Book Review - West Side Story

[Amy Darvill]

Title: West Side Story
Author: Irving Shulman
Genre: Fiction

Brief Summary:

West Side Story is the tale of two lovers in Fair Verona....wait, wrong tale. Here, we follow two lovers in New York, who are not separated by families so much as street gangs. Maria is the younger sister of Bernado, who runs the Sharks, while Tony is trying to improve his life after 'retiring' from the Jets. Split not only by these bonds but also racial tensions (Tony being a Polish American, Maria being Puerto Rican American), the two lovers still end up yearning for each other. But when Tony is asked to fight Bernado to settle a territory dispute, will love be enough?

If you couldn't guess, West Side Story is a more 'modern' take on Romeo and Juliet, and is set in 1960's New York and the changes are often closer to a paint job than a total switch. It originally started as a musical on Broadway and was then turned into a film, which the novelization ties into a little more than the original play. But West Side Story does make integral changes that ultimately allow it to be a story on its own and not just a Romeo and Juliet fanfic. The ending, in all formats, is one of the most heartbreaking.

That being said, I will say this book suffers from an issue. While it does develop the characters in more depth than either film or play, it struggles with pacing and it ends up feeling a bit short in some ways. It is a short book, not even 200 pages. Having read the Stars Wars novelization from roughly the same time and then the later novelizations for the later movies, I feel confident in saying there was a major shift in movie/play novelization. At this time, it was mostly just recounting the beats of said media, while maybe expanding some of the character thoughts and whatnot. In later years, writing the novelization seems to be treated more like a work of fiction on its own, even as it mirrors the movie or play. So just something to be aware of.