Read more
The heart-stopping classic 1970 novel?an unforgettable tale of violent adventure and profound inner discovery. Four middle-class men from suburban Altana decide to embark on a three-day canoe trip down a particularly wild section of a river in Georgia. For them the trip represents a break in the domestic routine, a chance for adventure with few real risks, and the last occasion to see a beautiful valley before the river is dammed up. Their leader, an enthusiastic outdoorsman and champion archer, is obsessed by the desire to pit himself against nature.
When two of the group are attacked viciously by sinister mountain men, a mildly adventurous canoe trip explodes into a nightmare of horror and murder. Men stalk and are stalked by other men, the treacherous river becomes a graveyard for those without the strength or the luck to survive, and one man, forced to assume the leadership of the group, must call up his resources to try to achieve deliverance.
Summary
National Book Award-winning author James Dickey's New York Times bestseller Deliverance is an unforgettable tale of violent action and profound inner discovery—the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film starring Burt Reynolds and John Voight
ONE OF MODERN LIBRARY’S 100 BEST NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY · ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S 100 BEST ENGLISH LANGUAGE NOVELS
Four middle-class suburban men decide to embark on a three-day canoe trip down a particularly wild section of a river in Georgia. For Ed Gentry, Bobby Trippe, Drew Ballinger, and Lewis Medlock, the trip represents a break from their daily routines, a chance for adventure with few real risks, and the last occasion to see a beautiful valley before the river is dammed up. Lewis, an enthusiastic outdoorsman and champion archer, is obsessed by the desire to pit himself against nature.
When two of the friends are viciously attacked by mountain men, their mild adventure becomes a fight for their very lives. Men prey upon one another, the treacherous river becomes a graveyard for those without the strength or the luck to survive, and Ed, forced to lead his friends to safety, calls upon primal instincts buried within him to achieve deliverance.
“A mind-shattering nightmare in the wilderness, surging ahead on sheer power....There are few writers like James Dickey and few novels as successful, as terrifying, and as good as Deliverance.” —Washington Post
