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Sasha's Reviews > Deliverance
Deliverance
by
by
"You didn't know what you uz agettin' into, did you?"
A bunch of suburban men try to suck the marrow out of life in 1970's Deliverance, and find instead that life sucks the marrow out of them. Poet Laureate James Dickey is interested in getting back to the basics, escaping from the plastic-wrapped safety of suburbia: his characters find that they are in no way equipped to handle it.
I know Deliverance from the movie, and specifically from the only scene anyone remembers from the movie, which involves squealing like a pig. (That line isn't in the book, although the scene is.) I didn't even realize it was based on a book until recently. But here it is, and it shows up on Top 100 lists by Time and Modern Library, and it's a great book.
Books With Movie Adaptations That Are Just as Good
Deliverance
Clockwork Orange
Fight Club
Princess Bride
Romeo + Juliet
What I like most about Deliverance is its ambiguity. There are two possible storylines here. In the first, men get in touch with reality and find that they have it in them to survive when they're tested. In the second interpretation, men get in touch with reality and immediately cock it entirely up; their fear and incompetence lead them into the worst possible decisions at every turn, and they emerge criminals.
Both are to some extent true. It's certainly true that their entire expedition, canoeing down a river they know nothing about into whitewater they're totally unprepared to handle, is a world-class stupid idea. It's also true that some of them show courage and determination in great danger. The tipping point comes down to Ed's big moment with a bow and arrow. (view spoiler) I love ambiguous books and I love how Dickey handles this complicated situation.
It's also just a total page turner, one of those rare books that's both great entertainment and great literature. Sure, Dickey - primarily a poet - gets a little fancy with his language, especially toward the end. But it's fine, he's earned it. This is one of the best books I've read this year.
A bunch of suburban men try to suck the marrow out of life in 1970's Deliverance, and find instead that life sucks the marrow out of them. Poet Laureate James Dickey is interested in getting back to the basics, escaping from the plastic-wrapped safety of suburbia: his characters find that they are in no way equipped to handle it.
I know Deliverance from the movie, and specifically from the only scene anyone remembers from the movie, which involves squealing like a pig. (That line isn't in the book, although the scene is.) I didn't even realize it was based on a book until recently. But here it is, and it shows up on Top 100 lists by Time and Modern Library, and it's a great book.
Books With Movie Adaptations That Are Just as Good
Deliverance
Clockwork Orange
Fight Club
Princess Bride
Romeo + Juliet
What I like most about Deliverance is its ambiguity. There are two possible storylines here. In the first, men get in touch with reality and find that they have it in them to survive when they're tested. In the second interpretation, men get in touch with reality and immediately cock it entirely up; their fear and incompetence lead them into the worst possible decisions at every turn, and they emerge criminals.
Both are to some extent true. It's certainly true that their entire expedition, canoeing down a river they know nothing about into whitewater they're totally unprepared to handle, is a world-class stupid idea. It's also true that some of them show courage and determination in great danger. The tipping point comes down to Ed's big moment with a bow and arrow. (view spoiler) I love ambiguous books and I love how Dickey handles this complicated situation.
It's also just a total page turner, one of those rare books that's both great entertainment and great literature. Sure, Dickey - primarily a poet - gets a little fancy with his language, especially toward the end. But it's fine, he's earned it. This is one of the best books I've read this year.
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