Book adaptations of famous movies aren’t new, but some can still immerse the reader in a more original way, like The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones from 2008.
The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
(USA 2008, author: Henry Jones Jr. (fake), publisher: Gallery Books)
It has been some time since books have been featured in these pages, but with the recent Indiana Jones gaming, movie, and TV specials, this might just be perfect timing to review a very special book. With Henry Jones Jr., Indy himself, touted as being the author, and a leather imitation version of the book adding to authenticity, this is the perfect accompaniment to anyone who has followed the adventures of the part-time adventurer/part-time professor of archeology. Found by the Russian KGB with added notes, it easily encompasses everything from the first to the fourth movie, including the TV show as well as The Fate of Atlantis game.
With around 160 pages, it’s not a long book, and the pages themselves can be read very quickly, because many only show drawings, photos, and maps that are explained with additional hand-writing of Jones, his father, and even Short-Round, the Chinese sidekick boy from The Temple of Doom. A wide variety of documents, like postcards, letters, passports, excerpts from newspapers, etc. makes it an interesting read that bridges the gaps left between movies or serve as reminders of specific scenes. If Indy really had time to write all this down is another matter, though.
The mix of historic accuracy, mysticism, and some humor, together with the meta-fictional elements like the KGB’s comments and explanations in retrospect turn this into more than just another slideshow of past events that is so common in movie books. It should also be mentioned that all the pages look as if they’ve been through all kinds of weather conditions and gone through many hands, with fake fingerprints and yellowed pages adding to the feeling to read and hold something genuine in one’s hands. It might not offer anything new to those involved in the Indy mythology, but the attention to detail, despite some obvious problems with illegible handwriting and some terribly bad German vocabulary and grammar, makes this a fun addition to any fan’s collection.
Score: 8.5/10
Buy the hardcover book on
Amazon Germany
Amazon UK
Amazon USA
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Have you ever read any of the Indiana Jones novels? There’s a whole slew of them. I tend to avoid novels based on film characters, but I’ve always been curious.
Well, I read the novelizations of the trilogy a long time ago, and they were pretty cool. But if you mean new stories, then I can only say that I read all the comics from Dark Horse. Might review them some time in the future, who knows ;-). But they weren’t particularly good. A few yes, especially if you played the game “Fate of Atlantis” (which I consider to be the best Indy movie that was never made).
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