King Kong

By Edgar Wallace, Merian C. Cooper, Delos W. Lovelace

Book Overview

Introduction by Greg Bear Preface by Mark Cotta Vaz The giant prehistoric gorilla King Kong is one of the most recognized images in our culture. So great is the mighty Kong's hold on the popular... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0448127881
• ISBN13: 9780448127880
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
• Length: 219 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Well, See, There Was This Ape..."

When I was a lad, I was told that the movie _King Kong_ (1933) was based upon a novel by Edgar Wallace, the thentime king of the British thriller writers. I would sometimes casually look for the novel in bibliographies of Wallace's novels, but I never found it listed. It was only much later that I discovered the reason: There never was such a novel. Wallace _did_ co-author an early version of the screenplay with Merian C. Cooper, the original creator of _King Kong_. Shortly after turning in the first draft of the screenplay, Wallace died suddenly of pneumonia in 1932. A more complete screenplay was done by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose. By this time, very little of the Wallace storyline had survived. Delos W. Lovelace was then hired to write the novelization for the then-princely sum of $600. He used various versions of scripts for his raw material. Unlike most movie novelizations today, the book was released a year _before_ the movie. It was considered good publicity. I rather expected to be disappointed when I read Lovelace's version of _King Kong_ (1932). I was pleasantly surprised. Lovelace tells his story in a brisk, no-nonsense style of writing. The action scenes are all well-handled, and the dialogue is snappy (if a bit old-fashioned). The characters are rounded just enough so that we can distinguish them from one another and identify with them. The ending of the novel is perhaps a little bit _too_ brisk, a little bit _too_ rushed. But all of the basic elements are there, including Kong's famous epitaph. I recommend the Modern Library Classics edition, which contains excellent introductory material by Mark Cotta Vaz and Greg Bear and which is handsomely bound. I can't honestly call the novel a real classic, but it is certainly worth your attention.

KIng Kong

Do you love giant gorillas? If you do I have a book for you. I think King Kong should be an award winning book.I love it and if you read it I think you will love it too.The book is about three characters Ann, Denhan, and Weston. But, I can't forget the mighty King Kong. I'm not going to give you all the information but do you know how King Kong gets in and out of the ship and into the town? Read to find out - ages 7 through adult. By Daria

The Original King Kong A Real Page Turner!

I just finished reading the original "King Kong" novelization by Delos Lovelace, and I have to say it was very entertaining. Very similar to the 1933 film, the book takes the reader to Skull Island in the Southwest Pacific along with Carl Denham, Ann Darrow, and Jack Driscoll. Although Denham is looking to make a movie using Darrow as his starlet, they get more than they bargained for when they encounter Kong and the prehistoric inhabitants of the Skull Island jungle. Although some of the language in the book may seem somewhat dated, I thought the book was more entertaining than most of the books I've read recently. A real page turner as the phrase was originally intended. Probably influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," "King Kong" is a story that will hold your interest all the way through. I give it 5 stars. And now to see the 2005 remake...

A great Classic

I've never read a king kong book before, and i have to say i was really impressed. This book started out a little "pathetic" but got a lot better towards the middle. THere eventually is a lot of action at a Place called Skull Island where they incounter the beast King Kong. THe story takes place here most of the story. Although the beggining stunk(bad) it really got better. I can't infasize this enough. I'm really suprised this book hasn't gotten the attention that it should get by today's youth. Beggining. 2 out of 5 middle. 5 out of 5 End 4 out of 5

Great!

I have always loved King Kong and this novelization of the film is wonderful. It captures the true essence of King Kong. Considering that King Kong was not origanially a book, the author did a great job with the book. Highly recomended book for those of you out there are huge King Kong fans like myself.

fascinating,romantic,movie-like,

I would like to know whether this book has already been translated and publlished in Japan. If it's coming in near future, when and which publisher.Thank you. (I have sent 2 other. I skipped my name then)