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Stacey's Reviews > Deliverance
Deliverance
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Stacey's review
bookshelves: borrowed-from-library, all-time-favorites, my-review-or-notes
Apr 10, 2011
bookshelves: borrowed-from-library, all-time-favorites, my-review-or-notes
Wow. I've been talking about Deliverance to all my friends, who all roll their eyes at me, because I haven't seen the movie.
This was one of the best books I've read this year. The writing is documentary style, but surprisingly lyrical. It's told from a single point of view, and works so well for description, mood, suspense, I absolutely loved it.
Am I the only person in the world who hasn't seen the movie? I'm familiar with the two most talked-about scenes. The banjo scene was beautifully written, and the rape is brutal in its simplicity.
I think that was the best quality of Deliverance - the simplicity. Everything except the country is told in a stripped down, journalistic style, but the river country they travel through, is a fully-realized character on its own. The narrator rambles. He tells what they did in little bits. But he describes what he sees in long panoramas, framed by his designer vision, like a layout for one of his magazine spreads.
I was prepared to be disappointed, having read several books lately that seemed as though they had been written just to be an easy screenplay. This novel demands to be filmed, and you just hope that it gets done by somebody who can do it justice. I suppose I'll have to watch it, just to see if it happened. Wikipedia tells me: "In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'" One can hope that means they succeeded.
This was one of the best books I've read this year. The writing is documentary style, but surprisingly lyrical. It's told from a single point of view, and works so well for description, mood, suspense, I absolutely loved it.
Am I the only person in the world who hasn't seen the movie? I'm familiar with the two most talked-about scenes. The banjo scene was beautifully written, and the rape is brutal in its simplicity.
I think that was the best quality of Deliverance - the simplicity. Everything except the country is told in a stripped down, journalistic style, but the river country they travel through, is a fully-realized character on its own. The narrator rambles. He tells what they did in little bits. But he describes what he sees in long panoramas, framed by his designer vision, like a layout for one of his magazine spreads.
I was prepared to be disappointed, having read several books lately that seemed as though they had been written just to be an easy screenplay. This novel demands to be filmed, and you just hope that it gets done by somebody who can do it justice. I suppose I'll have to watch it, just to see if it happened. Wikipedia tells me: "In 2008, Deliverance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.'" One can hope that means they succeeded.
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Reading Progress
April 10, 2011
– Shelved
July 7, 2011
–
Started Reading
July 9, 2011
–
Finished Reading
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by
Shannon
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rated it 4 stars
Sep 01, 2011 04:41AM
i haven't either and am reading the book now, I'm a short ways in but am liking it so far.
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I read it as part of a 21st Century Lit class in college and still have not seen the movie, but have floated down the river where the movie was filmed. My college professor didn't like the movie esp. the banjo music. I agree that it is a great book, and I'm slightly afraid that the movie will ruin the book if I watch it.
Just finished the book and loved it. Don't know if I want to see the movie. Adaptations are usually disappointing.
I watched the movie maybe a dozen times before finaly reading the book. I am a great lover of the story! The book was incredible, just as this great review suggests. The movie in my oppinion was just as good. They stayed very true to the book. The minor changes they did make, I think were for the bennifit of the movie. They cut out almost everything before the characters arrive in the Appalachian mountains, the banjo scenes song was changed (to a better song in my oppinion) and the rape scene was quite a bit more violent. The point im trying to make is, the movie is well worth the watch and it is a good adaptation. I hope this helps.
See the movie if you haven`t mate
I have heard much about the movie and almost everyone I knew saw it when it first came out. I finally read the book and will see the movie soon.
