They stopped and stared. The narrow canyon led into a broad, open area like an arena, and carved into one of the rocks on the far side was a spectacular Greco-Roman facade. Wide steps led up to a landing with massive columns, and beyond them was the entrance to a darkened chamber. The Temple of the Sun, Indy thought.
I bought Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade because I knew that scenes from the movie were shot in Petra – the “Treasury” standing in for the fictional “Temple of the Sun” – and I wanted to pose in front of the monument holding this book on a recent trip there; because that sort of thing warms my book nerd heart. And I didn't expect this book to be terrific, and I wouldn't have read it at all if I hadn't run out of other books, and after reading it, I didn't want to review it – it's just that bad. But then I decided that it's so bad that I ought to at least give a (probably unnecessary) warning: don't waste your time on this.
I appreciate that a novelisation of an action-adventure movie can't help but suffer from: “He threw a punch and ducked and ran and jumped onto a passing train and looked over his shoulder and saw with horror that he was being followed”; it's pretty hard to capture the quick-cut action scenes without and...and...and then...But consistently, this is just poorly written, and especially where author Rob MacGregor attempts to add his own flourishes. Consider the famous scene where Indiana Jones finds himself face to face with Hitler and the Fuhrer mistakenly thinks that Indy wants an autograph and he signs the Grail diary:
Indy quickly recovered his sense of place. He clicked his heels and delivered a straight arm salute. At the same time, he secretly countered his show of fealty. He held his other hand behind his back, and crossed his fingers.
There's a reason something that stupid and childish didn't happen in the movie. MacGregor also decided to put in some literary flourishes – in one case having Indy note a series of birds that his father recorded in his Grail diary that define the stages of the Grail quest. And that subtext could, potentially, serve as a satisfying device for the close reader, but MacGregor prefers to make it all overt with Indy noticing each bird at key junctures of his adventure:
He noticed a pond next to the castle; gliding across its surface was a solitary swan. Its long neck was gracefully arched, and its snowflake-white feathers seemed luminous against the pond's dark waters. He was reminded of the swan in his father's Grail diary. It represented one of the levels of awareness in the search for the Grail and meant something about overcoming weaknesses of the mind and heart. Elsa was his weakness. He had quenched his desires like a man who had found an oasis after days in the desert without water. He had taken her greedily, and she had fulfilled his every wish. Why would he, or anyone, want to overcome such pleasures?
And don't get me started on “He had taken her greedily, and she had fulfilled his every wish”. Ick. Not recommended even for a long flight when all other options are exhausted. Dreck.
Bonus: The point of buying this lame book -
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