Hester's Reviews > Deliverance

The 1970s must have been a time when America was filled with enthusiasm for long boring descriptions of nature, anal rape by hillbillies, thinly veiled homoerotcisim, and of course Burt Reynolds. These are the only reasons I can think of as to why Deliverance was such a big deal.

The story starts off with Ed Gentry gushing about his friend Lewis and what an athletic man's man Lewis is. In other words, someone's got a big old crush on his BFF. Ed just lives for any scraps of approval that Lewis throws his way, so much so he agrees to take a white water canoeing trip with him in the really backwards/redneck parts of Georgia before the state builds a dam or something like that. Ed doesn't really want to go, but he wants Lewis to think he's cool and adventurous and he wants to spend as much time with him as possible so he agrees. For some reason two other men agree to go, both are useless, but hey, every story needs its own Star Trek red shirts.

First the reader must suffer through a long boring car ride with Lewis telling Ed how the hill folk are good honest and gentle people, much like Tolkien's Hobbits or some garbage like that. Lewis loves 'em, Ed is ascared of them and their backward ways. After getting to wherever they end up the men interact with the inbred hillbillies and find some to move theirs cars to another place. At this point Ed throws out a very useless thought, he wonders how things would have turned out if only they shook hands with these men. Why think this? Did I miss something? Were the mechanics the attackers?

Boring canoe ride, boring night in tents, more boring canoeing then we get to the run in with the two hillbillies who change their lives forever. Drop your drawers lean over that log, sexual assault and screaming, drop to your knees boy then an arrow flies out of nowhere killing the one that was going to make Ed perform the delicate act of fellatio on him. The other one runs away. Back to more boring canoeing then wham one of the red shirts dies, Lewis breaks a leg and now Ed has to climb a cliff half the night so he can climb a tree to kill the one that got away with his bow and arrow.

Through every step of their plan Ed turns to Lewis for praise and reassurance even though Lewis has a broken leg and is passed out, he can't stop bitching about the rape victim being worthless. Hey asshole, the guy was just anal raped by some gross mountain man and without lube, give him some slack. Ed finally passes the test that enters him into real manhood, he kills a guy and grievously injures himself. He's bleeding like a stuck pig but yet he doesn't die, it doesn't matter how much he bleeds and moves around, he just doesn't die, but I'm sure in real life he would've, he's so manly there's no need for him to get blood at the hospital. In the end, Ed gets what he's wanted all long, Lewis' unconditional approval and life long friendship and maybe a little bit more (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

In other words, what a horrible book about horrible people.