Will I love Jaws?

I read Jaws, aged twelve, when I was scouring my parents’ bookshelves in search of sex scenes.

It didn’t deliver on that front, but was, as was the movie, a blockbuster summer thriller that terrified and captivated me in equal measure. Swimming in the Indian Ocean was never the same again.

First published in 1974, Jaws is of its time but worth a revisit for the iconic, flawed protagonist, Police Chief Brody, the vivid setting, and hero’s journey plot.

Jaws is one of those extremely rare cases where the movie is actually better. (Can’t think of another one? Try The Godfather.)
It’s a perfectly fun suspense novel, but in the film version Spielberg conjures up by special effects magic (and the magic of Dreyfuss and Scheider’s performances) what Benchley in his novel comes close to but never quite lands: the absolutely terrifying feelings of knowing something is there—and getting closer—and closer—but you can’t actually see. 

This just must be one of the greatest contemporary novels ever written.

For me Benchley’s work is perfection. I hope that in one hundred years people look back on Jaws with the same appreciation that we have for Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, today. This is the only fiction novel I have ever read where I would – change nothing!

Spielberg did in the movie, the focus being ‘stop the shark’ but the book is so much more complex – the book is about human greed, and the shark, whilst centre stage is not the central focus. As a new writer this… show more.

This fantastic story is another must-read, in my opinion, so add it to your list right now. As I am sure you know, it went on to be an equally terrifying movie directed by the same man who directed Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg, and was one that launched his career. Sadly, I was too young to see the movie in the theatre and so experienced it first as a novel and then later on home video. As an aside, if I know a novel has a movie adaptation, I usually try to read the novel first to experience what the… show more.

Known mostly from the popular Steven Spielberg film of the same name, the novel Jaws is likewise a classic that shouldn’t be missed. As animal attack stories go, it’d be hard to find a creature more terrifying than a great white shark. Described in thrilling and intense detail, Jaws pulls the reader in like a torn bag of chum. Although what really separates Jaws from the other garden-variety animal attack stories are the corrupt human characters whose negligence cause the shark menace to grow worse. Take the venal mayor whose mafia ties prevent him from closing the beaches. Or the… show more.

It’s a novel, I know. Sheer fiction. But the way the plot unfolds, and hurtles towards disaster, couldn’t be more current. A scientist says there’s danger out there, the police chief wants to close the beaches to protect citizens, the mayor refuses in order to promote his voters and local interests. I don’t require my students to read the book, but I do play for them the scene in the movie (similar scenes are in the book) where the three argue and the mayor, who has the power, has his way. I tell the students that this is the scariest… show more.