| Genre: Thriller (?) Main characters: John Rambo, Wilfred Teasle Summary: John Rambo is a former Green Beret, recently discharged from the war. He has post-war trauma so he like to spend his time with no people around, sleeping in the woods and walking from town to town. Because of that he’s not looking his best so every sheriff in every place he goes considers him suspicious and wants him out of his town as soon as possible. At first Rambo ignores this kind of behavior but once he gets into Wilfred Teasle’s town he decides he can take no more and turns into the killing machine he used to be while in the war. |
I started reading this book rooting for Rambo — having seen the movie and knowing him to be the unjustly treated one. The book made me see everything in a different light though: war trauma or not, Rambo kills an awful lot of completed innocent people in order to satisfy his thirst for revenge, so my favorite character became Teasle in almost no time. While definitely not perfect the latter does at least value human lives a lot more (the fact that he personally knew almost all the people involved also helped, I know,but still). Teasle is also a war veteran, having fought one of the more important battles in Korea, but all his instincts are now rusty, and I liked the fact that the author kept him so (instead of, for example, making him turn into a killing machine too), as the story was far more believable that way. I have also liked Sam Trautman, I found him quite believable too, the way he is both proud for Rambo’s “achievements” as a proof he’s been taught how to kill and taught well, but also sorry that a product of his school has turned out to do all that damage.
I have to say I found all initial motivations (the intrigue of the book) a bit weak: Rambo reacts the way he does just because he felt like it, he felt like teaching this very sheriff a lesson, despite ignoring all the previous ones. Teasle felt like messing with this very man (or kid, as he calls him) because he was trying not to think about his wife that has recently left him. Both too unworthy motivations to justify such a bloodshed as will follow. And yet the story manages to unravel in a believable way.
As a bit of trivia, Rambo’s name is inspired both by the French author Rimbaud’s name and by a type of apples named Rambo. I must say that while I have often heard both about Rambo and Rimbaud, I have never thought about there being a connection between the two :)
What I liked most: The way the book is structured — here’s what the author had to say about it:
“I structured the novel so that a scene from Rambo’s perspective would be followed by one from Teasle’s, the subsequent scene from Rambo’s, the next scene again from Teasle’s. That tactic, I hoped, would make the reader identify with each character and at the same time feel ambivalent about them. Who was the hero, who the villain, or were both men heroes, both men villains?”
There is also another thing I had a lot of fun with:
*********************SPOILER*********************************
As we all know by now there are four Rambo movies, with a fifth being thought of as we speak. There are also three books, this one and two sequels (both novelizations of their respective movies, so I imagine they’re both starring Rambo).
But John Rambo dies at the end of the book !!!
For some reason I find that hilarious :D
End book 1:
… and so Rambo died…
Start book 2:
Rambo picked up his things and started walking … (or something, I have yet to find the second book :) )
*******************END SPOILER*******************************
What I liked least: What’s with all the “Teasle saw the world through Rambo’s eyes, thus knowing where to find him” stuff? Isn’t this highly unlikely, not to say impossible? I so hate it when that happens.
Recommend it? Yes, it’s quite well written. Not to mention surprising as it’s a lot different from the movie.
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