Sahara - Clive Cussler
So why am I now reading Clive Cussler, having successfully ignored him for all these years? Since you ask, here are the reasons:
- I saw the film (pretty obvious that, really);
- I enjoyed the film for what it's worth and wanted to, as it were, find out more;
- As a rule I'm interested in the process of adapting books into films, what gets changed, what gets chopped, and so on.
I've read a couple of books (Wonder Boys and The Ice Storm spring to mind) where the films have matched the source novel fairly closely but haven't been afraid to make a few changes, generally for the better. I've seen others (Blade Runner) where the similarities are fairly superficial, but the film has nevertheless developed into something good in its own right. I've also seen others (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) where a series of unnecessary changes have been wrought for the sake of commercialising the venture, and the result is a steaming pile of visual faeces.
With Sahara the plot of the novel is substantially different from the film. The characters are the same, the situations are the same, and the starting and end points are the same, but the path between them is significantly altered. The film did a very good job of translating the plot to cinema, bringing in an element of mystery, trimming down the character list, and boosting the presence of others (such as Eva Rojas).
The book is an equally good read, though I suggest Clive Cussler should drop his complaints against the film makers and accept that novel and film are two very different forms.
Cussler falls into that ever popular category of authors who are not particularly accomplished writers, but do know how to string an exciting plot together and keep those pages turning. Dan Brown is the exemplar of this - a truly atrocious writer who writes books you just don't want to put down. At least in Sahara I can believe that Cussler, an experience diver and adventurer himself, is writing from experience and can bring some degree of authority to his prose, rather than stringing together second hand theories and cynically contrived plotlines.
Not that Cussler is free of all literary charges. One thing that reeks in Sahara is Cussler's handling of exposition. In a book exposition is easily dealt with: the author can simply add any necessary background information as needed by including it in a paragraph of text. For instance:
Diving is a dangerous business. To survive underwater for lengths of time a diver will need a mask and an oxygen tank.
The writer is then free to carry on the story and dialogue, safe in the knowledge that his reader knows what is required for diving expeditions. In TV and film it's a little trickier. You can't necessarily assume that the viewer has any common sense, or knows the first thing about diving, so these points will need to be covered either in dialogue, or preferably, using visual cues (such as a sign saying: Don't forget your mask and oxygen tank while diving, lest you drown!).
With all that taken on board, why oh why does Cussler insist on putting most of his exposition in dialogue? A typical exchange in Sahara would be:
"Don't forget your mask and oxygen tank, Dirk," Al pointed out.
Dirk shook his head. "Not much chance of that. As we'll be spending an extended period underwater I'll need both of those to make sure I don't drown."
The major problem with this, and with almost all the exposition in the book, is that the characters would already know this, and would no more remind each other of these basic facts that you or I would remind each other to put one foot in front of the other on a repeating basis in order to walk forward.
Nevertheless, Saraha is an entertaining read. There's no shame in reading a book for pleasure or simple diversion, despite what they might say in the Times Literary Supplement (I say might because I have never to this day actually read the Times Literary Supplement). Dirk Pitt is an appealing old-fashioned hero - tough, moralistic, and with a MacGyver-like ability to extricate himself from virtually any hopeless situation. There decent villains to get your teeth into, and there's even a strong environmental message.
Who knows, I may even read another?
James January 29, 2006 - 11:32
Can you lend me both? :(