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4.32 AVERAGE
4.32 AVERAGE
This is my first McCammon book and I picked it primarily because of the number of five star ratings it has received. Although it is an enjoyable read, I couldn't give it more than three stars. It is a mix of Stephen King's "The Body" or "Stand by Me" (whichever title you are familiar with), "It" (without the scary parts),Dan Simmons' "Summer of Night" (again, without the scary parts), and a murder mystery that nobody really cares to solve. What is good about it is McCammon's stories that don't necessarily follow the main story line. His descriptions of small town living in the sixties reminded me of my own small town experiences from my own childhood (even though I was a child of the eighties!). The murder mystery that the main characters are trying to deal with throughout the book is tidied up in a decent way and overall I was glad I picked this one up.
Absolutely Glorious, I just don't have the words to explain just how amazing this book is.
I really can’t think of a way to properly describe this book. There are so many different aspects that make it the work of art that it is… And, boy, am I going to miss some of the characters.
Boy's Life is my favorite end of summer read - and my favorite coming of age story. Memorable characters set in the South during the early 1960s make this novel more than just a murder mystery-fantasy. A decade ago I wrote that Boy's Life was the book I most wanted to see made into a movie, and I still feel that way. Laugh, cry, identify, hold your breath, and love every page of this one. And an ending that doesn't dissapoint.
This novel delivers a dose of Wonder Years style nostalgia for the sixties along with plenty of monsters and mystery, a truly enjoyable story!
Charming story of a boys life when he was 12 years old in 1964 living in southern Alabama. Murder, magic, friends, school, life, family, loss, more magic. The narrator had the perfect voice. I read this about 25 years ago and I’m glad I picked it up again.
I've read this book at least four times! It makes me feel very young (about 12) and nostalgic for my youth, but it also has a good story and interesting characters. I think it's time to read it again!
This is a beautiful book. Each chapter reads like a short story that tells of another conflict or experience (happy, sad, scary, funny) in a small town in the south. It felt to me a lot like Pat Conroy or William Styron had written it, in terms of being able to read for quite a while in mellow, lyrical, descriptive peace and not worry too much that something terrible was going to happen to the characters. That's not to say that there isn't conflict, danger and sadness--you do get all of those things--but you can really relax and enjoy reading.
First of all, I have to agree with one of the other reviewers that the writing is beautiful. This is the coming of age story of Cory and the mystery that weaves in and out of it involves a dead man that Cory and his father see sink in a car in the local lake. The story is more than that, it's about magic and true evil, good friendships and what people can do to each other, good and bad. I will say that there were a couple parts that made me take out my tissues, which can be embarrassing at work.
Re-read now that I am back in Alabama, this is one of my favorites--McCammon is kind of a campy horror author, but he combines 1965 memoir with the slightly clumsy view of a child to deliver a work of southern gothic magical realism. There are outrageously fantasy elements (a dinosaur? ghost cars?) as well as genuine tragedies (a friend's abusive parent, the presence of the Klan, small town corruption). I will never be able to get through the demonstration with the Beach Boys and satanic monkey in church without laughing out loud--"go on, Satan, show them what's in you!"