James DickeyRecensioni

Inte alls som jag förväntade mig. All action avspelas på 4-5 sidor. Sedan handlar det mest om huvudpersonernas interna kamp och inställning till livet. Inte alls dåligt, men lite oväntat. Filmen måste jag nu se om.½

I was a reader of Dickey's poetry long before I read this novel. It seems to me that he took his beautiful art to an even higher level with this novel. It's a masterpiece.

Imagine, if you can, you're an American air force tail-gunner flying over enemy territory, Japan during WWII. Your plane is hit, on fire, and spirals toward the earth. All your crew-mates are dead. If not for the parachute you religiously taped to the bulkhead, you'd soon be a goner, too. Instead, you make it safely back to earth, where men belong anyway. What would you do now?
James Dickey gives us an account of one possibility through one of his strangest, and best creations, Muldrow, a man raised in the Alaskan wilderness of the 1920s and 30s, and appropriately named after an Alaskan glacier.
Early on in his predicament of being totally on his own in the land of the enemy, Muldrow makes his plan to head North. If he can make it to the White sea, to the beloved snow and ice of his childhood, he knows he can survive and feel the comfort and freedom of home again.
The story of his trek is one of dreams, camouflage, and savagery. For some, this tale may become a bit too gruesome to take. There were scenes I wouldn't want to revisit. But, if you have the stomach for it, Dickey's prose is as razor sharp as the bread knife Muldrow carries.

"'It's a bread knife,' I told him. 'The only difference is that I brought the point on down and fine. The edge is good, too. Kitchen steel is good steel. As good as you can get.'
'Look,' I said, bending the knife almost double. The light from the roof bulb curved, wires and all, into the light of the blade. 'That means it won't break off. It's not like one of these stiff issue blades, like a bayonet or a commando knife, that ain't got any give to it. This one will bend, it'll go around.'
'Go around what?'
'Go around anything, say, like a rib. It'll go around and come back. It'll straighten out on the other side and keep on going.'"

This passage leaves a little to the imagination, but the description of its actual use is not for the faint of heart. Ghastly is the word I'd use.
If you're a fan of [b:Deliverance|592657|Deliverance|James Dickey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1624579180l/592657._SY75_.jpg|1257919], you'll probably get along fine with this book, though it is not nearly as tight and well written.
Dickey repeats himself often, and becomes long-winded, particularly when Mulder describes animals, birds, and landscapes. About three-quarters into the book, he says,
"I was discouraged, I don't mind telling you. If the other island (his destination) didn't show pretty soon, I would be too weak and played out to get to it."
That's the way I felt about half-way through. Come on, James, get me there already, I'm dragging here.
Dickey revisits themes he explored so beautifully in his poetry, especially the connection between men and animals, and the relationship of hunter and prey.
I go back to my question, "What would you do in this situation?"
I have ideas about what I MIGHT do, but I tend to believe there's no way for any of us to know unless we were there. I'm fairly certain though, that we'd all surprise ourselves of what we may have to become in order to survive.

I was introduced to Dickey when I was a 20 year old college student. Although he was difficult for me then, I have never forgotten my first reading of "The Heaven of Animals". It just blew me away, like how Emily Dickinson said how you know it's poetry when it blows off the top of your head. I've read all of his work now, including the novels, and must say he was one of our greatest American writers.
Just now I picked up this book and read "The Sprinter at Forty".

"And between the dark houses where men,/Grown suddenly light with amazement,/Cry out for their youth among nightmares/Of debt, and turn to their women./Like a choir, something rises about me..."

I understood the poem when I was in my 20s, but now in my 50s, I FEEL it within all of me.

It is rather late, and I should be asleep, but I think I'll read some more of this wonderful book to enhance my dreams.

I found this one not long after [b:Self-Interviews|963847|Self-Interviews|James Dickey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347545907l/963847._SY75_.jpg|948748]. I didn't love this one as I did Interviews, but still found it an excellent read for someone interested in writing and poetry. I was probably around 22 when I read this. It will be interesting to see what I think about it as I reread it 35 years later.

I picked up this book while perusing the stacks at the University of Virginia bookstore when I was a student back in 1986. I was acquainted with Dickey's work from my 1st year American Lit course, but his writing didn't do much for me. But, still, I was interested in poets and what made them tick, their writing process, etc., so I read a couple of pages of this book and immediately bought it, went home and devoured it. I've since read parts of it many times, and always find something deeper to ponder. I also found more appreciation for Dickey's brand of poetry. This little book has everything for anyone who is interested in writing, or any other art.

"...in our technology-dominated world the value of literature is getting harder and harder to maintain, but it must be maintained if we're going to have any humanity left at all." p.51
This was written over 50 years ago. Look at where technology is today. Holy smokes! Fortunately, we haven't done too bad holding on to the arts. It's a battle. Keep fighting.

2023 - ‘70’s Immersion Reading Challenge

Deliverance by James Dickey (1970; 1994 ed.) 278 pages.

SETTING: The Cahulawassee River in Northern Georgia.

I really enjoyed this story. It was suspenseful and a bit of a psychological thriller…in the book, but not so much in the movie. Ed, the most level headed of the four friends (played by Jon Voight in the movie), is narrating the story, and you find yourself inside his head a lot. There was just so much to the story than the movie could ever portray. And God forbid you ever find yourself in a life and death situation with Bobby, the most pathetic excuse of a man and friend there ever was, according to the book. I disliked him about as much as his “friends” did. But then, later in the story, I felt sorry for him for what he had to go through with the hill people. Talk about the ultimate humiliation for any man. Read the book first!

The Cahulawassee River is about to be dammed up and turned into a lake. Four friends decide they want to run the rapids in canoes before it’s forever changed. But, it’s up in Georgia’s hill country with hill people. You know what that means!

Their little weekend adventure turns into a nightmare when the four men are separated and two of them are approached on the bank of the river by two filthy, toothless men from these hills, then starts the struggle for survival to just get through the river and come out at the other end alive.

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

Deliverance (1972), starring Burt Reynolds as Lewis, the know-it-all survivalist; Jon Voight, as Ed, the most level headed friend and narrator in the book; Ned Beatty, as Bobby, the most pathetic excuse of a man and friend there ever was…according to the book; and Ronny Cox, as Drew, the guitar playing friend killed on the river.

Although the movie followed along the lines of the book, the characters stupid “fake” accents really threw the movie off. I felt it just didn’t build the characters properly as in the book.

Hell of a good book.

Another classic novel I didn't quite get. One thing happens after another, and I don't know what the characters are up to.

First edition as new

First edition very fine

Just finished this book last night. Not sure yet what I think about it--sometimes it's really good, other times it's just odd. Will have to ponder and write about it over the next few days.

“I was standing in the most absolute aloneness that I had ever been given.”
― James Dickey, Deliverance

A magnificent novel of slowly deepening dread and horror. I have seen the movie and both the book and the movie are equally good. Never will I forget this story. Even now, I reread the book and when I see the film on television I have to watch it. I loved the book and whenever I reread it always feels fresh and like it is the first time ever that I am reading it.

And Deliverance, the movie, is just as great. I can hear the music from it going through my mind as I write this.) More to follow after another reread.

Will Patton is quite simply the GOAT of audiobook narrators. I could listen to him reading the phone book. However, here he is reading one of the fifty best American novels. Dickey's book is hypnotic, prophetic, biblical, fantastical yet realistic.

I finally read this book many years after seeing the film and of course the book was much better. The man v. man struggle that was so important to the atmosphere of the movie is not as obvious in the book. The main character, Ed, made many references to nature; its power, mystery and danger to human beings. There was a scene that was reminiscent of Algernon Blackwood's The Willows. Many times I wondered why these men who are so ignorant of the natural world were so eager to risk their lives in it.

As the tale unfolds nature becomes more neutral, and the true danger of living among human kind is explored.

A totally rivetting drama of man vs nature & man told with scintillating detail and a poetic sensibility. The inner journey was as interesting and made for a more sophisticated tale.

Read this book in one sitting. Pure poetry.

The story of a river trip with 4 guys that goes horribly wrong. That when the river is dammed up the secrets will be buried forever.

Conditioned by the celluloid, I was actually lukewarm with stretches of the novel.

A middle aged man who takes no chances at life finds himself forced into playing the greatest chances at life between life and death. Whether it is fighting off the rapids, defending himself from hillbilly hunters, or lying to law men about the crimes committed on their trek down the river.

I’m at odds with this book in that it never really captured me as I found all the characters on the borderline of boring. Bobby and Drew were almost the same character to me and Lewis was the pinnacle of a hyper masculine trope but with a touch of humanity splashed into him (I liked him). I don’t think any of the themes were interesting enough and the writing was very simple and clean but at times boring in terms of action. I can’t say what I liked the most but I think I enjoyed when Ed killed The hillbilly on the cliff.

I don’t find myself ever wanting to read this book again and I’m only giving it 2 1/2 stars is because of the writing and scenic descriptions.½

Belle écriture très machiste (est-ce un compliment ?). Finalement, le film de Boorman était plutôt fidèle au livre - ce qui est rare au demeurant. Pourvu qu'on n'ai pas un de ces jours un Délivrance II, le retour, pourquoi pas à l'occasion de la vidange du barrage pour révision centennale... quelle horreur !

This is our American Robinson Crusoe, a successor to Walden, Moby-Dick, and "Big Two-Hearted River," and a novel with the most original voice since True Grit. Every page has at least one satisfying or arresting turn-of-phrase. It’s thrilling, disturbing, provoking, beautiful, suspenseful—everything a novel should be. I can’t do it justice, nor can I remember a time in recent memory when I was so awestruck by a novelist's performance. This one will stay with me for a long time.

I saw parts of this movie many years ago, and I found it troublesome. I believe, now, that I didn't even see the movie in its entirety....

Upon listening to Burt Reynolds' memoir ("But Enough About Me"), I decided I'd like to watch it again sometime... before that, I decided to read the book. (Reynolds said he had read it before being asked to play Lewis--I thought that was interesting, and I realized the actual story must be pretty good.)
I'm so glad I picked this book up! I really enjoyed the writing itself, and as is typical for me, I was able to read the difficult scenes much more easily than I'm able to watch them. This story is beautifully written--many of the things Dickey's character, Ed, says or thinks are things I could easily see myself saying or thinking. I especially appreciated that the story came from his point of view, rather than Lewis', who I'd initially believed to be the protagonist of the story. In reality, it's Ed's story, and that makes it so much better! I was really able to identify with Ed and his struggles, his fears, and his successes!

A masterpiece of lyrical, intense writing. When I think of the old writing admonition "make haste, slowly," I think of this book, because the plot is riveting and tense and yet it all unfurls with a measured deliberation, with great care in the writing that transforms it from a potboiler to something far more beautiful. There are so many arresting sentences here. I've cracked the book at random to highlight just a couple (and I don't think they'll spoil anything since they're devoid of context):

"I knew it was not a game, and yet, whenever I could, I glanced at the corpse to see if it would come out of the phony trance it was in, and stand up and shake hands all around, someone new we'd met in the woods, who could give us some idea where we were. But the head kept dropping back, and we kept having to keep it up, clear of the weeds and briars, so that we could go wherever we were going with it."

A great read! I've done a fair bit of climbing and a few white water canoe trips and clearly the writer has too. The poetic way he writes about them gets deep into you and is very enjoyable to read, if you like that kind of thing.
Actually I tend to avoid books with lots of 'action' as I prefer not to be gripped in that way by a book; prefer something a bit slower paced. But this was very well written, and the action picked up and slowed down enough times to not suck me along too quickly and to allow me to savour the prose.

Unusually, this is one case where the film stayed very faithful to the book, including much of the script, and I really don't think it matters which order you consume them in. Having said that, it took me a while to get the images of the film characters (Burt Reynolds et al.) out of my head and some of the descriptions didn't entirely match the actors used in the film. Not too much of a distraction though.

Watching the film last year left me with a lot to ponder, so I wanted to read the book to get a bit more of the author's thoughts and intentions on the things I was left pondering. The book is written from the point of view of Ed Gentry and you get great insight into his mind, but unfortunately I didn't get any more insight into the questions that I was left with. In fact, the questions didn't even arise for me with the book. I think they arose more readily with the film because you have the visual images of the hillbillies so perhaps you see them more as real people with real lives (?) and also because the doubt around the identity of the guy shot by Ed was only touched on briefly in the book and not pondered on. This was the same in the film, but I guess it left me with a lasting impression of the tension and their facial expressions / body language showing the doubt. In the book I wasn't left with any doubt about his identity.
It would be really interesting to know your thoughts on this point, if you've seen the film. Essentially my residual questions after the film were of an ethical socio-cultural / xenophobia nature. I thought it was very telling that it seemed to be totally OK to take a hillbilly's life even though he could have been completely innocent father, son, brother. All the way through the Hillbillies were presented as worthless half-people (although it is probably worth noting this was characteristic of the era), and almost all the talk of the area being dammed and flooded to create a reservoir was related to the shame about losing all the wilderness forest and the river, and not about the loss of homeland of the Hillbillies, until right near the end, where (at least in the book - can't remember about the film), they ask a kid what the guys in the background are doing and he says they are moving graves of their dead so they don't end up under the lake, which took Ed by surprise. Again, this is not ruminated about.
I'm left really unsure whether the depth I saw was intended to be there or not. Perhaps it was just 'meant' to be a thriller about how our basic survival instincts play out even when we've lost our 'nature' through civilization.