Cool Hand Luke

Rating:
Summary: Better than the movie, Even if it doesn't have Paul Newman
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: always play a real cool hand
Review: He had a pair of nothing. Smiling, he murmured softly.

"Just remember, man. Wherever you go and whatever you do. Always play a real cool hand." -Cool Hand Luke

Cool Hand Luke is narrated by Sailor, much of it as he overhears it from Clarence "Dragline" Slidell, as the road crew is resting in a churchyard, a yard which they consider "sacred ground" because it is where Dragline and Luke were finally captured.. Together their gospel recalls how Lloyd "Cool Hand Luke" Jackson came to be among them. His crime, like Christ chasing the moneylenders from the Temple, was cutting the heads off of municipal parking meters. Sentenced to serve on the chain gang at Raiford prison, he is put to work on what the convicts call the "Hard Road," his own Via Dolorosa. The men are watched over by a group of brutal bosses, the most fearsome of whom is Boss Godfrey, with his reflective sunglasses which make him inscrutable.

Though not a particularly large man, Luke is a war hero, excellent musician, sharp card player, extraordinary worker and incredible eater. All of these add to his legend, but it is his indomitability that raises him to mythic status. In the most symbol rich scene in the novel, Luke bets that he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs in one hour. Fifty four are prepared for the event, and by no coincidence that happens to be the number of men serving on the chain gang. Luke of course succeeds in the effort, several of his acolytes finishing off the remaining eggs.

After Luke's mother dies, the warden has him put in "the box," just in case he gets any ideas about escaping. Luke responds to this unjust punishment by taking off as so as he can (on the 4th of July, naturally) and the remainder of the novel details his series of escapes and subtle and large defiances of authority. Throughout, the other convicts live vicariously through his courage and his demonstration of will. Though unwilling to resist the bosses themselves, they take inspiration from his example. In their most powerful moment of resistance, they follow Luke's lead on a Friday afternoon as he prods them on to finish a particularly difficult stretch of roadwork ahead of schedule.

Finally, he becomes too great a challenge to the authority of the bosses and they determine to break him through a series of sentences to the box and brutal beatings, leading to the predictable but still affecting moment :

With a final blow, Luke's head was flung forward. He hung there by the arms, limp, sagging, held up by the trustees who turned their faces with sickened grimaces, unable to look at him, unable to look at each other. And we stood there staring up at Cool Hand's body that was crucified against the sky, his bleeding head bowed toward us.

Behind him stood Boss Godfrey, his black hat outlined on the cloudy heavens beyond, his mirrored glasses catching the full rays of the sun and reflecting them down upon us, the eyes of the Walking Boss becoming two balls of blinding celestial fire.

And in the end they do indeed make him despair :

Don't hit me no more, Boss! Please! Don't hit me no more! I'll do whatever you say. Just don't hit me no more.

The music stopped. Boss Paul smiled. The faintest trace of a grin moved at the corners of Boss Godfrey's lips. Bending over, he spoke quietly, anxiously, almost with tender concern.

Have you got your mind right, Luke?

Yes sir, Boss. I got it right. I got it right.

Are you sure, Luke? You ain't gonna backslide on me are yuh? You sure your mind's right?

Yes suh, Boss. Please. Please don't hit me no more.

All right Luke. All right. Ah won't hit you no more.

The Building was silent.

But this is not the end of Luke, any more than Christ's cry of "Oh Lord, why hast thou forsaken me!" was the end of Him. Luke escapes one last time, and though it is the last, even after he's gone his life, his defiance of authority, and his passion for freedom serve as the examples that the men aspire towards. Just as Luke took on the burden of their souls and their sins in the eating of the eggs, in their stories, if nowhere else, he has achieved Everlasting Life.

GRADE : A+

Rating:
Summary: Good page turner.
Review: 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?

Rating:
Summary: A very insightful read
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it today!
Review: I'm sure you're no doubt thinking, "Why should I buy/read this book when I've already seen the movie countless times?" The answer is because, as with most book to film transitions, the movie version only scratches the surface of this story and its characters. (And that's saying a lot considering that the movie is one of the greatest of all time!) If you are a fan of the film, you owe it to yourself to read this book! I recommend it highly!

P.S.: Donn Pearce spent time on a Florida chain gang, so he knows the subject matter all too well.

Rating:
Summary: Good page turner.
Review: Of course the movie is better, but the book offers a different atmosphere and character backgrounds not found in the film. It is almost like watching a grittier remake in your head.

Rating:
Summary: "Cool Hand Luke" The Movie
Review: One of the most memorable lines to ever be uttered on the silver screen; " What we have here is a failure to communicate." Strother Martin, what a great character actor. Who could ever forget Paul Neuman eating all those boiled eggs? Makes you sick just thinking about it huh? And who could forget George Kennedy? Well they couldn't break Luke, he was destined to be destroyed by the system. But he did go out on his own terms. That is what made Cool Hand Luke so loveable.

Rating:
Summary: An Enduring Story of Individualism
Review: 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.