The Wicker Man: Novel (1978)

The Wicker Man (1978)

Authors: Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer | Page Count: 285

The phrase 'never judge a book by its movie' is generally applied one way, to defend a good book from the damage done to its reputation by a bad movie, but sometimes the opposite perspective is needed. Judging by how good The Wicker Man (1973) film is, I imagined the book to be at least equal in terms of impact, given that it's written by the film's director, Robin Hardy, and uses much of the dialogue from Anthony Shaffer's excellent screenplay verbatim. I've only myself to blame for that assumption not panning out as hoped.

The protagonist is Police Sergeant Neil Howie. On the surface he's an honest, steadfast Episcopalian Christian respectful of the laws of man and God.

Beneath that he's forceful and secretly judgemental of others. It's possible to view him as a haughty zealot who's quick to strike down those who challenge his beliefs, but that's only half the story. Deeper still, hidden from the world, he's inexperienced and fearful of his own desires.

Howie is summoned to a remote Western Isle off the coast of Scotland that's populated by villagers who worship a different pantheon. For Howie, the Christian God created everything in nature, so in theory even the heretical worship of false gods could be, by extension, reverence for his god. That's the depth of his arrogance and is in part responsible for his every action.

There's a mystery to be unravelled. It's an unusual missing person case that may even be a murder. Sergeant Howie's belief that his superior deity will guide and aid him in ensuring justice is done is only the beginning of his problems.

As the mystery deepens, the novel begins to unravel. The quality of the prose drops and doesn't recover. By the end it feels like fan fiction.

I'll do us all a service by cutting the review short here and instead return to how I began and maybe it'll help someone else avoid the same level of disappointment that I had: never judge a book by its movie... even when the movie's really good.