5 comments about Beast.

1. I was really disappointed with Benchley's writting in this book. It was just like reading Jaws all over again but not as good as that book. He had characters dying the exact same way they had in Jaws. I was hoping for a little more originality especially since he had done it before, and he had also borrowed these death scenes. From Moby Dick. He went with the same formula that made Jaws a hit, but I really wasn't looking to read the same story twice.



2. This is Peter Benchley's best book ever. An Architeuthis - a giant squid - creates horror and fear off the coast of Bermuda. Whip Darling and his friend Marcus Sharp figure out who responsible for this madness and must confront the huge beast, which knows no fear. Dark, scary, creepy with excellent writing, supern characters and incredibly tight action, this book delivers on all levels. I wish Benchley would write more such classics.



3. As a horror writer whoose work has been all over the internet I know horror! That squid will be in my nightmares. Its not just the most well reasearched novel I ever read, but the most articulate.
   My only regret is that the plot didn't flow as freely as the prose.
   The author could have cut the novel in half and still left an indelible mark on horror!



4. The beast, by peter benchley is an awesome book about whip Darling, a fisher from Bermuda, that goes after a sea monster with a scientist named DR. tally and MR.osborn. Tally wants to study it because he has dedicated his life to Architeuthis. Osborn wants to kill it for killing his kids. The sea monster is a squid that is 100 feet long and has razor sharp claws. It has killed many times. It kills for food and pleasure. Its only predators are the Sperm Wales. Whip darling has a wife and a kid. His fishing mate, mike, is a big guy that doesn't like to make desisions. Dr. tally has spent his life studying Architeuthis, the squid. When he found a article about a woman in Bermuda that saw a ship turn to splinters from a monster, no smoke or fire, it just blew up. He knew right away. He had to go to Bermuda, but didn't have the money, so he called apone a rich man named Osborn, a man that lost his kids at sea. HE is thirsty for revenge. Osborn and tally go to darling and he refuses, no mater how much money they pushed at him. Finally they get a way to get him to help them. They go after the squid and have the adventure of a lifetime. This is a great book for anyone that doesn't mind cousing and adventure.



5. There are several things that set this book apart from most monster books I've read: subtlety, realism, and environmentalism, to name a few. Even though there weren't pages and pages of carnage in this book, it was a compelling read and had very likeable characters with personalities.
   
   This is not only the story of a giant, man-eating squid who terrorizes Bermuda, it is also the story of Whip Darling, a proud yet impoverished man doing what he needs to get by, barely scraping up enough cash to pay the bills. Whip had been a fisherman, until Bermuda's waters were fished out, now not bearing enough fish for anyone to make a living. Whip uses his boat to make a buck any way he can: trapping deepwater oddities for an aquarium, tourist charters, salvage; whatever keeps the wolf from the door. Whip knows the waters of Bermuda like no one else, so when a giant squid starts eating people, Whip is given many offers to go after the beast, but he knows no amount of money is worth it if he's dead. Media magnate, Osborn Manning, whose children were devoured by the squid, has to pull out all the stops, but even he and his squid expert prove to be no match for the monster from the deep.
   
   The plot is nothing new to monster book lovers, but Benchley takes the time to craft some very likeable characters: Whip Darling, his first mate Mike, navy pilot Marcus Sharp, even the unlikeable characters are well-drawn, no matter how much or how little they appear. He falls short of making the giant squid outright evil, but this character, too, has a malevolent personality. His no-nonsense environmental message is not preachy, and all the more powerful for it, as it is woven through the action while the tension builds.
   
   If you're new to the monster book genre, or if you've simply tired of over-the-top technology and stunts, Benchley is your man. He's best known for "Jaws," but his other work is well worth reading, and refreshing, even decades after it was first published.

5 comments about Shark Trouble: True Stories About Sharks and the Sea by the author of Jaws.

1. this book is very good. it gives the reader an up close look at sharks. it is very interesting and warns us on the danger of swimming in the ocean. i have read this book twice and still find it a very good and easy read! if you loved jaws then you will love this book. great book with lots of facts.



2. Yes, I know, scare sells. But the title of this book may deter an ocean enthusiast from picking it up. The book IS largely about sharks - attacks, top terrors, how to avoid encounters, etc. - but there is also useful information about swimming safely in the sea, as well as fascinating accounts of other sea life, such as orcas and mantas, that the author has been, shall we say, intimate with.
   
   I read the book cover to cover and was most educated by and fascinated with the sections that did NOT deal with sharks. If you would like to be more informed about the real risks of sea life and swimming in the ocean, then this book is for you. You can even skip the shark stuff (so you won't get panicked) and learn practical skills for surviving rip currents, undertow, etc. I actually became less concerned about sharks after reading the book and more enlightened about the ocean in general.
   
   Thanks to Benchley's "Jaws" I have since childhood felt spooked about going in the ocean. This book makes some amends for the paranoia "Jaws" inspired by presenting a more balanced view. Well, hey, after all, "Jaws" was fiction and this book is not. Thankfully the ocean is not as terrifying after all. But it, like any wilderness, still deserves plenty of respect. And Benchley has plenty of first-hand experience and writing talent to instill that in a reader.



3. Peter Benchley apologizes for scaring everyone out of the water with "Jaws." This book, a collection of essays about sharks and shark attacks, allows Benchley to wax poetic about how endangered sharks are and how we as humans can protect ourselves from these creatures since we occasionally share the same ocean. Not a bad book (not nearly as bad as "Beast" or "White Shark") but not a great read, either.



4. Let me first say that I'm a huge fan of his other books. Shallow and ridiculous as they are, (save the wonderful Girl in the Sea of Cortez,) I always had fun with them. His writing was serviceable and the characters and plots interesting enough to follow along on fast paced stories. With Shark Trouble, although it does contain some riveting true life stories that are, in least in my opinion, better written then some of his fictional scenes, much of the book is repetitious warnings, simplified explanations and annoyingly obvious viewpoints that are presented as revelations.
   
   My advice would be to pick this book up at the library or on extreme clearance and then skip over the parts that start to get bogged down with Benchly's heavy handed prose. The stories about diving with sharks are great but all the warnings about the ocean go beyond annoying once you've heard the same paraphrased statement thrown out there for the tenth time, (and I'm not exaggerating.)
   
   Benchly apparently feels that his reader's don't possess enough memory to hold onto easy facts and then recall them one or two short chapters later. He describes what an apex predator is about five times in three chapters. Now isn't that a bit excessive?
   
   Right, so...for giant creature stories: Jaws, Beast, White Shark, and the softer Girl in the Sea of Cortez.
   And for modern day pirate/ diving stories: The Deep, Island
   Shark Trouble I'd save until the end, as it's somewhat autobiographical and you'll get more out of it if you've read a few of the novels listed above first, but then, as I said, skip to the good parts, there's just to much junk in between to waste your time with.



5. This book is fantastic, Mr Benchley cleared the shark as a terrible man eating machine, and instead showed us the magnificent creature that this fish really is.