The novel which helped invent the summer block buster movie release and made it absolutely impossible for normal people to enjoy a quiet dip in the ocean is a book that millions of people know about but very few people I know have actually read. The incredible story of Chief Brody, Matt Hooper and Quint is a totally different experience when you read it rather than watch the Spielberg masterpiece especially the shocking conclusion. Benchley's classic novel reads like an eerie poem which gets deeper and deeper under the readers skin like nothing else I've read and is one of the few books which gets better and better every time you read it.

Cards on the table. I love the movie jaws. I dread to think how many times I've seen it. But the book? I first read it over 35 years ago and really wasn't keen. But the love of the movie kept the book in mind. So much so that I finally decided to read it again 35 odd years after the first read. The biggest problem is that it's impossible to read without the movie playing in your head. So many changes were made in the movie for the better it has to be said. So what is the book like? Well it's actually well written, the writing is good but elements of the storyline that were cut for the movie let the book down a little. After the initial shark attack the shark disappears for huge sections replaced by town council corruption and an affair between two characters. I'm not going to give to much away as I think people should use this review as guide. I'm a firm believer in people making up their own minds. The lack of the shark is offset by the fact that benchley writes the shark very well when it does appear. This is not always the case in the many 'shark as protagonist' books that have followed since jaws came out. For me the biggest disappointment is the ending (which I won't give away) it's just a bit of a damp squib compared to the movie. Now jaws isn't the only benchley book to suffer from an underwhelming ending. His novel 'the beast' springs immediately to mind, a great book sadly out of print now, better than jaws for me but again a poor ending. Despite the problems with the novel, most of which are created by having a blockbusting movie around for nearly 45 years of the books shelf life, the book itself is still readable. Once you can dismiss the movie and concentrate on the prose the book is good, not great, but good. It's well written, with good characters. I have to say I enjoyed it more now that I'm older. I still prefer the movie but the novel itself is worthy of attention. Right, where's that DVD... dum dum...dum dum... dum dum dum dum doodle-ooo...

Very different to the film but worth the read if you're a Jaws fan.

Jaws is an entertaining classic that sets off with an exciting beginning! I didnt expect the book to be so tied into romance and the drama of Amity's economical state. These subplots were mysterious but I thought they go totally unanswered or simply add implications. On the contrary, Jaws has its moments of sudden thrills and actions. The addition of bonus material is a nice feature too.

I read Jaws some years ago before seeing the film and have recently re-read it, as a pre-cursor to seeing the Spielberg re-issue. Firstly, the book is very different to the film. Brody's wife, Ellen, is the main shift in focus between film and book and in some respects it is effective ; Benchley's book spends quite a bit of time with Ellen and this gives the novel slightly more edge, making it reminiscent of something Ira Levin (Stepford Wives) may have written, or a rather less literate J.G Ballard - the bored housewife, ageing, having affairs, feeling unloved etc. This aside, however, Jaws is a rather poorly executed novel that plays to the obvious and compares extremely poorly with the film. The idea is great but Benchley's execution is rather hackened.