Robert Cormier
Paperback | Pages: 208 pages Rating: 3.81 | 2305 Users | 197 Reviews
Describe Epithetical Books We All Fall Down
| Title | : | We All Fall Down |
| Author | : | Robert Cormier |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 208 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 1993 by Laurel Leaf (first published 1991) |
| Categories | : | Young Adult. Fiction. Literature. Banned Books. Mystery. Teen |
Description In Favor Of Books We All Fall Down
★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 We All Fall Down marks only the second Young Adult book that I’ve ever read and the first I’ve read by choice. The first novel, not surprising, was by the same author, which I read more than a decade ago--maybe closer to two decades--when I was trapped some place (I don’t even remember where) and Fade was the only book available. I liked enough of what I read in the time available that I later found another copy and finished the book. I’d remembered Robert Cormier’s name and some years back bought We All Fall Down. I had not been exploring the YA section but since there was nothing on the front cover to indicate otherwise, it had been shelved out of place. A contributing factor may have the back cover’s encapsulation of the book. It read like a crime novel. It’s part of the reason Cormier had been considered a controversial author. He tended to cover adult subjects in his YA books. He argued: “Every topic is open, however shocking. It is the way that the topics are handled that's important, and that applies whether it is a 15-year-old who is reading your book or someone who is 55.” We All Fall Down opens with four teenagers vandalizing an upper middle class house with nobody home. That changes when the 14-year-old daughter returns alone at the wrong time. Immediately we witness how Cormier flirted with adult themes. Two of the boys hold her arms as the leader, older and more vicious, drops his pants. Angered when she fights back and then tries to run, he pushes her down the basement stairs, the results of which leave her in a coma. The fourth boy, the least culpable of the invaders, watches the encounter from start to finish from the second floor. The girl’s eyes find him and beg for help, and he is unable to move. We will follow him as he tries to deal with varying degrees of guilt. The second of the three viewpoint characters is the family’s oldest daughter, two years older than her sister. What was done to her house, and particularly to her room, disrupts her life at a critical time in her emotional development. The final player is a voyeur who had convinced himself that he was part of this house, of this family. He witnesses the entire event and--as he'd already christened himself “The Avenger” when prowling--he swears vengeance. His revenge, however, has a significant hurdle to overcome. As the first sentence from one of his early scenes explains:The problem with being an eleven-year-old Avenger was just that: being eleven years old and an Avenger.Because the main characters each carry what seems to them to be substantial and deep-seated anguish (or at least the two that do not consider themselves an avenger do), it’s natural to suspect what follows will be a novel of introspection. While teenagers and angst tend to mix well in fiction, the story does open out include families and, in some cases, the past. There is movement, and through cause and effect their worlds begin to intersect, all in believable and interesting ways. But eventually it will wind down to only these three, initially a confrontation between just two of them, but with results that will deeply affect the third. Which is where, had I not been so invested, I might have had cause to be wary. The other primary reason Robert Cormier was considered controversial was that things often did not turn out well for his protagonists. Not only did they not win, they often lost. Often suffered losses. I felt the conclusion rendered here was appropriate. “Happily Ever After” and “Deep Tragedy” need not be the only choices. We All Fall Down finds satisfaction somewhere in the middle.
Define Books Toward We All Fall Down
| Original Title: | We All Fall Down |
| ISBN: | 0440215560 (ISBN13: 9780440215561) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Harry Flowers, Jane Jerome, Karen Jerome, Buddy Walker |
| Literary Awards: | California Young Readers Medal for Young Adult (1994) |
Rating Epithetical Books We All Fall Down
Ratings: 3.81 From 2305 Users | 197 ReviewsCritique Epithetical Books We All Fall Down
I think this was a good book, but it was a little bit confusing, because it jumped to different scenes and time period. My favorite character was buddy because he was bad at first when he did the trashing, then he felt bad and found his love of his love jane and became a better person for her.the theme of the story is to not let yourself get into problams because of drinking,because someone is always going to get the truth out of you sooner or later. i think this book should be tought inI'm giving this three stars ("I liked the book"), but I'm not sure that's correct. Did I like it? Who knows. This review is vague to avoid spoilers.I'd never read a Cormier book before, and wanted to remedy that (I'm a bit too old to have read him when I was in high school). I enjoyed the dark plot, and man was it dark--bleak, even. I had that feeling of dread when I was reading--I could tell things were going to end badly for the characters (there was not even a chance, due to their
They entered the house at 9:02 P.M. and trashed their way through the Cape Cod cottage. At 9:46 P.M. Karen Jerome made the mistake of arriving home early. Thrown down the basement stairs, Karen slips into a coma. The trashers slip away.But The Avenger has seen it all.We All Fall down splits the point of view of three people, The Avenger, Jane, and Buddy. All of whom are going through a struggle, and it's not until later in the book for their paths to finally cross.Jane Jerome, the sister of
One night 15-year old Karen Jerome comes home early to find four men trashing her house. When the rest of the family returns home they find the house in ruins. Everything is destroyed: dishes have been smashed, furniture ripped apart, urine stains on the walls and vomit on the carpet. But worst of their discoveries is Karen. Thrown down the basement stairs by the trashers, Karen is now in a coma. Somehow the Jerome family must put the pieces of their shattered life back together, while the
I loved this book! I thought it was absolutely amazing, at least until the end. I know the book was focused on being realistic and unidealistic but i would like to beleive that Jane would have Stayed with Buddy. But I understand why for her that would have been to hard, if the love they felt was real then it should have been able to overcome that. Honestly, the ending made me hate most of the Characters. I do beleive this should continue to be read in Highschool because it does its job of
I really liked this book, it surprised me that I did, but one of the better YA books, not sure why it never gets any attention.
I really liked this book, it surprised me that I did, but one of the better YA books, not sure why it never gets any attention.
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