The Hustler

[Billiard Architect]

I just started reading "The Hustler" for the first time and I must say it is quickly becoming one of my favorite books. Even though I have seen the movie a good 20-30 times (it is a tradition to watch it along with TCOM on fathers day) reading the book really draws you in. The book and the movie are similar at this point (they just finished their first match) but yet it is different in a good way. You get the perspective many times from Eddies point of view, something that I would imagine would be difficult to put on film. You know exactly what Eddie is feeling and why he breaks down during the first match. It also made me realize that the casting for the movie was dead on. You can easily picture the characters from the movie as the plot unfolds.

There is a scene at the beginning of the book that I though they should have put in the movie that really is the underline to the story. Big John, who is the guy that meets up with Eddie to discuss if he is there to play fats, is practicing the same shot while preacher, who is a strung out coke addict in the book, watches. Preacher tells Big John about this guy he heard knocked of Varges and John goes into how it does not make any difference how good a pool hustler you are you will not beat people like Fats. I thought it was riveting and really set the basis for the first match between Eddie and Fats.

More to come later…

JV

 

[vivalaraza]

johnny,

i am an avid reader and the hustler is one of my favorites of all time. you are going to be thoroughly pleased with it. it is a little different when you get to the parts with the girl and i think the book plays out a lot better. like you said, there are just some things that you can't put in the movie the same way they are in the book.

walter tevis also wrote the color of money. i was disappointed in that book. i guess it was because it was so much different from the movie. i mean it is totally different. i think scorcese (?) wrote something completely different and just used the name for recognition.

tevis also wrote a book called mockingbird that is supposed to be an excellent work. i have not been able to find it at any local libraries but i think i saw it on ebay once.

tevis is definitely one of the best writers of the 20th century. even people who are not familiar with billiards agree with that.

 

[Billiard Architect]

Yea I have TCOM also but I was going to read it after The Hustler. I got them as XMas gifts. I really don't know why I never read the book. I guess I was afraid that it would screw up my opinion of the movie. But that definately is not the case.

JV

 

[AuntyDan]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book of TCOM and did not find it at all inferior to the movie, if anything I thought it was better, but in different ways. However if you look at the book you can see it would not have made for a good movie adaptation as it stood, there was very little drama that would have translated to the screen well.

One suggestion Johnny, as you get more into the books and want to discuss them here; preface your posts with a warning that you are about to discussthe plot. Anyone who has not yet read the books and intends to may not want to have the plot spoilt for them.

 

[Billiard Architect]

One suggestion Johnny, as you get more into the books and want to discuss them here; preface your posts with a warning that you are about to discussthe plot. Anyone who has not yet read the books and intends to may not want to have the plot spoilt for them.

Ug I never thought of it... Sorry for those of you that may have seen something that you didn't want to.

JV