Holes, by Louis Sachar
Where to buy, Cost and Value
I personally was given this book as a Christmas present a few years ago, but it can be found in all libraries and most book shops such as WHsmiths or Water Stones. The price on the back of my copy is £5.99 but it is a fairly old book and ... Read review
===Where to buy, Cost and Value===
I personally was given this book as a Christmas present a few years ago, but it can be found in all libraries and most book shops such as WHsmiths or Water Stones. The price on the back of my copy is £5.99 but it is a fairly old book and can probably be found for a lower price. However, I think this book is definitely worth its full price, I have read it at least ... ...with it!
===Presentation, Design And Publisher===
The inside of the book has no pictures, but on the outside, is a large piece of desert land, with a hot blue sky and a green lizard with yellow spots lying across the landscape. The book is 230 pages thick, in medium sized print. The front cover was designed by Nathan Burton. On the back cover in large print, is a paragraph about the story and 3 quotes about it written by newspapers. ... more
Holes, by Louis Sachar
Where to buy, Cost and Value
I personally was given this book as a Christmas present a few years ago, but it can be found in all libraries and most book shops such as WHsmiths or Water Stones. The price on the back of my copy is £5.99 but it is a fairly old book and can probably be found for a lower price. However, I think this book is definitely worth its full price, I have read it at least 10 times now and I am still absolutely in love with it!
Presentation, Design And Publisher
The inside of the book has no pictures, but on the outside, is a large piece of desert land, with a hot blue sky and a green lizard with yellow spots lying across the landscape. The book is 230 pages thick, in medium sized print. The front cover was designed by Nathan Burton. On the back cover in large print, is a paragraph about the story and 3 quotes about it written by newspapers. The book was published first in America by Frances Forster Books in 1998, so is recent in the history of books. Two years later in 2000 it was published in the UK by Bloomsbury. Alike many other books, this book is for someone; “To Sherre, Jessica, Lori, Kathleen and Emily And to Judy Allen A fifth-grade teacher from whom we all can learn”
Quotes
“Unmistakably powerful” Phillip Pullman, The Guardian (This quote is displayed on the front cover)
“Written with a crystalline prose and simplicity of style it is startlingly original. There is not one false sentence.” The Independent on Sunday.
“This is a story of friendship with the cleverest of plot twists, and descriptions so vivid you can feel the heat of Stanley’s desert prison burning off the page. A total must-read” The Times.
“An exceptionally funny and generous book that is also a tightly plotted detective novel” The Guardian.
The Story
The back cover reads; “Stanley Yelnets’ 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 . . .”I must say how cleverly the story is written, lots of random stories, from the past 100 years all add up to a big puzzle which Stanley Has To Solve. I’ve never read anything like it, it really is so clever. You Won’t be able to put it down!
Writing Style
The story is written from the writers view, and not like a diary, yet we are let in on the feelings of the different characters. The chapters are only around 2-7 pages long, so if like me you are often are interrupted, you can easily find a good place to finish where you can continue reading later. The story is set in America, and written in American language, but is easily understood, as English And American Language are so alike now. The story I think is suitable for 10years and over. I have read this story last year at school when I was in year 8, and my whole class enjoyed it, especially the film.
Characters
There is such a wide range of characters in this novel, from Fake doctors to a Magical Gypsy. Stanley Yelnets is the main character, a teenage boy of about 15. His family has a curse set on them because of his great, great grandfather who forgot to pay back a Gypsy for her pig. There family will be unlucky for all eternity, until Stanley comes across the Gypsy’s great, great grandson, Zero, and things are about to change for good . . .
The Film
Better or worse?
Most people have a clear idea of which is better when they read a book and watch the film, but I can honestly say I think that they are both equally as brilliant as each other!
Same as the book?
I think that the film has definitely been set exactly to the book. The descriptions have been followed, and the film was exactly how you would imagine. The only thing I think I would change is that the book says Stanley was quite fat, where in the film he’s just average size.
Stars
WARDEN - Sigourney Weaver MR. SIR - Jon Voight MR. PENDANSKI - Tim Blake Nelson STANLEY YELNATS - Shia LaBeouf ZERO - Khleo Thomas SQUID - Jake M. Smith ARMPIT - Byron Cotton X-RAY - Brenden Jefferson MAGNET - Miguel Castro ZIGZAG - Max Kasch BARFBAG - Zane Holtz LUMP - Steve Kozlowski GUARD - Ski Carr CARLA MORENGO - Roma Maffia ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL - Ray Baker STANLEY'S MOTHER - Siobhan Fallon Hogan STANLEY'S FATHER - Henry Winkler GRANDFATHER - Nathan Davis MALE OFFICER - Rick Worthy FEMALE OFFICER - Mary Jo Mecca NOSY LANDLORD - Shelley Malil CLYDE 'SWEETFEET' LIVINGSTON - Rick Fox MRS. SWEETFEET - Nicole Pulliam MADAME ZERONI - Eartha Kitt ELYA YELNATS - Damien Luvara MYRA MENKE - Sanya Mateyas MORRIS MENKE - Ravil Isyanov IGOR BARKOV - Ken Davitian KISSIN' KATE BARLOW - Patricia Arquette TROUT WALKER - Scott Plank SAM - Dule Hill STANLEY THE 1ST - Allan Kolman MR. COLLINGWOOD - Louis Sachar SHERIFF - Eric Peripoint TOWNSMAN IN CLASSROOM - Brian Peck YOUNG LINDA - Melissa Mitchell LINDA - Allison Smith SCHOOL KID - Brooke Eby PROSPECTOR - Gary Bullock PARTNER - Jeff Ricketts DOC - Paul Norwood
Conclusion
Overall, I think this is a wonderful book with a great film to match and I am so glad I was given this book; it would make a perfect Christmas for any Teenager. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read so . . . enjoy!
Advantages: Beautifully written and crafted yarn Disadvantages: Not a thing!
...hard, concrete-like surface. Digging holes is supposed to be a character building exercise. “If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy”, is the motto! Various dangers abound, including rattlesnakes and scorpions. But these are not the most dangerous perils, as the author graphically describes to us. “Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing ... ...Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake. Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent, instead of having to dig a hole out on the lake. But you don't want to get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. That's the worst thing that can happen to you. You will die a slow and painful death. Always.” And the deadly yellow-spotted lizards like to live in the shade provided by the holes! ~ ~ ...
the_mad_cabbie 12.05.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Holes - Louis Sachar
Advantages: A skillful mix of styles and influences, memorable characters. Disadvantages: The narrative reaches great heights, but can't quite keep them up.
...strong narrative pulling it along, Holes appeals across the age range. Although ostensibly a tale of mystery and endurance, Holes appeals so strongly because of the way in which it weaves a multitude of other themes and styles into the storytelling. Wild-West backstories, European folklore and a hint of black comedy pepper the narrative, adding depth and substance to the novel and giving a sense of life beyond the limits of the pages. The book also ... ...upon them. Holes is an entertaining, exceedingly well-written novel that moves along at a pace sufficient to keep most readers rapt. If there's a weakness it's that it moves away from its most effective sections - those spent digging the eponymous holes - rather sooner than one might wish. Though the novel gains in terms of progressing the plot, it takes awhile before it can again reach for the heights of this part of the book, where Sachar paints ...
Puggers 24.03.2009
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Holes - Louis Sachar
Advantages: Wonderful, deceptively simple writing style, bags of humour. Disadvantages: For adults? Maybe the neat ending. For children? Absolutely none!
...having fun, Stanley is digging holes at a juvenile correction centre. Camp Green Lake isn't fun. Digging holes that are precisely five feet wide, five feet long and five feet deep isn't fun either. Up at 4.30am, the boys at Green Lake must each dig such a hole, out in the heat of the desert, before he can return to camp and rest. It's thirsty, exhausting work. And Stanley does wonder what good it does in rehabilitating Green Lake's young inmates. ... ...I guess you could call Holes a great big tall story. It's certainly wrapped like that. Part comic delivery, part mystery story, part rumination on the justice system, part larger-than-life fable, it's a fabulous little book. According to the back cover The Independent on Sunday said, "There is not one false sentence." They were quite right. Louis Sachar has an admirable writing style, full of short sentences, accurate vocabulary and a wonderfully ...
jillmurphy 08.08.2003 (13.08.2003)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Holes - Louis Sachar
Advantages: Funny, easy to read, addictive with a clever plot twist Disadvantages: I've finshed redaing it!
...in Texas which is where Holes is set.
~ The Plot ~
"Being bitten by a scorpion or even a rattlesnake is not the worst thing that can happen to you. You won't die.
Usually.
Sometimes a camper will try to be bitten by a scorpion, or even a small rattlesnake. Then he will get to spend a day or two recovering in his tent, instead of having to dig a hole out on the lake.
But you don't want to get bitten by a yellow-spotted lizard. That's the worst ... ...when they had to dig holes day in day out under the hot sun. I became particularly fond of Stanley and the fact that the story of great-grandfather is being told along side the modern day one made it more exciting. I also became attached to Zero, Stanley's best friend at the camp. When he runs away it upset me and I wanted to carry on reading to find out what happened to him.
It was like slotting a jigsaw puzzle together when reading the book. You ...
bluejules 02.02.2006
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Holes - Louis Sachar
Advantages: Very very good book Disadvantages: Even better as a film; worse as a cash-in companion volume
...to the phenomenon that is Holes the wrong way around, in that he saw the film before he read the book. However the film was so good ~ a joyous telling of a brilliant story of circumstance, fate and odd segments of plot roped together to form a seemingly miraculous whole ~ that the book was a must~read. And although the film was never as successful as it should have been, the book was eventually everywhere ~ even in the original 100 in the BBC's best ... ...certain that any version of Holes can be very highly recommended.
The film tie~in version of Holes, from Bloomsbury, features cover~art to match the cinema release, and eight pages of colour photographs from the film and film set. It bears the price £5.99 and the ISBN 0~7475~6366~7. It can be found cheaper on amazon's marketplace, but not by much, most people seem reluctant to pass this one on…
* * * * *
There is no sequel planned, and there can’t ...
theediscerning 09.01.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Holes - Louis Sachar
Would you read it again?
Story
Characters
Readability
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Holes - Louis Sachar"
Advantages: Great plot, Ideal for any age Disadvantages: £ Was expensive £
This is a fantastic follow-up to Holes by LouisSachar. It tells the story of Armpit and X-Ray, two friends who were at the hole-digging camp in Holes together. It is told in 3rd person, and whilst being related to Holes, you wouldn't necessarily have to read Holes to understand it; it is a very stand alone book.
Upon returning to Austin, Armpit set five goals fro himself. Five small steps.
# Graduate High School
# Get a Job
# Save his money
# Avoid situations that might turn violent
# And lose the nickname Armpit
In this wonderful, funny and deeply satisfying novel by master storyteller LouisSachar, Armpit finds all his steps becoming much bigger than he had anticipated. When he gets mixed up with his old friend X-Ray in a ticket scam, things look set to unravel. But this is only the beginning of Armpit's troubles, in ...
Advantages: Well written and engaging with excellent characterisation and a good plot Disadvantages: Over too quickly! Abrupt ending which is not altogether satisfying
'Break the ice'
Meet Armpit. He?s not had the best start in life, as you can probably already guess. He?s essentially a good kid who?s had a few unlucky breaks and after getting into a fight over some spilled popcorn at a cinema he was sent to the now infamous ?juvenile correctional facility? known as Camp Green Lake. The facility was more like a slave labour camp run by a cohort of crooked guards who were using the child labour to attempt to uncover a stash of treasure which legend suggested was buried under the long dried out lake bed. The trials and adventures of this story can be found in the widely acclaimed predecessor to this book, ?Holes? (now also a major film), also by LouisSachar. However even if you haven?t previously read Holes, it won?t take you long at all to get deeply involved in the new stage of Armpit ...
Advantages: anarchic, original and funny Disadvantages: could, I suppose, get old quite quickly
If you?re reading this and you?ve heard of LouisSachar, chances are it?s because of the wonderful Holes, a multi-layered and beautiful tale of love and luck and redemption through families. But ask kids in the States, and to them Sachar is much more than that. He?s the author of two extremely popular series? of children?s books, the Marvin Redpost series and this, the Wayside School Series.
I should point out that this is actually the second book in the series but, crucially, I didn?t know that until after I?d finished it. So I?d hazard a guess at saying that while each book in the series appears to lead on from the last, the characters are so well drawn and the plot (or should I say plots?) so anarchic, that each volume can probably be read as a stand-alone book. And indeed I am right about this, because since starting this review ...
When Stanley Yelnats is sent to Camp Green Lake detention centre for a crime he did not commit, life becomes much more of a challenge. First of all, he has to dig a hole a day - as deep as a man - in the baking Texas heat, looking for who knows what. Then, he has to avoid the cruel Mr Sir and the menacing warden. Will Stanley survive in this hostile environment? This is a wonderful, heartwarming, funny and life-affirming novel that is both genuinely original and brilliantly written.
Compare Holes - Louis Sachar to other similar Children's Books »
