Narrated by Will Paton.
Audio book released 31st October 2011 by Audible Studios.
From the cover:
The 1970 smash-hit best seller that inspired the acclaimed 1972 film starring Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox is now available in unabridged audio for the very first time.The setting is the Georgia wilderness, where the state's most remote white-water river awaits. In the thundering froth of that river, in its echoing stone canyons, four men on a canoe trip discover a freedom and exhilaration beyond compare. And then, in a moment of horror, the adventure turns into a struggle for survival as one man becomes a human hunter who is offered his own harrowing deliverance.
This classic tale is vividly read by movie and TV star and Audie Award-winning narrator Will Patton.
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Deliverance by James Dickey is a novel that has long been on my list of books to read, since seeing the 1972 film adaptation directed by John Boorman (screenplay written by Dickey and Boorman). It is a film that tends to linger in the imagination for a number of reasons, not least the beautifully conjured atmosphere, the iconic 'duelling banjos' sequence, and the shocking 'piggy' scene.
I have finally got around to this one via the awesome voice talents of actor Will Paton through the unabridged Audible Studios audio book, which is an incredible listen - and better in every way than the film (of course), which is saying a lot.
The story follows a group of four city dwelling friends, who decide to take a canoeing trip down the Cahualawasee River valley in Northern Georgia, before the valley is dammed and turned into a lake. Alpha male Lewis persuades his bestie Ed and two other pals Bobby and Drew that they can reconnect with their lost inner male essence by pitting themselves against nature for a weekend in the wilderness. However, despite Lewis' reassurance that he knows the area well and admires the grit of the 'friendly' locals, having hunted and fished along the Cahualawasee, they are soon out of their depth in more ways that one.
The run up to the weekend, the fateful trip itself, and the aftermath of the terrifying events that mark them for ever, are all narrated from the point of view of Ed. His story is one filled with fear and menace, as events go steadily awry and tip them into a battle for survival that not all of them will make it through, but it is also a beautifully written account of raw emotion, as he voices his thoughts about experiences they have never been confronted by before... or ever wish to be part of again. This is the kind of story that grips you tight, holding you in the moment as the characters face life and death decisions, and although I have not read any of the poetry for which Dickey is better known, you can really feel the skill of a poet in his writing.
This is only a short book, at 252 pages (7 hours and 31 minutes of utterly compelling moments in audio), but it is brutal, haunting, and intense. There is something very powerful about the way Dickey uses a wild valley, soon to be lost for ever under a deluge by water, as a metaphor to represent the four men overwhelmed by the creep of middle age, and how he plays off their mid-life crisis worries against actual danger. At times, this reminded me of Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and it is a shame that Dickey's career as a novelist did not really take off after this, his first and most successful, book.
Highly recommended if you love a story that has you on a knife edge, and deftly explores the group dynamics between the four men pushed to their very limits... and beyond.
Deliverance is available to buy now in paperback and audio formats.
About the author:
James Dickey was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1923 and published his first book of poetry, Into the Stone, in 1960. In 1966 his Buckdancer's Choice won the National Book Award. His first novel, Deliverance, appeared in 1970. Dickey's magnificent poetry, criticism and fiction rank him among the seminal authors of our time.
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