Sinopsis: Unos aviones dados por desaparecidos en 1945 aparecen de repente en el desierto de Mojave... Un vuelo comercial se cruza con un objeto brillante que el piloto no es capaz de describir... El gobierno de EE. UU., sospechando de la existencia de fenómenos extraños, logra averiguar dónde van a aterrizar los visitantes y desarrollar una operación de encubrimiento para que nadie se entere. Pero un grupo de personas comparte una visión sobre la vida en otros mundos que les arrastra a ese lugar.
Valoración: 6/10
# 13- Un libro publicado en el año en que naciste. 1977. Reto Popsugar 2023

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's there to say? It's a novelization of the movie which seems to encapsulate everything that the movie was and not really anything that it was not. I can't recall any scenes which were left out or changed. In fact, in some instances I would say that the movie is far superior to the book because some of the visuals just can't be pictured as spectacularly as they appear on screen. I'm telling you, once a UFO is described as having lights reminiscent of a "Jack-O-Lantern" all you will see in your imagination is a giant flying pumpkin lighting up the night sky. If anything, I would say that the book is actually lacking compared to the movie because there really isn't any in-depth look into the thoughts of the characters other than what one sees on screen. Did Richard Dreyfus have a look of wonder or consternation on his face in that one scene? You bet...and the book is pretty much just going to say "Neary was filled with wonder" or "Neary was very consternated"...

This is also from an age of wonder, where little grey aliens were beings of love and joy, ala Mr. Burns after his treatments, and mystical properties, where Zeta Reticuli was a happy place. They had flowering meadows and rainbow skies, and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles.

It's not a bad book by any means, and if you enjoyed the movie, I'm sure that you'll enjoy the book. It's just pretty much the movie put to page.

If I have critiques, it's more in that I just don't like the characters. I really didn't like Roy (Richard Dreyfus). He's just a guy who abandons his entire life to go cavort with aliens whilst leaving a letter to his wife and three children about how "maybe someday they'll understand if they just watch Pinocchio"...and there's just a smidge of adultery thrown in for fun. Also, why did the aliens kidnap everyone in the past just to return them all at once in order to take some more people willingly? I'm sure that WW2 pilots are going to be pretty upsetti-spaghetti over losing the last 30+ years of their lives and everything they've ever known or loved or cared about...

[Ayman Elgazzar · Rating 4 out of 5]

مبدئيا رواية خيال علمى رائعة وان كنت اعتقد انها ليست رواية بل قصة كتبها ستيفن سبيلبرج لفيلمه الذى يحمل نفس الاسم
القصة او الرواية تتميز باحداث خيال علمى مثيرة وحبكة جيدة وسريعة الاحداث كعادة افلام ستيفن سبيلبرج
مليئة باجواء ومشاهد كانت فى وقتها جديدة و مثيرة ومبتكرة وان كنت عند قرائتى لها الان استمتعت بها جدا لدرجة ان الرواية حين قرأتها كنت قرأتها فى جلسة واحدة
وهذا ماشجعنى على البحث عن الفيلم الذى يمثل احداثها للمخرج على مواقع الانترنت ونجحت فى تحميله وان شاء الله اشاهده قريبا واعتقد اننى ساستمتع بمشاهدته ايضا
اجمالا الرواية او القصة ممتازة وطبعا ترجمة دكتور احمد خالد توفيق هى التى اوصلت مضمون القصة بكل هذه المتعة والجمال وانصح بقرائتها بشدة
رحم الله دكتور احمد خالد توفيق واسكنه فسيح جناته
اللهم آمين

[حبيبة · Rating 2 out of 5]

حين ترى نجمًا
وتتمنى أمنية
فلا يهم من تكون
لأن ما تتمناه ستناله
لو أنك تمنيت بإخلاص

[James Caterino · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was like a quasi-religious out of body experience for me on that Thanksgiving weekend back in 1977. I picked up this book the same weekend thinking it would be impossible to recreate the experience in fictional form. But this novelization—written by the man himself—comes pretty damn close. Of course, it is impossible to capture the visual grandeur and wonder of this trans-formative film, not to mention the soaring dramatic beauty of John William's masterful score. But this suspenseful novelization does a fine job of delivering the essence of the movie into prose form. There is also great supplemental information, backstories, and some great insight into the Roy Neary and Lacombe characters. A well-done adaption of a powerful, classic film.

I had always assumed this book (like the "Star Wars" novelization at the time) had been ghost written by Alan Dean Foster or someone of similar stature. But I came across several vintage interviews with Spielberg including one done by Roger Ebert in 1977 that provide evidence it was indeed the bearded one himself who wrote this novel and not a ghost writer. Of course he had no beard back then.

[أسامة · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة أعادت لى ذكريات رؤية الفيلم فى الثمانينات فى برنامج أوسكار أو برنامج نادى السينما لا أتذكر بالضبط ورائعة ستيفن سبليبرج المخرج العبقرى صاحب الافلام المبهرة

[B. Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A straightforward adaptation of Spielberg's own screenplay for the masterful movie, Steven does little to improve on the original. The format does allow for some leisurely reflection on the UFO / Bermuda Triangle phase America was enamored with in the seventies, which had as much or more to do with the creation and popularity of Close Encounters as that other crazy popular sci-fi movie that came out a year earlier. Reading it in novel form also gives you additional time to wonder at the character of Roy Neary, himself so enamored of kidnapping aliens that he never really gives his wife or children a second thought as he steps into their spacecraft and leaves earth for possibly the last time. Would the story have caught on if Dryfuss had not made Neary so likable, despite his lunacy?
I did enjoy the novel's elaboration on Lacombe and his crew of mysterious federal UFO chasers. Simply knowing a tad bit more about them made them more enjoyable versus confusing.
A fine read for Spielberg fans, but not worth slogging through verse pulling up the movie on Netflix.

[Rob Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

ALIENS. ARE. REAL

Perhaps because I haven’t seen the film I was a bit thrown off by the lack of aliens content in a book about close encounters hence my lower rating.

Rest assured my next close encounter will be another book. On to the next.

[Noah Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Straightforward screen-to-page adaptation of something that works better in a visual medium, but the descriptive writing is really good and Close Encounters is great so it still works and makes for a good read. Pretty short.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically like reading the movie. I enjoyed it despite the bad writing, but I don't know that I'd really recommend it to someone.

[G. İlke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bay Spielberg'in hayal gücüne ve yönetmenliğine diyecek söz yok. Hikâye yer yer eksik gelse de, filmi tam bir görsel şölen. Filmin bana göre tek sıkıntısı, bazı sahnelerin çok uzun olması. Bunun dışında, kitapta ek sahnelerin olması değerini arttırıyor. Sonuç olarak ikisini de sevdim, hem kitabı hem filmi tavsiye ederim. =)

[cri ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the story —just like the film, except for a few details—, hated the Spanish translation. But, well, it's a book from 1978 that I found in my grandparents' house and that you cannot even buy anymore, so who am I to complain.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast and interesting read.
I read this in under 24 hours haha
It kept we wanting to read. The story its self was good I liked it a lot. The writing was okay. I really enjoyed it.
The end had be scratching my head but I guess its whatever he wanted to do with his life.

[Jose Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela de ciencia ficción de 235 páginas, escrito en 1977 por el mismo Spielberg. La novela tiene una narrativa sencilla y directa, potencia más la trama que el desarrollo de personajes y te mantiene con el misterio desde el principio.
Me la he leído en dos días, y aunque me ha gustado mucho, no he podido evitar rememorar la película, imaginando a sus protagonistas en todo momento. De todas formas, y como siempre ocurre, en el libro hay detalles y pensamientos del protagonista que no salen en la película y he disfrutado mucho. Lectura recomendada para los amantes de la ciencia ficción y del film original de Spielberg.

[Zoë · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you’ve seen the film or not, I highly recommend finding a copy in a second hand book shop, or your gran’s attic. As a sci-fi lover myself, I couldn’t put it down. Just a fantastic classic plot, which I can’t find fault in.

[Saskia (Smitie) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't see the movie, so I didn't have any reference. The book was a bit boring, but the ending was unexpected.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason that I give this book 5 stars is not because I am enamored of the writing style, but because I am enamored of the author. For whatever reason I have suddenly and inexplicable fallen head over heels in love with Steven Spielberg. I don't know what happened or what moment triggered it, but it had something to do with listening to his voice and seeing his beautiful expressive face as he describes making Jaws and ET in the "bonus features" on those "Collector's Edition" DVDs.

The impetus for reading this book was my complete immersion into the Steven Spielberg biography by Joseph McBride, which I keep pausing in order to do more expansive research (Purchase and re-watch "Duel", Purchase and watch "The Sugarland Express" for the first time, Purchase and Read "The Jaws Log", Purchase and read this book, as well as the DVD sets of "Amazing Stories", almost every other Spielberg movie on DVD - collector's editions when available, etc...) On a side note, I've added "Make Steven Spielberg more wealthy" to my bucket list because it's always nice to be able to check something off and feel accomplished!!!

As I began to read this book, I found some of the writing unintentionally amusing. Some passages read like a writing assignment turned in by a teen boy. Steven was close to 30 years old when this movie came out, and probably 28 when directing it. However, he would've been younger when he "wrote" it, and when you consider that this story is in large part based on "Firelight", a film that he made as a teenager, then some of the writing begins to make a lot of sense. Although there was a "ghost writer", it's difficult to imagine some of these passages being penned by a professional writer, so I think they were largely his own words.

The voice that I heard in my head as I started to read the book, was mostly my own voice, or sometimes the voice of Richard Dreyfuss. But, then one day I watched a long interview of Steven on You Tube (I think it was the Japanese one. Nice and long and really interesting, ...and filled with weird Japanese commercials, so VERY entertaining!) When I picked this book back up to read, I could hear Steven's voice telling me the story. This was SO AMAZING!! So, after that, almost every time I picked the book back up after a lapse of time had occurred, I would go to You Tube and watch an interview with Steven so that I could have his voice fresh in my head. Every time Neary spoke, it would revert to Dreyfuss, sometimes forcing me to stop and listen to Steven again before continuing on.

When Steven's voice is telling this story, you have to slow down and read a little bit more deliberately. He emphasizes words and phrases differently, and you have to allow some space in your mind for that to happen. He also, sometimes, talks too fast and smooshes some phrases together. After listening to interviews with him, your brain begins to grasp and duplicate the cadence of his speech, which is A BEAUTIFUL THING!!!

I wish there was a way that I could listen to Steven tell me stories the way he told bed time stories to his children, or ghost stories around the campfire with his friends. I would spend good money for access to that, because I love his voice, and the expressions on his face, and the sparkle in his eyes when he does... like when he talks about his childhood, or the trauma of making Jaws, or the post-traumatic stress FROM making jaws, or the characteristics he looks for when auditioning actors for his films, or the way he relates to children, or his feelings about family, or the interview he gave after watching the restored "Lawrence of Arabia" with his role model, Director David Lean, by his side providing him with a personal "Director's Commentary", or anything else that excites and animates him.

I do realize that it is a bit selfish of me to want Steven to tell me stories in his own voice. I mean, I have access to all of these movies, some of which were written by him, filled with actors specifically chosen by him, and then directed by him. These movies are quite biographical, containing very specific images from his childhood imagination and emotional or psycho-social experiences from his life.
And these films are amazing and exhilarating and triumphant and thought provoking and tumultuous and heart breaking and glorious... and how can I ask for anything more.

But I do want more... I enjoyed this book because it provided me with something that I desperately need, a story written in young Mr Spielberg's own words (mostly), that I can hear (if I concentrate hard enough) in his own voice.

[David's Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up a second hand copy of this book, because I really enjoyed the movie. If you have seen the movie this is pretty much what your going to get in the book, with a small handful of slight changes.

This focuses on a family man called Roy, and his struggles after he witnesses a UFO. He discovers that he is strangely obsessed with this mysterious unknown shape, which plagues his mind and pushes his wife and children away. We also follow a mother who has lost her young son, after he has been taken away from her. And at the centre of all this is a government agency, trying to figure out all these strange activity happening in the stars. Who are these visitors and what do this want?

[Luis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even though I'm a big fan of movie novelizations and movie tie-ins in general, this one just didn't do anything for me, and yes, I'm a fan of the movie.
The problem is that while the movie relies heavily on the sense of astonishment upon seeing a UFO with many scenes of characters gaping in awe in book form it just gets old after the first few times. The entire story is really quite thin - those that see a UFO are imprinted with an image which compels the characters to go to their landing site. As with many Spielberg stories, there's the conflict between innocence and the adult world (the government as we saw later in ET as well). We do get more of the conflict between the Richard Dreyfuss character and his family which kind of explains his curious choice at the end of the novel.
However we don't get any more insight into the aliens or their purpose for being here, just a lot of flashing lights. Even though the characters get all emotional when they establish rudimentary contact via musical notes, I just didn't see what the fuss was about. It was basically the aliens saying "Yes, we hear you".

[Mary Piccola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the mystery and tension of the story as someone who has never seen the movie but parts of the story were drowned out by confusing technical jargon and over descriptive text. Felt as though some scenes required you to have already seen the movie to fully understand the scene but for the most part i had a really fun time reading this.

The parts where it lost me were about halfway through the book when it mentioned all of the two female characters breasts; one time in a more or less awkward way and the second time in an extremely awkward way. I wasn’t a fan of the romance aspect either. It just felt unnecessary for the story to progress the way it did, but, of course, that’s to be expected from older stories.

[Capítulo IV]

"... al igual que Romeo y Julieta no es solo una historia de amor, ni El Hobbit solo la historia de unas criaturas fantásticas, Spielberg no es un cualquiera escribiendo sobre extraterrestres y no es un libro más al respecto". Más en https://capitulocuarto.com/2018/05/30...

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a perfectly decent transcription novel of the film...though I was hoping for far more expansion of the characters. There are a great many things ignored and glossed over here, especially in regards to Roy Neary and the destruction of his family life. These things could and should have been addressed.

[Trond Gulvik Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filmen var nok bedre. Slike bøker basert på filmmanus er ofte gitt ut for å skvise noen kroner ut av interessen en film har startet. Derfor blir det litt varierende kvalitet. Denne var ok, men litt hastverk her og der med navner og sånn som sikkert funker i et filmmanus.

[Eduardo Gomez · Rating 2 out of 5]

audiolibro

[Colin Devroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun end of summer read with just a few more details than the movie.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great movie adaptation. Recommended

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew extraterrestrials enjoyed Coca-Cola as much as Roy Neary

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Έχοντας δει την ταινία, πριν αρκετό καιρό βέβαια οπότε δεν θυμάμαι και τα πάντα, ήξερα πάνω κάτω τι θα γίνει και θυμόμουν αρκετές σκηνές, οπότε δεν ήταν ένα βιβλίο από το οποίο περίμενα εκπλήξεις. Η γραφή μου φάνηκε αρκετά καλή, σε μερικά σημεία μάλιστα πολύ καλή, ενώ περίμενα να ήταν κάπως επίπεδη και βαρετή. Οι χαρακτήρες δεν ήταν και άσχημα σκιαγραφημένοι και η γενική εξιστόρηση ήταν μια χαρά, η όλη ατμόσφαιρα μου άρεσε φυσικά, αλλά δεν δόθηκαν και ιδιαίτερες λεπτομέρειες στις πιο μυστηριώδης και πνευματικές σκηνές.

Γενικά σαν βιβλίο είναι αρκετά αξιόλογο, όχι απλώς ένα "άνοστο" screenplay με πολλούς διαλόγους και ελάχιστες περιγραφές, αλλά δεν ήταν και κάτι το συγκλονιστικό, ούτε μάθαινες περισσότερα πράγματα από την ταινία. Όσοι έχετε το βιβλίο και δεν έχετε δει την ταινία, νομίζω ότι είναι καλύτερα να δείτε την ταινία πρώτα.

[Alex Allred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me be clear: the movie is fantastic. The book, however, is almost a word-for-word reproduction of the script. In fact, I would not be surprised at all to learn that some ghost writer of middling talent converted the screenplay into novel form. The book does absolutely nothing to expand on the film, nor is the writing particularly inspired or vivid. Most of the time the book is better than the film. This is the exception. Just watch the film and enjoy the good acting and fantastic special effects.

[Rita]

DNF at 48%

I just couldn't get into the writing style. It's obvious based on what I've read that Steven Spielberg is a fantastic director, but the prose of the novelization just didn't flow right and it made this book a chore for me to read. Descriptive imagery seemed like non sequiturs and I generally wasn't a fan of the lack of non-"bitchy" or weak female characters. I thought that it would be an interesting experience to read this book before I watched the film but clearly, I should always start with the source material first. Oh well, c'est la vie.