Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Project X by JIM SHEPARD ISBN: 1-4000-4071-X Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 27 January, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.38 (8 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Very well done, couldn't put it down
Comment: I picked up PROJECT X based on the subject matter and could not put it down. I've read books that attempt to approximate the real language of adolescents, but this one was seamless; the author is really talented to be able to do it so flawlessly. It was very accessible, at times funny and heartbreaking, and I really wanted to see what happened.
Edwin's affection for his kid brother, and his ambivalence toward everything, was touching. So many times, he wanted to reach out, but this really shows the situation he was mired in. I read it all in one sitting and really enjoyed it. The only thing I wasn't sure I liked was the ending, but I could understand the point of it - I can live with it. To be able to pull this off, the author is clearly very talented. It was the first book of his I've read, but I'll check out the others.
Rating: 5
Summary: Let the Shepard Guide Us
Comment: To Richie the Reviewer: Project X is not Young Adult Fiction. It is a work of literary fiction about young adults, and with all due respect, there is a big difference. After reading your review, I question whether or not you've ever been a teenager (and whether you really read this book). Is it surprising that the teenage narrator of this book continually feels misunderstood by the adults in his life? And does it really shock you that some schools have Draconian disciplinary policies? I was a junior in public high school when Columbine happened, and believe me, everything changed: Students were constantly monitored, dissent was not tolerated, suspensions and expulsions were handed out for seemingly insignificant things (junior high students who pointed their index finger like it was a gun, high school girls who carried Tylenol in their purses).
Project X takes a chance that other school shooting stories don't: It shows the two perpetrators as human-- as loving and terrified and confused children. And that, I believe, is what makes this story so compelling and ultimately rewarding.
Rating: 5
Summary: A compelling and disturbing tale
Comment: I don't think it is revealing much to say that this work deals with a pair of grade eight students who are planning a school shooting. Knowing this from the beginning, the real depth of the book comes from its careful examination of the daily lives of the protagonist and his only "friend", aptly named Flake. Each tiny insult, misunderstood comment, rejected overture, failed attempt by parents and teachers alike to reach out to the kids is horrifying, since the accumulation of events is weighing so heavily on the boys and we can guess at the most likely outcome.
Anyone who remembers the confusing times of their teen years will immediately identify with what happens in this book, and while they may have emerged relatively unscathed, it is all to easy to see how a tiny minority of kids just can't deal with the confusion and pressure of "young adulthood".
While reading I kept wishing that I could just sit the kids down and say "hey, what is happening may seem soul destroying and never ending, but once you get through this phase you'll realize how little impact any of what is happening to you now will have on the rest of your life".
The author has done an excellent job of pulling you into the story and has created a book that is almost impossible to put down. Days later I still feel disturbed, but I still highly recommend the book. Should be on the reading list of all grade eight kids, accompanied by a thorough discussion afterwards.
 |
Title: Love and Hydrogen : New and Selected Stories by JIM SHEPARD ISBN: 1400033497 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 27 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
 |
Title: Old School by TOBIAS WOLFF ISBN: 0375401466 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 04 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
 |
Title: Vernon God Little: A 21st Century Comedy in the Presence of Death by D. B. C. Pierre ISBN: 1841954608 Publisher: Canongate Books Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title: The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer ISBN: 0374128715 Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux Pub. Date: 01 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
 |
Title: Little Children : A Novel by Tom Perrotta ISBN: 0312315716 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
