FIRST BLOOD by David Morrell: A Review

 

First Blood is the book that introduced the character John Rambo to the world (although he was initially only referred to as Rambo in the book as his first name John was added on in the subsequent movies). Released back in 1972 (about a decade before the film First Blood was released with--of course!--Sylvester Stallone as the title character) and written by author David Morrell in his first published book, it tells the story of wandering Vietnam Vet Rambo traveling the countryside where he winds up in the "hick" town of Madison, Kentucky where he's picked up by aging Sheriff Teasle who informs Rambo how "his kind" isn't "welcomed" in his "respectable" town. After dropping him off at the edge of town, Rambo ignores the Sheriff's "warning" and returns to town where's he's picked up again by Teasle who arrests him and takes him to the police station. Being locked up causes Rambo to have flashbacks to his days as a POW. He finally reaches his limit when the cops rather cruelly try to shave him without shaving cream. Rambo manages to wrestle away from the cops after slashing one to death with the straight razor. He flees nude on a motorcycle (after having been stripped naked by the cops) and a manhunt ensues. In the movie, Rambo only kills a handful of people (this was done to make the character appear more "sympathetic" to the moviegoing public). However, in the book, Rambo proves to be little more than a murderous psycho as he manages to kill several cops, National Guardsman and even some civilians. Like in the movie, Sheriff Teasle--who's actually a more sympathetic character in the book than he was in the movie who appeared more as a bigoted redneck (played by--of course!--Brian Dennehy)--receives help in hunting Rambo from Colonel Sam Trautman who was Rambo's commanding officer in Vietnam. Also like the movie, Rambo is finally confronted by Trautman. Though I won't spoil how the book ends, I will say that, unlike the movie, things do not end well for either Rambo or his foe Sheriff Teasle. (I'll offer a hint: Unlike the movie, there are no sequels to the book save for the movie adaptations also written by Morrell.) One of the things I found most interesting about the book is that it was written from the points-of-view of both Rambo and Teasle switching off from one to the other. One minor complaint I did have about the book, however, is how the prose started getting somewhat choppy in the second half of the book where Rambo is being pursued by both Trautman and Teasle. I'm not sure if this was done to make the action more succinct or if Morrell was merely in a hurry to finish the book. In any case, First Blood is a pretty taut action novel that also attempts to convey a sort of political message about the Vietnam War (at least that was my interpretation of it anyway). I think it would be of especial interest to fans of the Rambo films--including myself--who would like to see a different take on the character.