Jaws / Peter Benchley - 4****

[Book Concierge]

Jaws – Peter Benchley
Book on CD narrated by Erik Steele
4****

UPDATED: 23 June 2025

A great white shark is terrorizing the residents of a Long Island community that relies on summer visitors for its economic health. Political concerns seem to have sharper teeth than the great white, however.

I've read this book three times previously, and the rating is based on my first impression. The first time was shortly after it was published (before I saw the movie). I read it again in the mid-1980s and found it just as suspenseful and terrifying. (Benchley has since gone on to study and try to save this endangered species.)

I listened to the audio this time around, capably narrated by Erik Steele. I was struck by how long it takes for the shark hunt to happen, and how much time is spent on the political and marital difficulties that Sheriff Brody has to navigate before he even gets out on the water. Also, there is a significant plot involving a mafia-like loan "shark" that was thankfully cut from the movie. I didn't think it served the basic plot at all.

I would probably only rate it three stars today, but I’ll leave my rating as it was when I first read it. I am reminded, though, in this 50th anniversary of the movie being released, how great the film version is. Spielberg really tightened the plot, removing extraneous subplots that detract from the shark's menace, and crafting a marvelously suspenseful film. As I recall, I watched most of it with my feet up on the (empty) seat in front of me ... lest a shark grab my ankles from below ...



LINK to my review

[Olivermagnus]

I remember getting the book in 1974 as a Literary Guild monthly selection (I think). It's a rare case for when the movie is better than the book.