History Literature / BToTheFTheNovelizationOfTheFeatureFilm

* EveryoneHasStandards: The only reason why Ryan did this at ''all'' [[http://ryannorth.tumblr.com/post/146613077714/are-you-ever-going-to-do-another-b-to-the-f-type was because George Gipe was dead]].

* ForWantOfANail: At one point, we get to see what would've happened if Marty pulled the "flux capacitor" card ''[[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/21209877188/page-119-120 early]]'' when talking to the 1955 Doc for the first time. The end result is that when the 1955 Doc slams the door in his face, Marty has nothing to say to convince him. Ultimately, after [[spoiler:going back to Hill Valley and seeing "[[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/21270911628/page-121 The Atomic Kid]]" and taking a nap, [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes, really]]]], Marty [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/21325259046/so-marty-drives-the-delorean-over-to-docs-place decides to drive the DeLorean]] to the Brown Mansion to show him.

Everyone knows the story of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': teenager Marty [=McFly=] goes back in time from 1985 to 1955, interrupts his parents' first meeting, jeopardizes his existence in the process, so on, so forth, and what have you.

If you thought you knew ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' before, hold on to your hats...

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375158174/page-16 Ryan mentions]] that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180325020418/http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ his brother]] tried holding onto the back of a vehicle while skateboarding, like Marty does in the film. The end result was that [[spoiler:he fell while the vehicle was still moving, and "got road rash on his chest SO BADLY that the pavement literally grated a nipple off[[note]][[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375460178/actually-it-was-only-mostly-scraped-off-it-was mostly, actually]][[/note]] and he had to go to the hospital"]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Ryan [[https://btothef.tumblr.com/post/16849742681/page-4-5 initially believes]] that school disciplinarians like Mr. Strickland only exist in movies. [[https://btothef.tumblr.com/post/16922907452/mr-stricklands-job-a-real-thing A fan subsequently wrote in]] saying that their aunt works as a "Mistress of Discipline" at a Catholic school.

Well... actually, not ''everyone'' knows that story, or at least the '''finalized''' version. One particular person, George Gipe[[note]]who novelized several other movies and co-wrote two film comedies with Creator/CarlReiner and Creator/SteveMartin[[/note]], was more familiar with the draft he was given in 1984 so he could write [[Literature/BackToTheFuture the novelization]]. Soon after submitting his manuscript, he died from an allergic reaction from a bee sting.

Well... actually, not ''everyone'' knows that story, or at least the '''finalized''' version. One particular person, George Gipe[[note]]who novelized several other movies and co-wrote two film comedies with Creator/CarlReiner and Creator/SteveMartin[[/note]], was more familiar with the draft he was given in 1984 so he could write [[Literature/BackToTheFuture the novelization]].

[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Yes.]] He wrote the novelization ''[[EarlyDraftTieIn before]]'' the movie was finalized.

And then he was stung to death by bees soon after submitting his manuscript.

[[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer Again, yes.]][[note]]Gipe was allergic to bees; he got stung by one in Glendale, California and died from the allergic reaction. He was DOA at the hospital.[[/note]]

* UnfortunateImplications: [[invoked]]
** [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19573390832/page-60-63-chapter-four-begins-with-the-obvious Page 63]], [[spoiler:the most racist page of the novelization]].
** [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/25435732570/page-199 Page 199]]. Just... page 199.
--->Doc "senses Marty's mental turmoil" and asks him what the deal is, and Marty says "I guess it's this whole thing with my mother" and [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/25363467824/page-198 oh boy we will have deal with THAT tomorrow! It is actually a whole thing! It's kinda awful!]]

** [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19573390832/page-60-63-chapter-four-begins-with-the-obvious The coverage]] of [[spoiler:[[UnfortunateImplications the most racist page in the novelization]]]] ends on this note:

[[CompletelyMissingThePoint I am Marty Quest II!]]

* CrazyAwesome: [[invoked]] This is Ryan's reaction to Marty worrying that Doc will wind up in "[[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19397627695/doc-recharges-the-delorean-with-more-plutonium-and a society of robots that takes [him] prisoner]]":

* RealityEnsues: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375158174/page-16 Ryan mentions]] that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180325020418/http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ his brother]] tried holding onto the back of a vehicle while skateboarding, like Marty does in the film. The end result was that [[spoiler:he fell while the vehicle was still moving, and "got road rash on his chest SO BADLY that the pavement literally grated a nipple off[[note]][[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375460178/actually-it-was-only-mostly-scraped-off-it-was mostly, actually]][[/note]] and he had to go to the hospital"]].

[[ShockingSwerve And then he was stung to death by bees soon after submitting his manuscript.]]

* ASimplePlan: Originally, Ryan was simply going to talk about 20 pages that he had dog-eared that interested him for various reasons. Instead, he wound up talking about the whole novelization page-by-page, which [[{{Irony}} ultimately]] (at least going by the [=ebook=]) wound up being ''longer'' than it.

* FauxHTMLTags: When Ryan [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/23940972532/let-me-summarize-the-fight-scene-for-you describes]] the brief scuffle between Marty and Biff in Lou's Cafe after George's attempt to ask Lorraine out.

* AntiquatedLinguistics: Ryan constantly points out instances of the novel using these, often dubbing them "old-man-itis". He, in particular, enjoyed the use of the word "[[spoiler: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/tagged/suzerainty suzerainty]]]]".

* RealityEnsues: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375158174/page-16 Ryan mentions]] that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180325020418/http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ his]] [[http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ brother]] tried holding onto the back of a vehicle while skateboarding, like Marty does in the film. The end result was that [[spoiler:he fell while the vehicle was still moving, and "got road rash on his chest SO BADLY that the pavement literally grated a nipple off[[note]][[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375460178/actually-it-was-only-mostly-scraped-off-it-was mostly, actually]][[/note]] and he had to go to the hospital"]].

* GivingUpOnLogic: Discussed: the scene where Marty escapes from detention is ''so'' far removed from the realm of logic, that not only does Ryan hypothesize that this exact scene caused the entire script to be rewritten outright, but also, as stated above, Ryan presents the scene as a point-and-click adventure game, as it is the only way for Marty's actions to even make ''some'' amount of sense.

* RageQuit: "[[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19626038618/page-64-67-marty-had-never-been-shot-at-before Marty Quest II]]" comes to an abrupt end when Ryan gets fed up:
-->> can’t say i care to!! QUIT\\

** Ryan has a theory that Gipe was / thought he was paid by the word, and really, ''it shows''...

** What adds credence to Ryan's theory is that the last two chapters of the book speed through the [[RaceAgainstTheClock clocktower scene]] and the ending. And that amounts to ''twenty pages'' altogether.

* LiteralMetaphor: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19573390832/page-60-63-chapter-four-begins-with-the-obvious The coverage]] of [[spoiler:[[UnfortunateImplications the most racist page in the novelization]]]] ends on this note:
-->"a swarthy character resembling Yasser Arafat leaned out. He threw up an AK 47 submachine gun and opened fire."\\

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Well, not ''adaptation'' personality change, as the book was clearly written before the movie's script got to final draft status. Still, the characters act quite differently in comparison to their movie counterparts:
** Marty is not only a {{Jerkass}} half the time, he's an annoying smart-ass who [[MouthyKid sasses]] damn near everybody he comes across, including his supposed [[VitriolicBestBuds "best friend"]] Doc. He also says stupid things and makes a ''lot'' of idiotic decisions, almost to the point of an IdiotHero.
** A major one for Doc when it comes to the [=DeLorean=]. In the movie, he invents it 'cause he's a man of ''science!'' In the book? He invents it because he wants to get [[TheyCalledMeMad back at all the people who said mean things to him.]] Way to dilute Doc's {{Crazy Awesome}}ness...
** Lorraine is stupider here than in the movie, making her more of a BrainlessBeauty. She has a thing for emotional manipulation, too -- she basically ''forces'' Marty to take her to the dance by guilt-tripping him into it.
** It's worth noting that as this novel was based upon an early draft script, it would have predating the casting of the lead roles, and Marty was famously recast a month after filming began. All this means that Gipe would not have been able to base any characterizations on the actors - or, at least, not Michael J. Fox as Marty.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Part of [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17319973021/pages-13-15 Marty's plan]] to escape detention involves using a mirror to refract sunlight onto a matchbook, setting it ''on fire''.

* {{Badbutt}}: Marty is a weird {{Zig Zagged|Trope}} version. He swears more often and is more smart-assy than in the movie, but he uses some odd-for-a-cool-80s-teen turns of phrase, like "Eureka!" and "milquetoast." This is more a side affect of Gipe being from an older generation, though.

* BrainlessBeauty: Lorraine. She's a lot more airheaded here than in the movie.

* DarkerAndEdgier: In a few aspects:
** Marty is a weird combination of this and {{badbutt}}; see above for more information.
** While the movie deliberately shies away from [[spoiler:calling Marty's plan and Biff's gestures involving Lorraine a rape]], the book comes right out and says it. [[spoiler:Assault, too.]]
** There's a weird deleted scene where Doc ogles a woman in an 80s copy of ''Magazine/{{Playboy}}''.
** When Marty does his "Darth Vader, Planet Vulcan" thing, he ''chloroforms'' his dad after the fact.
*** Fun fact? The above two moments ''are '''actual''' deleted scenes from the movie''.

* TheDitz: ''Almost everyone'' in the book says or does something really stupid at some point. It's not so bad in Biff and Lorraine's case, as they're supposed to be not very bright, but it's very bad whenever Marty and Doc ''of all people'' decide to do something stupid.

* ExpospeakGag: Rhythmic ceremonial ritual, which was also in the movie.

* FemmeFatale: A female Libyan named Uranda (she wasn't in the movie).
* FlatCharacter: Jennifer. She's there to spout a couple awkward lines of dialogue[[note]](which were thankfully not in the movie)[[/note]] in the beginning, and that's about it.

* IdiotHero: Marty. There's a reason why Ryan calls him "thick" several times.

* InsistentTerminology:
** The Libyans are consistently referred to as terrorists.
** The band playing at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance are ''black musicians''.
** InUniverse (that is, not the narrator), Marty constantly calls his dad a nerd.
* {{Jerkass}}: Biff, Marty, and sometimes Doc.

* LawOfConservationOfDetail: Repeatedly averted. The third-person omniscient narrator goes on and on about pointless detail that has nothing to do with the characters or story. For example, it describes one of the Libyans' personalities.

* LudicrousPrecision: Like in the movie, Doc brings up that "it's taken [him] almost thirty years and [his] entire family fortune to fulfill the vision of that day". Unlike the movie, Doc actually ''pulls out a calculator to do the math''. And what he comes up with... [[WritersCannotDoMath well...]]
* MindScrew: Of the unintentional variety.
* MouthyKid: Marty. (Thankfully) toned down in the movie.
* {{Narrator}}: An omniscient one, at that.
* NewspaperDating: Subverted. Marty realizes he's in 1955 by looking at the time circuits. He confirms by turning on the [=DeLorean=]'s radio.

* OedipusComplex: Seemingly played straight, hilariously (and weirdly) enough. Marty continually insults his father, calling him a nerd every chance he gets (Ryan goes as far as to use the phrase "nerd racist"), and hating him for his severe lack of a spine. While he does insult his mom as well, and expresses disbelief at Doc's creepy "She hasn't given birth to you ''yet,'' so it's O.K. to get down and dirty with her" comments, during the actual make-out scene with her, he seriously gets ''into'' it. The movie, on the other hand, falls on the side of inversion. Ahhh, the things that change when you script doctor a movie...

** In the beginning of the novel, unlike the movie, Doc says he got the idea for the time machine by having a dream about the [=DeLorean=] many years ago. (This brings up [[VoodooShark a LOT of questions]] regarding what relationship Doc had with John [=DeLorean=], by the way.) However, later on, when Marty meets the 1955 Doc, he says he got the idea for the ''flux capacitor,'' not the [=DeLorean=], which admittedly makes much more sense.
** [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/21209877188/page-119-120 The 1955 Doc picks up his Brain-wave Analyzer]] after learning UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan is President in 1985... and it's intact, despite Doc having smashed it '''[[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/20965807440/page-116-117 three pages ago]]''':

* PoliceAreUseless: Averted. The police actually come at the end to arrest the Libyans.

* RealityEnsues:
** Arguably the reason for the weirdly slow pacing at various points. It's more realistic for Marty to sit around and wait all day to see his father after school, than it is for him to meet and talk to George about Lorraine immediately. An example of TropesAreNotGood, as the slowed-down pacing [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality takes away from the suspense and drama of the story.]]
--->Gipe’s basing this novel on a screenplay, and you’ve got to love a plot for a movie that slows down SO MUCH that the main character actually gets bored and starts killing time by HIMSELF WATCHING A MOVIE. And then after the movie he’s still bored so he goes for a walk and then has nappy times.\\
It’s - kind of amazing?
** [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375158174/page-16 Ryan mentions]] that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20180325020418/http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ his]] [[http://itsallmartysfault.tumblr.com/ brother]] tried holding onto the back of a vehicle while skateboarding, like Marty does in the film. The end result was that [[spoiler:he fell while the vehicle was still moving, and "got road rash on his chest SO BADLY that the pavement literally grated a nipple off[[note]][[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17375460178/actually-it-was-only-mostly-scraped-off-it-was mostly, actually]][[/note]] and he had to go to the hospital"]].

* VitriolicBestBuds:
** Say, you know how Marty and Doc are friends? ''Kinda hard to tell here...''

** Doc, in particular, likes to put Marty down a lot; when he gives him the [[ExpospeakGag rhythmic ceremonial ritual]] speech, Marty is confused, so Doc quickly adds - "Dance, ''to you''." Marty also insults the 1955 Doc by telling him [[BrutalHonesty straight up]] that his mind-reading device won't work.

* WritersCannotDoMath: [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/17774012405/page-26-27 Minor contradiction aside]], when Doc checks to see if it ''really has'' been 30 years since he got the idea for the time machine[[note]]reminder: the dates being compared are November 5th 1955 and October 26th 1985[[/note]], [[http://btothef.tumblr.com/post/19235039130/so-here-on-page-55-doc-points-out-the-flux Doc gets "twenty-nine years, eleven months, and 355 days"]]. ...except the ''actual'' difference is 29 years, 11 months, and '''21''' days. Gipe is off by almost ''an entire year''. Ryan imagines a weird number system inspired by Doc's faulty math.