Rating: 
Summary: Suprisingly literate
Review: Since I saw the movie first, I was under the impression this novel was more along the lines of action/adventure pulp, such as Mickey Spillane or the Destroyer series. It's not. It's very well-written, and even verges on literature. It's different from the movie, so don't expect the same plot. Actually, this book reminds me more of horror fiction, some of which the author has written. Don't expect the same ending as in the movie. The book
is, fortunately, not particularly political, which I found a little surprising since it was published in 1972. Mostly it's
about human nature. The sheriff, who at first is very much a
sympathetic character, completely fails to understand Rambo.
In fact, he doesn't even make the attempt, even though Rambo
is acting very strangely (he finds Rambo looking at the fish
in a lake and wondering if they're goldfish). Rambo makes no
attempt to hide. He's just tired of being rousted by the police
because of how he looks. And the cop keeps trying to run Rambo out of town, even though Rambo hasn't done anything. Had he just
let things go, Rambo would have passed through town and been gone. The sheriff completely failed the first rule of war:
understand your opponent. Had he done so, all of the carnage (and there is a lot of slaughter in this book) would have been
avoided.
Rating:
Summary: Different but good.
Review: The book "First Blood" is much much darker than the movie, also the body count is much higher. Rambo (his first name is never given) is drifting through a small town in Kentucky. He encounters the sheriff, who dosn't like Rambo because he looks like a hippie, but dosn't know he's a vet just returning from Vietnam. He is arrested and almost incarserate, but he is claustrophobic because he was also a POW. So he escapes and wages a one-man war against the police and National Guard. The atmosphere that he's a uncontrolable killing machine, that he couldn't stop if he wanted to, which he dosn't. I liked it because it was much grimmer than the movie (which I did like). This is well worth reading if you can find it.
Rating:
Summary: Different but good.
Review: The book "First Blood" is much much darker than the movie, also the body count is much higher. Rambo (his first name is never given) is drifting through a small town in Kentucky. He encounters the sheriff, who dosn't like Rambo because he looks like a hippie, but dosn't know he's a vet just returning from Vietnam. He is arrested and almost incarserate, but he is claustrophobic because he was also a POW. So he escapes and wages a one-man war against the police and National Guard. The atmosphere that he's a uncontrolable killing machine, that he couldn't stop if he wanted to, which he dosn't. I liked it because it was much grimmer than the movie (which I did like). This is well worth reading if you can find it.
Rating:
Summary: This book was exciting, and action packed
Review: The book "First Blood" was very interesting and enjoyable to read. It had a classic conflict of man vs. man. It also made the reader think about what it was really like for the Viet Nam veterans when they returned to the United States. Many of them faced hostility from civilians at the airports calling them "baby-killers," and "murderers." This book was also fun to read because it had lots of action. Rambo destroyed a whole town. He used his knowledge from Green Beret training, and he used his sense's that he achieved from spending time in the war. This book also proved that once you become something, it will always be with you. You can't go back. In Rambo's case, he will always be a killer. No matter what he does, it will never leave him because it was what he was trained to do. In conclusion I recommend this book to any reader out there looking for an exciting, action-packed book that also deals with the history and conflicts of our United States.
Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie ! Good but not great
Review: The Book First blood was really good I mean it really did point out some things that werent in the movie but it was weird to read that Col.Trautman was only the Headmaster of the Green Beret Training I mean in the movie , he was in Rambo's detachment . The Book didnt reveal much about Rambo's adventures in Vietnam and I found the book really depressing .I recommend this book for people who have seen the movie and have never read the book . Although it lacks some points , First Blood is still a great thriller . . .
Rating:
Summary: Separate Entities
Review: The book is better than the movie in its own way, true; but for guys like me who saw the film first - and continue to see it - it seems easiest to just draw a big fat line between the two mediums. The movie is one of my top favorites, and Morrell's book is by far grittier; the best part of both is the lack of a true protagonist or true antagonist; who's the good guy, who's the bad guy? Doesn't matter: it's man against man, nature, and himself from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: Rambo: First Bleh
Review: This book rules! It's much better than the movie, which is superficial and tame in comparison. Reading the book is thrilling and scary. Rambo and Sheriff Teasle are complex cats, and make for an interesting pair of adversaries. In fact, the character descriptions are so lifelike, it makes you wonder whether David Morrell has something in common with them. I couldn't put this book down. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
Rating: 
Summary: A great novel
Review: This book rules! It's much better than the movie, which is superficial and tame in comparison. Reading the book is thrilling and scary. Rambo and Sheriff Teasle are complex cats, and make for an interesting pair of adversaries. In fact, the character descriptions are so lifelike, it makes you wonder whether David Morrell has something in common with them. I couldn't put this book down. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".
Rating: 
Summary: Okay Escapism
Review: This book was the basis of the first Rambo movie. The Rambo films were classic pieces of right wing propaganda, which were popular with conservatives in America. The second Rambo movie was about Vietnam. It was a piece of revisionist nonsense that tried to develop a stab in the back legend as a reason for United States defeat in Vietnam. The third Rambo movie dealt with Afghanistan and had a strong anti Soviet message. It is thus a bit of a surprise that this book is rather a left wing effort. Rambo is a trained commando who has learnt to kill. In Vietnam he has been captured by either the North Vietmanese or Viet Cong and been tortured. Although he escapes and makes his way back to the American lines he has a nervous break down. At the start of the novel he is a vagrant wandering around a number of small American towns. A sheriff who is drawn as reasonably sympathetic character tries to run him out of town. Rambo keeps coming back into town and he is jailed for 30 days by a lazy JP on trumped up vagrancy and resist arrest charges. Rambo snaps at the prospect of being confined. He kills a deputy and breaks out of jail and runs to a wilderness area. He is able to arm himself with a weapon and uses his combat skills to pick off the police who pursue him. The book is thus about the negative effect of war and how it can destroy the lives of individuals. Rambo effectively is acting on automatic pilot rather than being responsible for what is happening. On first being published the book sold quite well and was put on some school and university courses. Over time as the issues of the Vietnam war have become more less relevant it has apparently been taken off courses and is sinking into obscurity. Despite this it is not a bad read and it is content is somewhat at odds with the spirit of the movies
Rating:
Summary: 100 times better than the movie
Review: This is much faster and exciting than the Stallone movie. You get a true sense of the word vengence when Korean War vet, ex marine Sheriff Teasle and Viet Nam vet, ex- Army Green Beret Rambo put their skills in the art of combat to the test again against each other in the mounains of Kentucky. Much more violent than the movie; I imagine vets of both wars mentioned will feel for these two warriors.
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