Το μικρό αυτό βιβλιαράκι, όπως καταλαβαίνετε από τον τίτλο του, βασίζεται στο σενάριο της ομότιτλης αριστουργηματικής ταινίας του Μάρτιν Σκορτσέζε. Αφηγητής της ιστορίας είναι ο Τράβις Μπικλ, που κάποια στιγμή καταφέρνει να πιάσει δουλειά σαν ταξιτζής, κάνοντας όλες τις δύσκολες και επικίνδυνες κούρσες στην Νέα Υόρκη. Είναι ένας μοναχικός τύπος, βετεράνος του πολέμου στο Βιετνάμ, με μπόλικο θυμό μέσα του για όλα αυτά που βλέπει γύρω του, και κάποια στιγμή θα προχωρήσει στην πράξη, όσον αφορά το καθάρισμα της πόλης. Ένας άντρας όμως δεν είναι ικανός ν'αλλάξει τον κόσμο, ειδικά όταν πρόκειται για έναν προβληματικό νέο άνθρωπο σαν αυτόν. Το βιβλίο ακολουθεί πιστά την πλοκή της ταινίας, αλλά αυτό που το κάνει να ξεχωρίζει, είναι η πολύ καλή γραφή και η ευκαιρία που μας δίνει ο συγγραφέας να δούμε τις σκέψεις του ήρωά μας. Στην ταινία απολαύσαμε μόνο τις κινήσεις του και τις εκφράσεις του προσώπου του, εδώ όμως μπαίνουμε μέσα στο μυαλό του. Επίσης ο Έλμαν κατάφερε να μεταφέρει με επιτυχία στο χαρτί τον ρυθμό και την ατμόσφαιρα της ταινίας.
Wow this wasn't what I was expecting at all - certainly not from a movie novelization.Everything about this novelization is different - especially for this genre. It's an impressive little read. More of a novella than a full length novel. A trip into the mind of Travis Bickle.A first person narrative from a mental patient. It's disjointed and fractured - just like you would expect from a man like Travis. At times it verges on being almost incomprehensible, but that's okay. Travis is a fringe dweller and his actions make sense to him - not to those of us who live on the plane that we smugly call reality.Travis's world isn't ours. The rules are different and Travis takes no time explaining them to us. So you (the reader) are simply going along for the ride. For Travis is the Taxi Driver. As I said earlier not what I was expecting from a movie script novelization. Not at all. The writer,Richard Elman, was a critically acclaimed New York City novelist and poet. The writing has some real depth and quality to it and the book can stand on it's own. If the movie had never been made this would have been just fine as a stand alone work. I suspect that somebody involved with the production might have known Richard Elman and asked him to write the novel. Possibly Martin Scorsese or Robert DeNiro - both are New Yorkers and active in the NYC arts and literary scene. In conclusion Taxi Driver is a jarring, disjointed, and disturbing read, but also engrossing and intelligently written.Very interesting and unexpected.
What do You think about Taxi Driver (1976)?
This is a very interesting book; its written in a slangy, stream of consciousness style that effectively captures the fractured mind of Travis Bickle. The whole book has a hypnotic, flowing rhythm not unlike the visuals for the film. Most "novelizations" are crude and obvious and written with as much grace and style as the phone book but Richard Elman's adaptation of Paul Schrader's screenplay for TAXI DRIVER genuinely qualifies as post-modern literature. Read this book and see for yourself. It has an expressionistic street-level sense of foreboding and doom that reminds me of some of the short stories of Andrew Vachss.
—Doctor Edward Diesel
