Scan barcode
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: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting
kdailyreads's review against another edition
This book had way too much racist, sexist, and homophobic content for me. And not enough focus on the shark! A rare case of the movie absolutely being better than the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual content
melanyseescribecony's review against another edition
1.5
empezo bastante bien pero se fue por las ramas con la trama donde la esposa del policia le quiere poner los cuernos con el cientifico experto en tiburones (y sus fantasias sexuales y racistas). literalmente un tercio del libro es sobre eso. y el último tercio fue un embole. no se qué le ven de terrorifico a esta historia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape
lucys_library's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Violence, and Stalking
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: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Grief, and Lesbophobia
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.emric's review against another edition
- 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
-The movie was better~~ Spielberg did the impossible of making a bad book into a great movie!
-All of the characters are unlikeable
-sexism, racism, homophobia (and none of it is subtle)
-subplots (basically all of part 2) were unnecessary and uninteresting
-the first chapter with Chrissie was the only chapter I enjoyed
Just watch the movie and skip the book.
-All of the characters are unlikeable
-sexism, racism, homophobia (and none of it is subtle)
-subplots (basically all of part 2) were unnecessary and uninteresting
-the first chapter with Chrissie was the only chapter I enjoyed
Just watch the movie and skip the book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Racism, Rape, and Sexual violence
kaylaphaneuf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
I don’t say this often, but the movie is leagues better than the book. Really the only thing I liked in the book was how well the early shark scenes were executed. All the town politics, mayoral side plot line, affair plot line (?! So many issues!), not even subtle racism, and uhhh the mafia ????????? really tanked the shark.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore and Rape
Minor: Racism
stevied's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
(5* for the overall story and writing, but a caveat about the ill-judged conversation before a couple embark on a one-afternoon stand; characters can be flawed, deceitful, whatever, but the way this portrays one individual’s particular sexual fantasy is unnerving and possibly triggering for some)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
(5* for the overall story and writing, but a caveat about the ill-judged conversation before a couple embark on a one-afternoon stand; characters can be flawed, deceitful, whatever, but the way this portrays one individual’s particular sexual fantasy is unnerving and possibly triggering for some)ticianeaneane's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I started this book with no expectations and ended up really liking it! It's an easy and quick read, I connected with some of the characters, I felt anxious in some bits and - the clearest sign that I like a book - I didn't want to stop reading. Sure, it's not the greatest masterpiece ever, but it's a great way to spend the time. The main problem I had with this book is with the female representation - a small number of characters, all very dull and unrealistic at times.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Rape