Rumblefish (Puffin Teenage Books) (Paperback)

The film lacks much of the novel's subtlety and depth, and leaves a number of unanswered questions; why, for instance, is it shot in beautiful black and white (colour inserts of the eponymous Siamese fighting fish notwithstanding?) Reading the novel, you discover that this is because, towards the end of the story, Rusty-James gets clouted over the head with a crowbar, with the result that he can no longer see in colour. That aside, the central relationship of the story - between the rebellious Rusty-James and his mysterious elder brother - is much more fully described in the novel: we learn, for instance, that Rusty-James's terror of being left on his own ("For a tough kid, I have a bad habit of getting attached to people," he states, a line that Coppola borrows) stems from his desertion, aged 3, by his mother, who simply ups and leaves the brothers one day. It is from her that the Motorcycle Boy inherited his aura of mystery and cool independence.

Then again, his Dad (played by a well-cast Dennis Hopper) who appears in the movie as nothing more than a drunken bum, is actually a sort of unemployed teacher, given to spouting pithy observations on his sons' behaviour: the novel, written in a style of deceptive simplicity that perfectly captures the speech rhythms and attitudes of a street-wise 14-year-old, bursts into sudden eloquence when he or the Motorcycle Boy speaks.

The novel has a cyclical structure that the film lacks, beginning with a chance meeting between Rusty-James, now 17 (the novel's action takes place during his 14th summer) and Steve, a friend from his teenage hoodlum days; the unexpected sight of Steve triggers the narrative, as Rusty-James reminisces on the events of that summer (his memory, like his eyesight, has been damaged by the blow to the head). Its final sentence, in the wake of the Motorcycle Boy's death at the hands of a vindictive cop, is achingly poignant, all the more so for being conveyed in Hinton's understated style: "I figured if I didn't see [Steve], I'd start forgetting again. But it's been taking me longer than I thought it would."

The reason there are not 5 stars is that the novel's very slender, with an insubstantial storyline (it's the sort of book you can read in an afternoon, even if you're a slow reader like me); it is, in fact, about half the length of Hinton's first novel, The Outsiders (written and published, amazingly, when she was 16) - although I must confess to a preference for this shorter tale, The Outsiders being a little too apple-pie wholesome for my taste. Both are strongly recommended, however, especially for teenaged readers of both sexes.