It made such an impact on me. On one hand I could identify and relate to this teenage boy and share some of his feelings. I-Man liked it because he could sell weed to all the people hanging out there and even had to go back to the ant farm to replenish his supply. It felt so false, so contrived. Russel Banks does a great job of incorporating the crazy experiences of a rebel teen into a book that sounds believable.
Bone saves her from her captor and she lives for some time in the bus with him and I-man. Will Chappie kill his stepfather? Overall, not something I really liked. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995. The flowing nature of this kind of story-telling makes the book difficult to put down, but this style can also fell unpolished and choppy. They each were involved in Bones discovery of independence.
Should I be ok with them? The plot was fantastic and Russell Banks really represented a strong voice for the youth. However it lost me a bit when the action goes to Jamaica - things don't quite ring as true as they do in the gritty and real first half of the book. Instead of being driven by a plan, or by a future, Bone is driven by the primal need of staying alive. Maybe it is another message that you can't change the past just have to work on making the future better and letting go of the pass. He finds Jason cooking that goat on the barbecue and soon starts to tell him about how he killed I-Man. Bone is much more enjoyable and witty, and he stands up for himself, something Holden only thought he was capable of. Russell Banks manges to brilliantly show the other side of life, the people that slide between the cracks and the way the world looks to those that live it in a very matter of fact way.
Bone does not take this easy and feels like his best friend deserted him after contributing to getting him in the difficult situation. It's a coming-of-age story with a young hero making many mistakes and living on the edge of society. They left the airport and walked through a ditch that curved in all sorts of directions, and then they came to a bamboo fence. However, I tend to agree with the bulk of other reviewers who feel the story goes downhill when Bone goes to Jamaica. This novel seems to be an earlier version of Lost Memory of Skin in its depiction of a lost teen age boy. This is a great book with many many surprises that will sneak up on you like a fox and will leave you astonished.
Ken and his mother have separated, and his stepfather is drinking heavily and has trashed the house. Prior to reading this book, I saw the film adaptation of The Sweet Hereafter and listened to Banks speak after. I-Man is Bone's mentor and becomes his closest friend. Personally, this is one of my favorite books and I think you missed some major points. Bone is terrified for his friend, so he quickly finds I-Man and they escape. There are some books that are just so implausible that you cannot suspend disbelief enough to derive any enjoyment from reading them.
I also enjoyed the character, he's far from the usual character. Not yet ready to break with his home completely, he is living in the area and meets two marvelous characters, I-Man, a 50ish Jamaican Rasta man and 7 year old Froggie whose been sold by her mother to a child porn master. It's like feeling contentedly full rather than over stuffed. However, I tend to agree with the bulk of other reviewers who feel the story goes downhill when Bone goes to Jamaica. He leaves his family and squats with some friends a while. One day however, I-Man told Bone to come with him and see the sights of Jamaica. In the first few chapters of the book, Chappie seems like your average, rebellious teenager, looking for ways to gain attention by cutting his hair and getting piercings.
His father says that he has no choice, but to kill him. And this one also provided a character who is an example of someone who knows how to listen. Banks has also written , some of which appear in the collection , as well as poetry. One day, Evening Star and Bone were talking about astronomical signs and she asked him when his birthday was. This is where his journey really begins.
Through out the whole book Russel Banks keeps the novel interesting and fun to read. I kind of hate that the healing balm for the kid's smothered soul comes in the guise of a jamaican rasta dude -- a gimmick to give the story a little exotic flavoring??? I'd even call it a disappointment. He knows his flaws and the world's flaws, but this does not stop him from living the existence he chooses--to be homeless and kind of a mallrat. But this book is not just awfully written though. His story is one of self discovery, maturation, and the loss of innocence.