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bearystarry's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
I literally only finished this book so I could rate it because I hated it so much. The only interesting/good parts were the parts about the shark, everything else was a nightmarish mixture of racism, misogyny, homophobia, and weird rape fantasies. And also some copaganda and animal torture/cruelty for fun, I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Body shaming, Infidelity, Misogyny, Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Cursing, Death, Racism, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexism, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Antisemitism, and Fatphobia
doomluz's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Had some dated casual racism and sexism. Kind of cheesy, but also had some creepy parts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Gore, Sexism, Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Blood, and Infidelity
Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Racism
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
To say I am disappointed in this book is an understatement. The shark wasn't even the main focus of the book!
I adore sharks and shark movies, especially the Jaws franchise, and yet, I had never read the book before. Having read the book now, I appreciate all the changes Steven Spielberg made for the movie adaptation so much more. I understand Jaws was written in 1974 and I have tried to keep that in mind but the movie came out the following year and all the problematic issues from the book had been taken out and the plot line had been improved greatly, so although it was a different time back then, Spielberg still made those much needed changes.
I adore sharks and shark movies, especially the Jaws franchise, and yet, I had never read the book before. Having read the book now, I appreciate all the changes Steven Spielberg made for the movie adaptation so much more. I understand Jaws was written in 1974 and I have tried to keep that in mind but the movie came out the following year and all the problematic issues from the book had been taken out and the plot line had been improved greatly, so although it was a different time back then, Spielberg still made those much needed changes.
The first issue I have with the book is the homophobic language: within the first few pages we see homophobic slurs being used to describe a group of men. Again, further into the story, more homophobic slurs being used against a girl who lives on the island.
Secondly, the sexist language, remarks and behaviours were just ridiculous. The descriptions of the female characters and women on the beach from the male characters point of view were disgusting. After the first shark attack the mayor of the town wanted to over ride the cause of death concluded by the coroner to a potential suicide on the basis that the girl may have been on her period at the time of swimming in the water and therefore, asking to be attacked by a shark. I could not have rolled my eyes more heavily at this scene. There was the very stereotypical dominant male theme throughout the book: husband makes the rules, belittles the wife, makes crude and abusive remarks, threatens physical abuse, doting wife is tempted by the new, smart guy in town and has a brief affair with him.
There was unnecessary focus placed on the corrupt police department on the island: treating rape like an inconvenience and covering it up. The whole book glorified rape, racism and rape and rape fantasies to be perfectly honest. One of the main characters was possibly raped throughout the story and it was written as a sordid affair and fantasy of a housewife, which again, was just an unnecessary added plot line.
Another thing that just ruined the story for me was the introduction of the mafia into the story... yes, you read the correctly. The mafia had a hand in all the shark attacks because they were forcing the town mayor to keep the public beaches open because he was in debt to them and they did not want money, they wanted favours, in the form of keeping public beaches open...
Lastly, there was so much unnecessary killing and torturing of sharks and other animals for enjoyment throughout the book. It was disgusting to read, in great detail, the injuring and suffering of the sharks and other animals at the hands of the main characters in this book.
What was the main plotline of Jaws? Was it the mafia infiltrating a small seaside town? Was it the decline of a marriage resulting in an affair? Was it a corrupt police department? Because it definitely was not the shark. The chase to catch the shark lasted two chapters and in the end, the shark just died randomly, 2ft away from Chief Brody, mouth open, ready to attack. An even more disappointing ending to a disappointing book.
Honestly, Steven Spielberg made some much needed changes for the film adaptation and I am so glad he did. He turned a badly written book into an iconic, well written and directed movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Police brutality, Rape, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Medical content, Sexism, and Racism
emmaward55's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Fuck this book and fuck Benchley tbh.
His treatment of the female characters of Jaws is ghastly. The further I read, the more obvious it became that the late Peter Benchley thought of women as mere victims for men to abuse as they please and without consequence. We see this at first with our ‘hero’ police chief Brody covering up serial rapes with no negative consequences or moral qualms over his actions.
This barely scratches the surface, however, as about halfway through the book Brody's wife, Ellen, cheats on him with another man. Ellen seduces Hooper with an elaborate 'schoolgirl' rape fantasy that was detailed enough to almost send me into a panic attack. The details of her imagination may be repulsive, but worse than that is her conviction that she would secretly enjoy it, even orgasm, and her belief that other women share this fantasy. This nauseating theme carries through to the culmination of Ellen and Hooper’s affair, where the violence of the intercourse is described as "assaulting" Ellen and Hooper doesn't even look at Ellen, let alone speak to or acknowledge her. She is simply an object for him to abuse until he is satisfied.
Brody himself treats his wife no better, getting blindingly drunk at a party they're hosting and criticising and insulting Ellen all night and in front of their guests, later making her cry. He also considers beating her once he discovers her affair, but decides not to as it "won't do any good". Despite this, Ellen comes to the conclusion that she's lucky to have Brody and that she is still in love with him.
With all this being said, there was a way that Benchley could have written these events without it seeming like a rapist's sexual fantasies put to paper. The book has no awareness of (and therefore makes no commentary on) how it treats its female characters. The men who do these awful things never face consequences for their actions. Rape is glorified, whilst mentions of the survivors are avoided, focusing only on the attackers and the fantasy of the 'ideal victim', who want to be brutalised and who would make the experience all the more enjoyable for the attacker. Brody becomes a hero, his wife rekindles her loyalty to him and we as readers have no reason to think that Brody won't cover up the crimes of the next rapist to walk into town. After all, we already know who Brody will choose to protect when the choice is between the female population of the town and the town itself. I really do believe that this could have been handled in a nuanced way, perhaps with the survivors of the serial rapist coming forward and furthering the message that covering up crimes hurts the town more in the long-term.
Regardless, the narrative that we're left with is the definition of rape culture. The whole thing left me disgusted, angry, and profoundly disappointed. Benchley died in 2006, so we can never really know why he wrote about rape in this manner, but it matters. It matters that his book made it to print with that content. Jaws is a huge part of cultural (especially film) history and as long as we continue to discuss it, we should also acknowledge this unforgivable flaw. After all, it is an integral to the narrative as the eponymous shark itself.
TL;DR: The film is better.
His treatment of the female characters of Jaws is ghastly. The further I read, the more obvious it became that the late Peter Benchley thought of women as mere victims for men to abuse as they please and without consequence. We see this at first with our ‘hero’ police chief Brody covering up serial rapes with no negative consequences or moral qualms over his actions.
This barely scratches the surface, however, as about halfway through the book Brody's wife, Ellen, cheats on him with another man. Ellen seduces Hooper with an elaborate 'schoolgirl' rape fantasy that was detailed enough to almost send me into a panic attack. The details of her imagination may be repulsive, but worse than that is her conviction that she would secretly enjoy it, even orgasm, and her belief that other women share this fantasy. This nauseating theme carries through to the culmination of Ellen and Hooper’s affair, where the violence of the intercourse is described as "assaulting" Ellen and Hooper doesn't even look at Ellen, let alone speak to or acknowledge her. She is simply an object for him to abuse until he is satisfied.
Brody himself treats his wife no better, getting blindingly drunk at a party they're hosting and criticising and insulting Ellen all night and in front of their guests, later making her cry. He also considers beating her once he discovers her affair, but decides not to as it "won't do any good". Despite this, Ellen comes to the conclusion that she's lucky to have Brody and that she is still in love with him.
With all this being said, there was a way that Benchley could have written these events without it seeming like a rapist's sexual fantasies put to paper. The book has no awareness of (and therefore makes no commentary on) how it treats its female characters. The men who do these awful things never face consequences for their actions. Rape is glorified, whilst mentions of the survivors are avoided, focusing only on the attackers and the fantasy of the 'ideal victim', who want to be brutalised and who would make the experience all the more enjoyable for the attacker. Brody becomes a hero, his wife rekindles her loyalty to him and we as readers have no reason to think that Brody won't cover up the crimes of the next rapist to walk into town. After all, we already know who Brody will choose to protect when the choice is between the female population of the town and the town itself. I really do believe that this could have been handled in a nuanced way, perhaps with the survivors of the serial rapist coming forward and furthering the message that covering up crimes hurts the town more in the long-term.
Regardless, the narrative that we're left with is the definition of rape culture. The whole thing left me disgusted, angry, and profoundly disappointed. Benchley died in 2006, so we can never really know why he wrote about rape in this manner, but it matters. It matters that his book made it to print with that content. Jaws is a huge part of cultural (especially film) history and as long as we continue to discuss it, we should also acknowledge this unforgivable flaw. After all, it is an integral to the narrative as the eponymous shark itself.
TL;DR: The film is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Vomit, Rape, Death, Animal death, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Fatphobia
Minor: Drug use, Domestic abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Racism
Also a straight man lies about a lesbian in a committed relationship with another woman wanting to 'try it straight' and have sex with him. We the readers know that his only interaction with her was a polite conversation at a dinner party and she never expresses any such desire.
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