The Lines Before the Score: A Reflection on "Jaws" the novel

Jaws (novel) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently picked up my copy of “Jaws” and I have to admit that the opening passage is very hard to beat. Consider these very famous lines: 

“The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail. The mouth was open just enough to permit a rush of water over the gills. There was little other motion: an occasional correction of the apparently aimless course by the slight raising or lowering of a pectoral fin -- as a bird changes direction by dipping one wing and lifting the other. The eyes were sightless in the black, and the other senses transmitted nothing extraordinary to the small, primitive brain. The fish might have been asleep, save for the movement dictated by countless millions of years of instinctive continuity: lacking the flotation bladder common to other fish and the fluttering flaps to push oxygen-bearing water through its gills, it survived only by moving.”

The Best Films Inspired by Jaws

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The film “Jaws” has gone down in celluloid history for many different reasons. It decisively put Steven Spielberg on the map as one of Hollywood’s master directors and it initiated the summer blockbuster. A great idea is bound to inspire imitators and “Jaws” has produced a massive legacy of films that transcend genres and continue to draw in audiences from lowbrow low budget eco-horror flicks to stylistic thrillers. It is perhaps worth noting that “Jaws” was also inspired in many ways by different classics. Based on Peter Benchley’s compelling thriller of the same name, “Jaws” is quite loyal to the novel, the ending being its most significant departure. Benchley’s own novel was inspired by true life incidents relating to shark attacks, the rogue shark theory and t