No. 36 - First Blood

by David Morrell

Started: July 28
Finished: July 31

Notes: I'm note finished with my last book yet, but I ran across this one in the library today and had to snag it up because I've been meaning to read it for at least 25 years. Yes, this is the novel the First Blood moving starring Sylvester Stallone is based upon, and upon which the John Rambo character is based. The novel is supposed to be quite different, especially the ending, from the movie. I've already read the first 30 pages, and so far it's quite interesting. The contrast, physically and mentally, between Rambo and the sheriff is much more engauging than that in the movie. In the film, the sheriff is sort of portrayed as this small-town, hick sheriff who is just an asshole, and maybe not real bright. So far, in the book the sheriff is portrayed as a Korean War veteran who is likable in his own way but has very different values, and a background, than Rambo. Should be interesting.

Mini review: Actually, a pretty darn good book. In some ways better than the movie, but in other ways not so much. But it's difficult to compare the book to the movie in this case. The plot and characters are technically the same, but the characterizations is quite different. Rambo is a more complex but less sympathetic character than he is in the movie; the sheriff, however, is also more complex but a much more sympathetic character. Definitely glad I read this one. And a word of warning to flagwavers who want to read the original Rambo novel: John Rambo is not nearly as nice a guy in this book as he was in the original movie. If you think Rambo was a badass in the movie, you haven't seen anything.