Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Deliverance (1970)

James Dickey's first novel--he'd published several volumes of poetry--and it's rightfully famous, although probably more people see the film nowadays than read the book. They're both good, one of those rare occasions when a first-rate film is made from a first-rate book. I particularly loved the first section of this novel, when the four men plan their trip down the river over drinks at a bar. It's a scene that's not in the movie, and one that captures perfectly the American specimen of the weekend warrior. The book, as it goes on, gets a little too heady and metaphysical, especially the hunting scene along the cliff but it all comes back together in the final section. A haunting book.

2 comments:

  1. It's really true that both "Deliverance" the book and "Deliverance" the movie are excellent which is super rare. If you ever find yourself wanting for something to read there is a really good biography of James Dickey out there and also a book about Boorman making "Deliverance". I can't remember the titles or authors right now, so thats not really helpful.

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  2. Oh, it was Chris Dickey, James' son, who wrote a book called " Summer Of Deliverance."

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