I expected to see the themes, and the overall story of The Graduate in Charles Webb’s original novel.
I really, really did not expect to see the set pieces directly in the novel. Mrs Robinson naked and the whole race to the church at the end are so visual, such staples as classic cinema that it comes as quiet a shock to see these described almost identically in the book. You can see why they made the film. The book pushes the zany runaround more than the film, and it’s Benjamin is a lot less likeable. But it is a breathtaking two hundred page read, which does urge you to watch the film with it in your hand. The film is probably more iconic and will outlast its snappy but perhaps more ironic source. Pointless middle-class angst seems like a remarkably tame subject now, but Webb does eviscerate it mercilessly. It gets into much more dangerous territory with its idea of a love affair. Frankly Benjamin is a scary stalker and Robinson Jr should stay well away from him. But at least in the book he is a convincing 21 rather than the dirty old man in a young mans suit Dustin Hoffman played him as.
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