"Then I got to where I was gonna get off, and got off, the doors closed, and as the train was pulling away she looked right at me and gave me the most incredible smile. It was awful, I wanted to tear the doors open.

And I went back every night, same time, for two weeks, but she never showed up.

That was 30 years ago and I don't think that there's a day that goes by that I don't think about her, I don't want that to happen again".

― Jack Engelhard, Indecent Proposal

The books is a masterpiece, a psychological exploration of good and evil and of human nature and is nothing like the movie.

It is not fluff. It is not silly. It is among my all time favorites. I will write more when I have time but the worst thing a reader could do is not take this book seriously, not read it and miss out on an incredible reading experience.

In the book, it explores, very deeply, themes that the movie really sort of..for lack of a better term..blew off. Josh is a speech writer in Philly who hates his life with a passion. He is poor..and at the mercy of the corporate world. He hates his job..he LOATHES it but can see no way out.

As much as Josh deplores his work, that is how deeply he loves his wife Joan. Joan comes from wealth. She is his "mainline blonde" and both of them left their previous spouses to be together. This has left Josh with the fear that happiness can be taken from him at any moment.

Then, while on a vacation. they meet Ibrahim.

Ibrahim is everything Josh would like to be. Arrogant. Powerful. And, most of all, rich. Lavishly, garishly rich. Beyond anyone's imagination rich. He is a king of the casinos, at the top of the one percent, able to blow ten thousand dollars like it is pennies.

And Ibrahim wants something. That something is the wife of Josh..Joan.

Joan is beautiful. And from the moment Ibrahim sees her, he desires her. So he makes Josh an offer. One million dollars for a night with his wife.

And that is where the destruction starts.

Indecent proposal explores so much. Money and status. How much is to much? And will having money satisfy you in the most basic of ways?

Adultery. Can a marriage ever be the same after infidelity? Is it infedelity if the husband consents? And is it prostitution? Can one just take the money and move on?

The fact that Josh is Jewish and Ibrahim is an Arab is fascinating and the cultural themes are explored deeply as well. You can see them in the men's interactions.

Is this "deal" doable? Or will it taint their lives forever? Destroy their innocence? Will they turn on each other..and themselves?

This book is so much more literary than ever given credit for. And it is also deeply, bitterly painful. Because this chapter of their lives will change them in ways they never could have anticipated.

I consider the book a five and the movie a 2. Rarely have I disliked a movie version to this extreme. I read the book way before seeing the movie but seriously the movie was fluff. The book is not. Read it. It is completely and utterly outstanding.

Five fantastic stars. ( )

De uitdaging van de million dollar question. Natuurlijk is het boek een must read als je de film gezien hebt. Heel intensief en tja...ik denk voor menigeen een minder moeilijke keuze als voor het kopel in dit boek ( )

wildly fast paced adventure set against the backdrop of casino gambling and the centuries old battle of the Jewish people for their homeland. nerve-cracking tension accompanies the protagonist, an Israeli war veteran, agonizing over the proposal of an Arab billionaire...and its aftermath. vivid, engrossing reading from start to finish, CONSIDERABLY deeper than the blockbuster movie. ( )