Stephen King Fans discussion

Discuss Jaws here. Please mark all spoilers

The movie adaptation of Jaws was a great thing as far as blockbuster movies go, but if they ever do a remake, I hope they do it more faithful to the novel. For me, it was more disturbing by far.

I have liked hearing the backstory of the Brody's. I'm listening to it on Audible and am at the part where he is getting reamed by the Mayor - idiot. Thank goodness for karma.

Is the audio good?

I'm enjoying it. He does the accents well. My but I've enjoyed the expanded Mrs. Brody character, she's barely in the movie.

I don't know if I have ever actually watched the movie... I just know it because it's one of those cultural references that pops up everywhere. I've seen parts of it, but mainly only clips.

I should read this because I know little enough about the movie so that I won't be constantly comparing them. LOL

I'm on chapter 12 of 14 and I'm waiting for Hooper to get pissed enough a Brody to tell him he did his wife. There's plenty of interpersonal drama, the movie is all shark and scary!

It's been years since I read this, but I know I loved it. You get so much more from the book about the people. Duh! I actually like his writing style and have read all of his books. Even the novels that verge on a silly premise are well written in my opinion.

I think I'll start this Friday.

Good thriller. But the movie is better and more focused than the book in my opinion.

Anybody else think the shark sex scene was "wildly" appropriate. It fit Hooper so well. Her this sweet young Hamptons guy that dedicates his life to sharks, it doesn't seem to fit his character until you see him in bed.

Becky wrote: "I don't know if I have ever actually watched the movie... I just know it because it's one of those cultural references that pops up everywhere. I've seen parts of it, but mainly only clips.

I sho..."

Uh, spoiler???

Chris wrote: "Becky wrote: "I don't know if I have ever actually watched the movie... I just know it because it's one of those cultural references that pops up everywhere. I've seen parts of it, but mainly only clips.

I sho..."

Uh, spoiler??? "

What did I post that is a spoiler? I didn't say anything about the book, and CAN'T actually spoil it because I, 1) haven't read it, and 2) haven't even seen the movie.

I thought it was sarcasm. Maybe he forgot the lol.

Well, it made me laugh. :}

Sorry. I meant to reply to the person who mentioned details about Hooper and Brody's relationship that were definitely not included in the movie.

I thought maybe he was saying it was a spoiler to mention that there had been a movie filmed of this book. Heh...

Oh, on the audio, I have do ask. Do they play the Jaws theme during dramatic moments?

No. That would have been cool.

Funny how that theme has just become a part of our lives. Even young children know that theme.

That's what I meant about it being a cultural reference point. It's just part of our cultural knowledge now, and it gets shared down the line as a suspenseful theme even when people don't know where it came from.

It's the same as with Hitchcock's theme from the shower scene in Psycho - people know the sound, and even the stabbing motion, even if they have never seen, or heard of, the movie.

True that!

Becky wrote: "I don't know if I have ever actually watched the movie... I just know it because it's one of those cultural references that pops up everywhere. I've seen parts of it, but mainly only clips.

I sho..."

The characters of the movie are the same, and there is a shark, but that is pretty much it for what the two have in common. You could read the book, then watch the movie and there won't be many things in common at all. That's not to say the movie was bad. It was actually very well done. It's maybe the only film adaptation that I wouldn't ever complain about not being like the book. Side note: Peter Benchly makes a cameo in the movie as the reporter on the beach.

The movie is one of my top ten favorite movies. I get made fun of this all the time. I just picked up the book at the used book store for $1. Sooo I like it already.

Good, would love to hear your thoughts on the book!

Jaws is one of my favorites too. No matter what point the film is, if I run across it flipping channels I get sucked in and usually watch the rest.

I just finished this and will wait until more peeps finish it before going into more specifics. But, I will say that I really enjoyed it, and while the novel and movie deal with the same characters, the novel adds much more of a backstory to the characters as they are more fleshed out.

I am to chapter four, page 50 of the book so far. As I said previously, the movie is one of my top ten all time favorites. It's a case of the book and movie are the same story, but they are a different story. The characters have the same name, but different background stories. I get that they have to change the movie for thrill factor, because sometimes things that you read in a book that are interesting can be dull as H&*% in a movie. But away from movie/book comparison, I am enjoying the book and the way it is written. I liked the first chapter when the shark is referred to as a fish. I'm guessing the author did this for suspense factor, to make the reader say "Oh, my what could it be". Unfortunately in this day and age, thanks to the movie everyone knows!! Usually I can tell if a book is going to be good by this point. So far I am not disappointed with the story.

Janith wrote: "Good thriller. But the movie is better and more focused than the book in my opinion."

I agree with you totally. I think the book is pretty sleazy. The film-makers cut out a lot of unnecessary sleaze and made a genuinely scary, classic film. If they followed the novel too closely, it wouldn't be much better than one of those shark movies on the Syfy channel.

I enjoyed Jaws, then read The Island. I thought it was much better and more creepy. It's about a journalist and his son. He takes his son out on a boating trip to make up for being a dead beat dad. And instead of having a great father son bonding trip they end up stranded on an island. It really gets interesting when they meet the inhabitants of the island.

The movie is out there too with Michael Cane but it's kind of a dissapointment after reading the book.

Peter Benchley

I used to own this book. I bought it in middle school before the movie came out (because a movie was coming out, LOL). I liked the book when I read it.

To me Jaws is one of the best movies of all time - they did everything right.

The book was pretty good, although it doesn't touch the movie. I could have done without the subplots but they didn't ruin it for me. Just found the movie had more heart.