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A review by nytephoenyx
Eddie and the Cruisers by P.F. Kluge
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I am deeply conflicted about this book.
On the one hand, it's still a generally interesting story. I'm going to go against the rest of the reviewers and confess... I do like the movie better. I found the characters more likable and the music more center to the story than it is in the book of Eddie in the Cruisers.
What gets me with this one is the conversation about race and racism.
Some of the dialogue here is just... bad. There are scenes that feel so caricatured and cringe. Wendell's treatment in the present day scene was pitying at best and racist at worst. I can't tell if Kluge thinks it just to be expected for a Black man to turn to crime or if it's a comment on broken window laws and the socio-political climate of the 1980s. It's the same with the Lakehurst tapes. I can't tell if Eddie was genuine or setting himself in the role of the white savior.
Either way, I feel like these are not the questions Kluge wants his reader asking. It makes me wonder if this book had been written today, how would Wendell and Eddie's role differ?
It's an okay book. There are some scenes that are ridiculous and over the top - violence and sex alike experienced by Ridgeway are just... impossible, frankly. Dramatic and unprecedented in the context of the book, to the point where it felt like lazy writing. If you don't think about it too much, the book is interesting. If you take it at face value, there's some seriously concerning racist contend in the dialogue.
Generally? Just watch the movie. With that, you get the amazing soundtrack.
On the one hand, it's still a generally interesting story. I'm going to go against the rest of the reviewers and confess... I do like the movie better. I found the characters more likable and the music more center to the story than it is in the book of Eddie in the Cruisers.
What gets me with this one is the conversation about race and racism.
Some of the dialogue here is just... bad. There are scenes that feel so caricatured and cringe. Wendell's treatment in the present day scene was pitying at best and racist at worst. I can't tell if Kluge thinks it just to be expected for a Black man to turn to crime or if it's a comment on broken window laws and the socio-political climate of the 1980s. It's the same with the Lakehurst tapes. I can't tell if Eddie was genuine or setting himself in the role of the white savior.
Either way, I feel like these are not the questions Kluge wants his reader asking. It makes me wonder if this book had been written today, how would Wendell and Eddie's role differ?
It's an okay book. There are some scenes that are ridiculous and over the top - violence and sex alike experienced by Ridgeway are just... impossible, frankly. Dramatic and unprecedented in the context of the book, to the point where it felt like lazy writing. If you don't think about it too much, the book is interesting. If you take it at face value, there's some seriously concerning racist contend in the dialogue.
Generally? Just watch the movie. With that, you get the amazing soundtrack.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Cultural appropriation, Suicide, Murder, and Car accident
Moderate: Infidelity