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notesurfer's review against another edition
Boy's Life is a nostalgic magical realism retelling of boyhood adventures. The prose is excellent - evocative and straightforward. Some of the metaphors are a bit too straightforward in fact. And the tone is excessively romanticizing: the 60's, childhood, the American South, everything is painted with vivid importance and the gentleness of retrospect. There is an overarching lore building with each story, but it's taken too long to develop and the individual stories don't have much to say beyond "Hey, remember when? Wasn't that great?" It's just a bit too indulgent for me to bear.
nick77's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
amybrooklyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
alfsan's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it. There are so many similarities in character development, story, mystery and overall feeling, to Stephen king. I mean this as a compliment.
It's one great coming of age story with the quirks of a 12 year old and buddies. Fun time, tragedy, sunburn, etc.
I enjoyed it a lot. As with any book, it depends 100% on the reader and their moment in life. For me, I'm glad I read this adventurous tale that gives me that "12 year old look on life perspective" where you want and can do anything.
It's one great coming of age story with the quirks of a 12 year old and buddies. Fun time, tragedy, sunburn, etc.
I enjoyed it a lot. As with any book, it depends 100% on the reader and their moment in life. For me, I'm glad I read this adventurous tale that gives me that "12 year old look on life perspective" where you want and can do anything.
oporst's review
4.0
Fantastic prose and I loved each individual scene, but this book felt more like a series of sometimes loosely connected vignettes when I wanted it to feel like a novel. This probably adds to the realism aspect of its magical realism - a style it executes brilliantly - but it just didn't fit my personal preference. I prefer it when novels don't feel like a series of detours away from the main plot.
Despite my personal storytelling tastes not being fully aligned with Boy's Life, I also recognize how good it is at what it's going for. The characters and their dynamics are believable, as is the portrayal of life in a small town as a boy in the 60s. Furthermore, I want to believe in the magical aspects of this story; they just feel right.
I recommend Boy's Life to fans of IT and To Kill A Mockingbird, and really anyone who likes coming-of-age or magical realism stories.
Despite my personal storytelling tastes not being fully aligned with Boy's Life, I also recognize how good it is at what it's going for. The characters and their dynamics are believable, as is the portrayal of life in a small town as a boy in the 60s. Furthermore, I want to believe in the magical aspects of this story; they just feel right.
I recommend Boy's Life to fans of IT and To Kill A Mockingbird, and really anyone who likes coming-of-age or magical realism stories.
cathik411's review against another edition
4.0
A very good coming of age story with a little murder mystery thrown in set in Alabama in the 1960’s.
billymac1962's review against another edition
5.0
This is the second Robert McCammon novel I've read. The last one was many many moons ago, Swan Song, and the similarities to Stephen King's The Stand were somewhat warranted. Some reviewers like to also draw comparisons of Boy's Life to King's The Body, but I would imagine if Swan Song had never been written, this comparison would not come up.
This is a coming of age novel, and simply speaking, this animal is a cliche in itself. To complain of this being a knockoff of King, Harper Lee, Dan Simmons (Summer of Night) is like slamming Zeppelin for ripping off delta blues licks. It is what it is.
What it is, is one of the best novels I've read. McCammon has a big bag of goodies, and he pulls out every one of them and throws them into this story of a 12 year old boy from 1964 Zephyr, Alabama. There are tinges of horror, fantasy, the supernatural, and a mystery that takes us through the whole story. The backdrop of 1964 Alabama is a telling of the coming of age of America, as well. Racism, Rock N Roll, Progress, Vietnam, these are all facts of life that are lurking around the corners of carefree, simpler times.
If there were any gripes about the novel, I'd say that some of the boys' dialogue was a little awkward. There are also two plot developments where I could not accept these characters doing this or allowing that, and there are the inevitable cliches that come with any coming of age story.
Any other novel, and I would knock a star off. I can't do that here. No way.
Boy's Life was a novel I could not wait to get back into. I would crave the coming weekend where I could finally get a few non-stop hours with Cory and his friends and adventures.
There are times when you read a novel that had been so good to be into that it takes forever to write a review. That's what's happening here. I'm trying way too hard and the words aren't coming naturally. I don't want to overhype it,yet I really want to convince people to read it.
The story's not without its flaws. But the experience of being "in it" is just, well, really nice.
Maybe it was just what I needed at the time, but, with a 5-star average rating at Amazon, with over a hundred ratings, I guess everyone else got that, too.
The Goodreads average stays high with my two-cents worth. I loved it.
This is a coming of age novel, and simply speaking, this animal is a cliche in itself. To complain of this being a knockoff of King, Harper Lee, Dan Simmons (Summer of Night) is like slamming Zeppelin for ripping off delta blues licks. It is what it is.
What it is, is one of the best novels I've read. McCammon has a big bag of goodies, and he pulls out every one of them and throws them into this story of a 12 year old boy from 1964 Zephyr, Alabama. There are tinges of horror, fantasy, the supernatural, and a mystery that takes us through the whole story. The backdrop of 1964 Alabama is a telling of the coming of age of America, as well. Racism, Rock N Roll, Progress, Vietnam, these are all facts of life that are lurking around the corners of carefree, simpler times.
If there were any gripes about the novel, I'd say that some of the boys' dialogue was a little awkward. There are also two plot developments where I could not accept these characters doing this or allowing that, and there are the inevitable cliches that come with any coming of age story.
Any other novel, and I would knock a star off. I can't do that here. No way.
Boy's Life was a novel I could not wait to get back into. I would crave the coming weekend where I could finally get a few non-stop hours with Cory and his friends and adventures.
There are times when you read a novel that had been so good to be into that it takes forever to write a review. That's what's happening here. I'm trying way too hard and the words aren't coming naturally. I don't want to overhype it,yet I really want to convince people to read it.
The story's not without its flaws. But the experience of being "in it" is just, well, really nice.
Maybe it was just what I needed at the time, but, with a 5-star average rating at Amazon, with over a hundred ratings, I guess everyone else got that, too.
The Goodreads average stays high with my two-cents worth. I loved it.