The book, as well as the movie, is a warning. Not about the evils of war, but about the evils of man. Be careful who you decide to antagonize, as you might start a war. Morrell, David (November 3, 2018). "David Morrell - Posts". Facebook . Retrieved November 3, 2018. I had an exciting day yesterday. Decided to vote early. Born in Canada, I became a U.S. citizen in 1993. Since then, I've never missed voting in any election--schoolboard, city, state, national. It truly excites me to be able to do so. Morrell's 2000 introduction to the novel, entitled "Rambo and Me", gives insight on the inspirations and development of the novel (pp. vii–xiv). It is eventually revealed to Teasle that Rambo was a member of an elite Green Beret unit in Vietnam; he has extensive experience in guerrilla warfare and survival tactics and received the Medal of Honor. Since his discharge from the Army, he has been unable to hold down a job, thus forcing him to live as a drifter. Teasle, bitter over the deaths of his men but also finding himself sympathetic to Rambo's plight, insists on helping capture him even though his health is beginning to deteriorate from the injuries he suffered while pursuing Rambo. Rambo also finds himself torn between his instinct to keep fighting and his sense of self-preservation; he refuses to take the opportunity to escape because the rush of battle is simply too much for him to resist.

In dit boek wordt beschreven hoe de mannen elkaar achtervolgen en achternajagen. Soms kwam er wat psychologische diepgang in voor, dat is de reden dat ik de motivatie kreeg om het uit te lezen, maar dat was iets dat zelden gebeurde. De schrijver gaat niet diep in op de trauma, historische context of achtergrond van de karakters, het blijft vrij oppervlakkig. Ik vond het erg vreemd dat wij dit voor Engels moesten lezen. Ik was blij dat ik het uit had, en heb in ieder geval geleerd wat voor boeken ik minder vind. Morrell, David" by Adam Meyer, in David Pringle (editor), St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1998, ISBN 1-55862-206-3. So it begins. But it all could have been avoided SO EASILY. If Teasle had half a brain cell, this could have been halted about 11 times. Also, Rambo could have chosen to move on about 11 times. But he didn't. He's very stubborn. He has some idea about 'proving' that he 'can't be pushed' and of course it ends very badly for everyone. A few difference between the literary Rambo and the cinematic Rambo. This Rambo isn't necessarily a nice man. There isn't really anything heroic about him. After all you don't look at a rifle and think that it's admirable do you? You might admire the skill that went into it's design and manufacturing and you might appreciate it's accuracy, but ultimately it's just a tool. That's how Rambo comes across to me. He's dangerous and very effective, but not heroic.He's no great loss. The cops are assholes and get what they deserve as well. So there are no tears shed for them either.Rambo finally tells them he was in the army. Because they want to cut his hair and shave him, and they come after him with razors. Rambo doesn't like razors after being tortured in Vietnam. He thinks telling them he was in the army is very weak of himself. He holds himself up to these very high standards of 'masculinity.' Morrell is the co-president of the International Thriller Writers organization. [2] Personal life [ edit ] David Morrell published his novel First Blood in 1972, as a response to the Vietnam War and was inspired by some of his students returning from the war. The author’s work began in 1968. The character of Col. Sam Trautman may be seen as an embodiment of Uncle Sam, the government who trained both men and sent both off to war and now has conflicting emotions about the result that came home. So Rambo goes off into the woods, like he's some type of Hansel and fends off National Guardsman and police officers and civilians that are probably so loaded that they don't even really know what end of the rifle is supposed to be pointed away from them. The body count really starts to soar at this point. Oh, I should tell you that my name is Captain Sam Trautman, and I've been hired to hunt Rambo. For the most part, I'm happy watching these yokels get off-ed by one of the best. But there is only so much carnage that I'll allow, so when the sheriff and Rambo exchange some thoughts in the form of lead, hitting each other in the process, I felt I owed it to my employers to kill Rambo myself. Granted, I used a shotgun and shot him in the head, but that's what you're supposed to do when a wild dog is on the loose. I tried to tell the sheriff, but it seems he has an important appointment in Valhalla that he can't be late for.

Okay, why did I read it then? Because the original First Blood movie was filmed in my hometown, Hope British Columbia, and it seemed like a novel choice (no pun intended…). The first movie was really good (the sequels were totally meh and definitely Hollywood cash grabs; I won’t get too into it here but I feel the first movie more appealed to the psychological where the second appealed to the raging hormones of gun and action loving man-childs lol).While most folks will recognize the Rambo character from the Stallone films, this began as an allegory about war experiences and about martial training, as well as an exploration of the connection between generations of fighting men. Morrell was presented with the 2009 ThrillerMaster Award from the ITW. [8] Bibliography [ edit ] Rambo series [ edit ] Now. I want to point out something important here, something I think Morrell does here that works and that I think he did not have to do. Teasle is not a bad guy.

No spoilers here, but the end is veeerrryyy different, and I'm not sure which one I like the most. I feel for Rambo in both scenarios, and I love that end scene monolog he was with his old unit commander in the movie. But in the book...dang...it's just... I've said enough.

It's gritty, it's gross. It reminds me in a way of Joe Abercrombie's writing. Like Abercrombie, Morrell can't seem to miss the opportunity to make something gross or disgusting. He relishes it. He never describes stuff with any kind of neutral or positive adjectives. Coffee is 'sour' or 'bitter.' Adenaline 'squirts' into someones stomach. Diarrhea is discussed more than once. The world is a bitter, hateful, disgusting place. Same as Abercrombie, although Abercrombie's writing skillz are a bit better than Morrell's IMO. First Blood' is structured as a conflict between these two worldviews. The conflict itself is dramatic and filled with violence but those things punctuate the story, they are not the point of it. When it comes right down to it I found myself wondering what I was supposed to think about the characters and the plot. Am I supposed to feel that the whole situation is just one giant screw up and throw my hands up in disgust? A thinly veiled analogy about the waste of war in general and the stupidity of the Vietnam War specifically? The novel is told from both main characters’ points of view, alternating chapters for the most part and offering us plenty of insight into their thoughts, motivations, and personal history. Rambo is clearly suffering from what today we call PTSD. The sheriff is a former decorated soldier from the Korean War and a competent sheriff. When these two clash, it’s unclear who will have the upper hand: the highly trained Green Beret with all of his skills or the sheriff who can bring to bear a vast array of government resources to hunt down his prey. Here again, the movie greatly differs. Here, Rambo is not a near-super-powered being but rather, an entirely human character who gets hurt, bleeds, and suffers tremendously. The violence is far greater than in the movie. Sometimes it's brutal and sometimes it’s almost a simple off-hand comment about another good friend being gunned down but it always drives the narrative as well as the two characters. I'm not saying Teasle's an angel. But he's a cop who tries to protect his town and he's not someone who is an abusive asshole.

The character in my novel is extremely angry and bitter. The character in the film adaptation is portrayed as a victim. The plot is mostly the same, but the interpretation is different. On some Blu-Ray DVDs of First Blood, I provided a full-length audio commentary about the differences between the novel and the film.First off I don’t usually read action thriller type stories because they typically personify ex military geniuses or washed up cops battling their own ego’s… wow I just summed up the whole book… lol. Rambo, whose first name is not specified in the novel, was given the first name "John" for the film as a reference to the song " When Johnny Comes Marching Home". [9] After reading this, I decided to rewatch the movie version which I hadn't seen since it came out in the 1980s. When I initially watched First Blood, I don't think I really understood what it was about until the wonderful monologue at the end, but in the book it was apparent throughout the text that Rambo was a broken man. A man who literally brought the war home with him. David Morrell (born April 24, 1943) is a Canadian-American author whose debut 1972 novel First Blood, later adapted as the 1982 film of the same name, went on to spawn the successful Rambo franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. [1] He has written 28 novels, and his work has been translated into 30 languages. [2] He also wrote the 2007–2008 Captain America comic book miniseries The Chosen.