Cool Hand Luke

By now "Cool Hand Luke," is of course, a legend. Unfortunately, this doesn't apply to the novel, but rather, to the well known Paul Newman film (referred to in the sitcom Cheers' inaugural episode as "the sweatiest movie ever made,"). However, I digress, back to the novel. This was Donn Pearce's first novel. I initially had no interest in reading it. Rather, I came to it in a backdoor sort of way. Being a World War II buff, I heard the good reviews of Pearce's latest effort, "Nobody Comes Back," a novel about the Battle of the Bulge. I bought it and read it. It was an excellent novel and since "Cool Hand Luke," is without a doubt his most famous book, it was inevitable that I would eventually want to read it. It took a while, but I found a copy and I read it in a few days. "Cool Hand Luke" is an excellent novel. The story is told in the form of flashbacks. In fact, the novel's structure is very close to Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." A mute witness narrator who records the events of a naturally tempestuous and outgoing personality in a strictly structured environment (in Kesey's book, it's an insane asylum, in Pearce's, it's a chain gang prison) and the incidents that flow from it. The one difference between Kesey's book and Pearce's is that Kesey worked at a mental hospital, but Pearce (who also has a very colorful resume in addition to being a novelist) did do time on a chain gang. So there's a definite real life experience in "Cool Hand Luke." It's a great book. First time readers might be off put by the lack of quotes, but it's a small adjustment to make. For lovers of the movie, they will be surprised at how closely the movie follows the book. Of course, there is more characterization in the novel than the movie can give (this should be no surprise since Donn Pearce himself co-authored the script). Still, it's a wonderful novel and is a quick read.

The magic of this novel lies in Pearce's simple equation for personal freedom-that conformity breeds contempt, and that a human mind can either accede to conformity or willfully protest against it. The character of Lucas Jackson prefers the latter approach, in comparison to the rest of his fellow prisoners of the southern chain gang in which he finds himself confined. At first, Jackson's protests are mild and playful (eating contests, boxing matches, gambling) but turn deadly earnest after his mother's funeral. As the punishments for his efforts increase, so, too, does his determination to deny their influence over his life. Pearce's only solution to Jackson's unconquerable spirit is inevitable death. But, as the novel suggests, even death cannot conquer the artifacts of such a spirit left to those who would use it to bring an appreciation for its effects into their lives. As a story of protest published at a time of national protests this novel was as successful an artistic attempt as Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The film version of the book is part of cinematic history, but the clarity of the novel is equally impressive. Peace's social cauldron-the chain gang-perfectly suits the social model of the time, and serves as the setting for a fable of American individualism that is carefully conceived and almost flawlessly executed.

I started off being a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the movie, and have been for years, and didn't read the book until this year. I am very glad I did, because in some ways it is better than the movie. There are things about Luke's background and his personality that are easier to understand in the book. Also, I love the way it's told, from the character Sailor's perspective. The book gives us a better idea of how truly brutal the conditions were for chain-gang convicts, which we didn't really get a true picture of in the movie. I felt that was an important aspect of the book, the living conditions of the convicts, and one the author, Donn Pearce, wanted us to have an understanding of, since he was in a chain-gang himself. Life was miserable for Luke and all the convicts.For those of us who love the movie so, we have to remember that Donn Pearce was the Creator of this CoolHand Luke character and without him there would be no movie. We are grateful to him for creating all the characters and the whole story, and also writing the screenplay for the movie. Pearce suffered the life of a chain-gang convict himself only to go on to write a bestseller that was made into one of the greatest films of all time. Not bad for a one-time prisoner.Note: Pearce wrote his character Luke to be 28 years old in the book. Paul newman was 42 when he played the role. But who would notice?

I was already a fan of the movie, but the book is much better and provides a lot more insight into the mind of Cool Hand Luke. Very moving and hard to put down.

After searching for years, I found the novel which inspired my favorite movie of all time. The book gave a great deal of insight into the movie, and opened my eyes to things I hadn't noticed in my 50+ viewings of the movie. I strongly suggest this book to anyone who enjoyed the movie. While I already have two collectors copies of this book, I look forward to this rerelease so I will have a copy to read and reread, and to enjoy and reenjoy, just as I have the enjoyed the movie over and over again.