First Blood
First came the man: a young wanderer in a fatigue coat and long hair. Then came the legend, as John Rambo sprang from the pages of FIRST BLOOD to take his place in the American cultural landscape. This remarkable novel pits a young Vietnam veteran against a small-town cop who doesn't know whom he's dealing with -- or how far Rambo will take him into a life-and-death struggle through the woods, hills, and caves of rural Kentucky. This book was made into the classic movie staring Sylvester Stalone. The lead character's name has become a synonym for the tetesterone-driven macho man.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
2mentions
2people
2017–2022years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Everyone should read the book (First Blood by David Morrell). I haven't watched the movies, since in my mind Stallone is type-cast as someone who doesn't seem smart enough to play Rambo. But my recollection from 30+ years ago is that the book is an excellent page-turner and might be the originator of the thriller genre. Also, spoiler alert Rambo dies at the end of the book.
- I'm not sure I'd still recommend them now, but when I read them many, many years ago I really enjoyed David Morrell's [1] novels about highly trained assassins. They had titles of the form The $GROUP_OF_PEOPLE of the $THING: The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, The Covenant of the Flame, The League of Night and Fog (and maybe a few others whose titles didn't match that pattern, I think Testament was about the same characters, but can'lt really remember).
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[1] David Morrell is probably best known for First Blood, the novel Rambo is based on.
