Jaws

Jaws has been one of my long time favorite films, so when I saw the book on a shelf at the library, I had to pick it up.

The book lived up to expectations! The writing style was wonderful and all of the characters felt like people on the page with their thoughts, fears, and feelings.

Though there were times where I was like "I see why they didn't include any of this in the movie." Specifically the very long subplot involving Ellen cheating on Brody with Hooper during an insecure time in her life. It wasn't a bad subplot, but it did take me out of the story. The relationship drama felt unrelated to the hunt for the shark and slowed down the story, but it wasn't bad and it was nice to get to know Ellen more as a character.

It might have been better if it'd been weaved in more naturally, like the subplot concerning why Vaughan was so against closing the beach, which was built over over the narrative with his increasing desperation to convince Brody not to scare away the tourists until the reveal. It was a great addition to the main plot and gave more depth to Vaughan's character. It made me feel for him more than the film did.

Overall it was a great read and reminded me how much I missed reading an omnipresent narrator. I'm really glad I got a chance to read it.

(Though I never did get used to them all referring to the shark as a "fish.")