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Book Reviews Title Holes Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story Stanley Yelnats'
family has a history of bad luck, so he isn't too
surprised when a miscarriage of justice sends him
to a boys' juvenile detention centre. At Camp Green
Lake the boys must dig a hole a day, five feet
deep, five feet across, in the dried up lake bed.
The Warden claims the labour is character building,
but it is a lie. Stanley must dig up the
truth. We
Say This book was
given to me as a present. Quite honestly, I didn't
know what to expect; I hadn't heard of the author
and the back cover blurb didn't really sound like
it was going to conform to my usual type of reading
matter. Nonetheless, on a cold and wet Sunday
afternoon, I settled down to begin. I didn't stand
up again until I had finished. This is clear proof,
if it were needed, that sometimes it's worth taking
a chance. 'Holes' by Louis Sachar is a book that I
will be raving about, to anyone who'll listen, for
the rest of my life. There's nothing
difficult about the language of this story. Your
brain won't get bent out of shape trying to work
its way around convoluted sentences or flowery
descriptions. Everything is told, quite simply, as
it is. The directness of the prose allows you to
feel the heat of the sun, the fatigue of digging a
hole and the bitter thirst at the back of your
throat. However, in direct contrast to this, there
is a romantic sense of destiny and history within
the narrative. Whilst Stanley Yelnats battles just
to survive his tortured present, he is uncovering
the holes of his past. He may even be able to fill
them in once and for all. Without
exception, the characters are an interesting group.
The eleven-year old and overweight Stanley is an
unlikely hero. He has an innocent charm, which is
combined with a strong will and sound moral
judgement. He is the underdog battling against the
sinister plotting of the genuinely scary camp
warden. Even the characters from the past do not
seem to be just flashback extras; they are
colourful and relevant. For such a
seemingly simple story there is an amazing amount
of clever connections and mysteries to be found.
Part of the fun of reading this book is uncovering
these. Louis Sachar reveals them with precise and
powerful timing; you never see anything coming at
you too soon but you are never unpleasantly
shocked. The revelations serve to make things seem
just what they ought to be and leave you wholly
satisfied. Review by: Rachel
Taylor |
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