Pat - I picked this because the movie is a piece of Americana and I had heard that the book was excellent. Almost always I read the book first then see the movie and am usually disappointed. A notable exception to this is Stephen King's novella The Body which became Stand By Me and is an outstanding adaptation. King wept when he saw the movie saying it was the best adaptation of his work. Anyway, I was wondering if Deliverance the book would be as good and whether or not seeing the movie first would interfere with my enjoyment. His descriptions of the river kept me on the edge of my seat despite knowing how it would end. The four men were me. I identified with their desire to experience nature and see the river before it was dammed. I'm now their age, probably older, and every time I go hunting for a couple of days I think some of the same thoughts that these guys expressed. The author really tapped into the suburban American male psyche. I was slightly distracted by how much I thought of the movie. For example, the famous banjo playing scene is nearly exactly how it was described in the book, and it was hard not to marvel at the filmmaking while reading. My only complaint was I thought the description of Ed's climbing the cliff went on too long. But other than that I thought it was great.
Leticia - Gave it a six because the author did a great job writing, but found the beginning painfully slow with how much time he spent getting us to the river. She thought Lewis was an egotistical ass and she wasn't invested in the characters. There was lots of build up to the 'event' and once it happened, the book took off. She found it full of poetic descriptions, and she could see Ed sweating and grabbing the rocks during his climbing the cliff. She found herself almost sick with suspense and it took her several days to recover after having read it. She'd give him it an 8 or 9 for the writing, but only a 5 for the story.
Sandy - Thought this was an old-school guy's kinda book. This somehow generated a rant from her about the latest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue with men lining up for the magazine that had three girls wearing dental floss on the front cover. I'm not sure what the point was...old-school guys like the swimsuit issue? I'll let you in on a secret: most guys like the swimsuit issue. Anyway, she liked the passage about the men at work who worked by sliding through their safe jobs, making no waves and grooving with comfort. There are many men like this at her work. She found Lewis to be arrogant, but charismatic. She thought there was a lot to the fact that Ed was unable to kill the deer, but was able to kill the man. It wasn't her kind of book, a recent mantra of hers, but she kept thinking about it.
Becky - Was reminded of Lord of Flies, what with people being taken out of civilization and then doing horrible things in order to survive. She too found it a 'Guy Book' along the same lines of On The Road. She had an easier time with the story after the event and liked the descriptions and writing, but found the cliff climbing and waiting in the tree too long. She wondered if they were right in not going to the police. And what, exactly, was the Deliverance from? Themselves? Their lives? The hillbillies? The river? It annoyed her that Ed was so insistent on where Drew's body would be found. She thought this made his story less believable. She didn't enjoy reading it, but thought it was well-written and would recommend it.
Carolyn - Has never seen the movie and doesn't like suspenseful things. She had heard that something bad was going to happen to them on the river, but thought that Lewis, being the crazy bunker-living survivalist that he was, would be the one to snap. She thought they all followed him due to peer pressure, and also partly because they were stuck in a rut, but in this case the rut was preferable to the alternative. Canoeing down an unknown river? Couldn't understand this. She was reminded of Defending Jacob when they debated whether or not to tell the police. She thought he did a great job describing the sights and sounds of the river. She wondered what led to the 'event'. Was it just random? Spur of the moment? Where did it come from? She too thought Ed protested too much about where to find Drew's body. She saw Ed as someone who started the novel not seeing himself as all that capable, but came out more capable after the experience. On a side note, Carolyn took notes on this book! Something she hasn't done recently.
K'Lynn - Has also never seen the movie, but has attended lots of bluegrass festivals and observed people wince whenever Dueling Banjos is played. When she heard it was from Deliverance she assumed it was a horror flick and was intrigued when she found out it wasn't. K'Lynn had a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that four professional guys who know nothing about this particular river would actually get into a pair of canoes and attempt to float it. She thought (and I think I got this right) that guys (professional ones?) were smarter than this. (I'm guessing you had no brothers, K'Lynn.) This prompted Miles to add that men have been encouraging each other to do stupid stuff since the beginning of time, and he found the group stupidity familiar and plausible. The Hillbillies...who were they? Where did they come from? Why were they there? Were they connected to the people at the gas station? We never know. Did the survivors do the right thing by not telling the police? She's not sure. She also thought the cliff-climb was painfully long, as well as waiting in the tree. The writing was good, but she's not sure of the story and gave guys more credit.
Miles - Saw the movie about 25 years ago and was glad this was picked. He gave it high marks for originality. Miles saw the four characters as the parts that make up a typical male: macho, provider, artistic, and coward. He found the plot completely plausible noting there is a fine line between recklessness and stupidity. Miles likes stories where average people are put into unique, exacerbated situations and have to do extraordinary things to survive. So this had that going for it. Like Sandy, he saw the contrast between Ed being unable to kill the deer, but was able to kill a man a key point of the plot. The writing painted great scenic pictures and it surprised him how much he enjoyed reading it given that he already knew the story.
The next book is The World's Strongest Librarian
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