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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been years since I've seen the movie, but reading the book was thoroughly separate & enjoyable. Evocatively written, Herlihy gives the reader more insight/access into Joe Buck's past and experience in the present.
A sad, sad, novel, disturbing but probably true, like Nathanael West, but written somewhere between Jim Thompson and Hubert Selby, Jr. Underneath the dime-novel pathologies lie a kind of horrible dialogue about what it means to be taught nothing, prepared for nothing, and simply left to the world. The preface draws comparisons to Huck Finn and Sal Paradise, among others, innocents lost and trying to find home. Seen that way, the book is even sadder, more sordid, and more strange.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Having seen, and loved, the movie "Midnight Cowboy," I was curious to read the book on which it was based. This is a terrific novel about an amazingly neglected man-child trying to find his way in the world. The whole first part of the novel was left out of the movie, which begins with Joe Buck's arrival in New York City, and it is important to make real sense of some of the character's ideas (like that he could make a living off of grateful women since NYC is filled with "faggots"). In the movie, he was played as just plain dumb, but in reading the book I had the sense that he was a person who had received so little guidance from or connection with other human beings, that he knew very little except for what was in his own head.
Like "Of Mice and Men," this book is a story of unlikely -- and profound -- male friendship. I wish there were books of the same caliber portraying such bonds between women.
This is not exactly a spoiler alert, but I did find it interesting that the ending of the novel was less bleak than that of the movie. I came to have real affection for Joe Buck, and I hope he found his place in the world and lived out his dreams of love and domestic bliss.
Like "Of Mice and Men," this book is a story of unlikely -- and profound -- male friendship. I wish there were books of the same caliber portraying such bonds between women.
This is not exactly a spoiler alert, but I did find it interesting that the ending of the novel was less bleak than that of the movie. I came to have real affection for Joe Buck, and I hope he found his place in the world and lived out his dreams of love and domestic bliss.
such a strange book. starts with some crazy objectification and abuse of a young girl. how the times have changed. a cowboy jiggalo?
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
i lvoe you joe buck. i love you rico rizzo