DELIVERANCE

 James Dickey. DELIVERANCE. Dell, 1970. 

This is a fascinating action-adventure story about what it means to be a man in a modern world. 

I haven't seen the movie, and I've carried the paperback with me for 50 years but never read it. Then I found a different copy, larger print, in the building library, and read it in a few days. Paddling a canoe is one of the few physical activities I have actually tried, so the trip planning and canoe manning and whitewater running scenes were all somewhat familiar. The ignorance of the gung-ho men not knowing what the river would offer is foreshadowing. The fish-out-of-water city guys trying to line up support in the small towns populated by "farmers missing fingers" sets up another, a class conflict. Then one canoe is attacked by locals intent upon harm and all hell breaks loose. When Lewis, the only man with actual survival skills, is injured, things go from bad to worse. That's when Ed, the narrator, is forced to "man-up" and do what has to be done to get the survivors home. Reality versus morality. And practicality wins, buttressed by shame that the secret of a sexual assault may leak out. Big themes, with conflict on so many levels. Great read.