Jaws by Peter Benchley

Jaws
by Peter Benchley
narrated by Erik Steele

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Published: 2013
Publisher: Ballantine Books (reprint)
Genre: Action, Horror, Mystery, Sharks
Paperback: 352
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail.

Here is Peter Benchley’s classic suspense novel of shark versus man, which was made into the blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie. The Jaws phenomenon changed popular culture and continues to inspire a growing interest in sharks and the oceans today.

When Peter Benchley wrote Jaws in the early 1970s, he meticulously researched all available data about shark behavior. Over the ensuing decades, Benchley was actively engaged with scientists and filmmakers on expeditions around the world as they expanded their knowledge of sharks. Also during this time, there was an unprecedented upswing in the number of sharks killed to make shark-fin soup, and Benchley worked with governments and nonprofits to sound the alarm for shark conservation. He encouraged each new generation of Jaws fans to enjoy his riveting tale and to channel their excitement into support and protection of these magnificent, prehistoric apex predators.

My two-bits:

Although this sea battle of man vs. shark did not come off so much as a horror story (like the movie version), it included summer time small town doings in regards to the locals, their relationships and politics.

~*~
* Listened to audiobook version.

* part of Sharks in August (here)

Sharks in August

The Meg (2018)
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Screenplay: Dean Georgaris, Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber
Based on book by: Steve Alten
Stars: Ruby Rose, Jason Statham, Rainn Wilson
Release date: August 10, 2018
-Action, Horror, SciFi, Shark | imdb | my rating: tba
WITH wanting to see this recent shark movie, I decided to throw in a couple more shark things to do this month.

WATCH:

The Shallows (2016)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Anthony Jaswinski
Stars: Blake Lively, Óscar Jaenada, Angelo Josue Lozano Corzo
-Drama, Horror, Thriller, Shark | imdb | my review | my rating: 5

LISTEN:

Jaws
by Peter Benchley
-Horror, Shark
Amazon | Goodreads | my review | my rating: 4
I saw this movie in the theatre when it first came out in the 70's. Now, I am getting around to the book it is based on.

READ:

Shark Drunk
by Morten A. Strøksnes
-Memoir, Science
Amazon | Goodreads
In the great depths surrounding the remote Lofoten islands in Norway lives the Greenland shark. Twenty-six feet in length and weighing more than a tonne, it can live for 200 years. Its fluorescent green, parasite-covered eyes are said to hypnotise its prey, and its meat is so riddled with poison that, when consumed, it sends people into a hallucinatory trance.

Armed with little more than their wits and a tiny rubber boat, Morten Strøksnes and his friend Hugo set out in pursuit of this enigmatic creature. Drawing on science, poetry, history, ecology and mythology, Shark Drunk is the story of their quixotic quest. Together, they tackle existential questions, experience the best and worst nature can throw at them, and explore the astonishing life teeming at the ocean’s depths.

Shark Drunk is, in part, the tale of two men in a very small boat on the trail of a very big fish. It is also a story of obsession, enchantment and adventure. Above all, it is a love song to the sea, in all its mystery, hardship, wonder and life-giving majesty.