The Warriors

By: Sol Yurick

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

The basis for the cult-classic film The Warriors chronicles one New York City gang's nocturnal journey through the seedy, dangerous subways and city streets of the 1960s. Every gang in the city meets on a sweltering July 4 night in a Bronx park for a peace rally. The crowd of miscreants turns violent after a prominent gang leader is killed and chaos prevails over the attempt at order. The Warriors follows the Dominators trying to make their way back to their home territory without being killed. The police are prowling the city in search of anyone involved in the mayhem.

An exhilarating novel that examines New York City teenagers left behind by society, who form identity and personal strength through their affiliation with their "family", The Warriors weaves together social commentary with ancient legends for a classic coming-of-age tale.

©1965 Sol Yurick; Afterword copyright 2003 by Sol Yurick (P)2019 Tantor

I enjoyed it as much as the movie

I knew it would not be like exactly like the movie, but I enjoyed it just as much. I came into it considering it a unique story, enjoyed parts that matched the movie, and then realized how much more interesting the parts that didn't match were.

classic.

an awesome rendention of a classic and has a real feel to how they lived as a gang and what they do. great story and deep feel as a kid from new York.

Not as good as the film

Not as good as I thought it would be. Found It boring at times. not so much exciting action as the film adaptation

I have seen the movie more times than I can count.

Although I have been obsessed with the movie for nearly two decades now I still found the book to be very good. The language in the book is hard to identify with of course because it’s based off of gangs from the 50’s, but the different storylines and outcomes compared to the movie makes you keep on reading to find out this version of the story. Any true Warriors fan should read this book and appreciate where it all began.
The afterwords from Sol Yurick was a great insight into the world of adaptations and the vast difference between an author’s vision of a story and a director’s.

Good story, well read. Not for the squeamish.

Several members of a Coney Island street gang find themselves stranded in the Bronx, and have to run, negotiate, bully, and fight their way back home, Along the way they have to deal with their own struggles, of leadership and followership, of egos and insecurities, the need to keep face and the need to stay loyal. It's a well told tale.

The reading is excellent. The accents are believable when he's rendering dialogue, but most of the action is descriptive or inside the boys' heads, and requires no accent.

If you enjoyed the movie--and you probably did if you're looking this book up--the stories are parallel but not the same. The movie's a good bit cleaner. If you're offended by protagonists guilty of murder, gang rape, vandalism, mayhem, and criminally bad nutrition, do not get this book. Otherwise, enjoy this tale for its own sake.

You may well know that the book and movie are based on Anabasis, Xenophon's tale of 10,000 Greek mercenaries who get stranded in the heart of the Persian empire, and have to march and fight their way back home. This story is but one of many reimaginings.

The last hour or so of the audio is Yurick's essay on how he came to write The Warriors. It's mostly intellectual autobiography. Personally, I found him a little off-putting, but he didn't spoil my enjoyment of the novel. He ends with a few reflections on the movie, which he did not like, but he isn't horribly snobbish about it. And he's honest enough to admit he took a lucrative Hollywood contract over an offer from an independent filmmaker who intended to stick closer to the original.

Loosely based on the movie, BUT EXCELLENT!!!!

If you're a fan of The Warriors film you NEED to read this.

It was hard to follow at first due to different names but once you understood it... It became easy. The violence in this is certainly a different approach from the movie. Murder, Rape.... I was certainly not surprised who got raped tho LMAO.

Be warned, The last hour of the book is Sol Yuriks story and also very interesting to listen to.

Definitely 5☆☆☆☆☆

Social Commentary Ahead of It's Time!

As a big fan of the movie, I initially gravitated to the novel expecting a very similar story (as I assume most people in my generation did). However, I was quite pleasantly surprised to be taken on a thoughtful and entertaining story that leaves the reader/listener plenty to think about. I love ancient Greek stories and myths and learned about Xenophone's story in college, years after I watched the movie and before I read the book. The novel is obviously a different entity and should be respected as such. The essence of this story is timeless: rites of passage for young men, social hierarchy and oppression, poverty and hopelessness. Would recommend if you're socially conscious.

I’d rather the book be the actual movie

This book is 100 times more entertaining than the movie. Narrator could really paint a picture, The story to me is relatable, and more realistic to than the movie. Personally I’m all in for a good gang novel or movie but I’d rather it be dark and gritty not over the top Hollywood stuff and battle heavy nonsense. Regarding the murder/Rumble in the book that dose happen in street gang life it’s brutal, bloody and a little fun depending on who you were. The “Gang Rape” in the story is also accurate but not as violent as it really is unfortunately in real life.

Overall this book is a detailed view on the 1960’s juvenile delinquency of the era and honestly entertaining don’t know where people got calling it smut from. Strangely I don’t see a Clockwork Orange getting that scorn “smut”? It’s not that’s just life and the world we live in

Virtual Reality via audiobook

Immersive and intense. Gritty and tactile, bringing you into that dark alley with the smell of blood, booze and danger (does danger smell?)

Just okay

So I am no stranger to gritty or disturbing literature and that was part of what drove me to buy this one. I hears it was similar to other books I read and personally I found it lacking. sure the narrative and underlying message was there about the class division and the general ideology however the story just felt lacking to me and was a bit of a bore. Personally I found the authors note at the end to be more interesting than the rest of the book.