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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
beautifully written... i love the honesty about being jealous and to a point of hating a best friend. i didnt drown in the world which is why i didnt love the book itself.. but the 4 stars is really for the level of writing. im sure if i read it or in a different time in my life i could have a stronger connection to it.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-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:
No
I read this book for school, I enjoyed the writing and it is probably one of the best mandatory books I’ve read. Bought my own copy of it just to have in my book case
This was my son Alex's book. He was supposed to read it in 7th grade, he's 22 now; it's probably 10 years or so that it's been on my shelves. He did seemingly read to about page 40, but abandoned it there. Shame.
It is an amazing book, especially for young boys, but equally good for mothers of boys. Boys are exceedingly difficult to understand; as a mother of 3, I often scratched my head and said, "now explain to me again, just what were you thinking?"
In this very well written book, we find ourselves in an exclusive, all boys' school, during WWII. The boys are at once close and detached, smart and knuckle brained, generous and selfish, kind and evil. Gene Forrester is a very smart 17 year old, his roommate Finny, an outgoing, daredevil, is a better athlete than student. The story is narrated by Gene who looks back on his school years as an adult and tries to figure out what happened that last year. He explores the dynamics between himself and Finn, both the positive and negative pull that Finn exerted on him, as so often happens in adolescent friendships, there was dominance and resentment, perceived and real.
The writing is exceptional and the underlying mechanisms of adolescent boys remarkable. I only wish I had read this one 10 years ago!!
It is an amazing book, especially for young boys, but equally good for mothers of boys. Boys are exceedingly difficult to understand; as a mother of 3, I often scratched my head and said, "now explain to me again, just what were you thinking?"
In this very well written book, we find ourselves in an exclusive, all boys' school, during WWII. The boys are at once close and detached, smart and knuckle brained, generous and selfish, kind and evil. Gene Forrester is a very smart 17 year old, his roommate Finny, an outgoing, daredevil, is a better athlete than student. The story is narrated by Gene who looks back on his school years as an adult and tries to figure out what happened that last year. He explores the dynamics between himself and Finn, both the positive and negative pull that Finn exerted on him, as so often happens in adolescent friendships, there was dominance and resentment, perceived and real.
The writing is exceptional and the underlying mechanisms of adolescent boys remarkable. I only wish I had read this one 10 years ago!!
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
What can I say, I'm a sucker for mid-century coming of age stories at New England prep schools. This is a beautifully written book about the jealousies and ugliness inside of us that we project onto others on the personal and global scale. I am glad I picked it up again after so many years.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another tutoring book that ended up surprising me. I think this is one of those cases of the right book coming to you at the right time. I think if I'd been assigned this book at 15 I would've hated it, but in the context of being a year out of college and looking back on a pandemic finale to it all, this book resonated with me.