Rule of the Bone : Novel, A

Rating:
Summary: Amazing results!
Review: I'm a an innovative teacher with lots of K-college experience, but I recently switched to an "alternative high school." Until I got this book NOTHING worked. This book is "about my students," because they can identify. Their ability is often quite high, but their scope is VERY narrow, and I needed something like this to get their attention. Rule of the Bone features a (very) modern Huck Finn. I would strongly recommend it to any high school teacher, although I think it might cause an altercation between the presenting teacher and the school board at a conventional high school.

Rating:
Summary: Emperor Banks has no clothes!
Review: Yes, Russell Banks is a great writer, but let's give the man back his humanity. Let's assume, just for a moment, that he is capable of writing a stinker. "Rule of the Bone" is probably Bank's once-in-a-lifetime awful book. It's a struggle just to move your eyes across the pages of this book due to Bank's intentionally awful sentence structure. Here is a sample: "In the beginning and all winter I was only dealing small-load weed to the bikers which was cool becaue A, lots of kids in Au Sable were dealing then mostly in school where I never went near anyhow but everywhere around town too so we were like a swarm of flies and it was low-risk to be one of them what with so few swatters." Yes, I fully understand that Banks wrote the book as if a 14 year old had written it, but this same technique was done a century ago by Mark Twain. And Twain did it better. And he used punctuation consistantly. Now, try to imagine getting through 390 pages of this mess without going blind. Simply put, "Rule of Bone" is a gimmick novel for the trendy who like to pretend it's some kind of great work of art. Don't be fooled. Emperor Banks has no clothes. "Rule of the Bone" is a terrible novel.

Rating:
Summary: This is the best book I have ever read
Review: One of the many wonderful things about this book is that Russell Banks can write about children and their rebellious acts and what they are thinking. I am saying this because Banks is in his 50's. The slang he is familiar with, and the no-holding-back in his novels combine with an interesting and catchy story to make this at the least, the most important novel since "CATCHER IN THE RYE". Buy this book, it's a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story---Incredible writing
Review: You can't really describe this book well enough in a review, but it is excellent. Captures a generation very well. And ANYONE who says the writing is "without skill or style" should do themselves a favor and stop reading. Banks, who writes all of his books in the first person, has done a truly amazing job taking on the rambling, slang-infused language of a teenage punk. So good---READ IT.

Rating:
Summary: After picking up this book I learned alot.
Review: This story was about a young middle class teenager named Chappie who is trying yo find his identity. It is about his experiences after he leaves home to make a life of his own. it is about a quest to find someone who cares. He is faced with sex, drugs, and lies. In the end he learns more from three people then he could in a life time because he found hisself.

Rating:
Summary: A modern day classic!
Review: Rule of the Bone was a brilliant symbolic novel of the twentieth century. At times you'll love Bone, at times you'll hate him, but you'll always wonder what he is going to do next. Russel Banks has done a remarkable job at blending characters and using regional dialect that makes the story very realistic. Bone's struggles are an excellent example of how life can change. I reccommend this book to all people particulary the youth of America.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite book
Review: I'm not what you would call an "avid reader". But once I picked up Rule of the Bone I couldn't put it down. I instantly became obsessed with Bone's travels, the lessons he learned, and every experience he had, no matter how strange, frightening, or surprising it was. Since I first read Rule of the Bone in February, I have read it at least 6 more times since then. I recommend it to any reader, even the ones like me, who can't seem to get into reading.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I've read in years.
Review: A brilliant mix of A Catcher in the Rye and Huckleberry Finn. Rings true and real.

Rating:
Summary: Impossible to put down!
Review: The back of the book compares the contents to "Catcher in the Rye," which I liked okay but I had no idea what I was in for when I started in on Bone's adventure. This is such an amazing story! I was totally caught up every word, every action, every everything that Bone experienced. This is really a book kids my age can relate to; Banks uses words in such a way that I felt like I was right there with Bone. I would definitely recommend it to all my friends and anyone else who wants something great to read.

Rating:
Summary: I wish I could give zero stars!
Review: Rule of the Bone is one of the worst books it has ever been my misfortune to read. The plot is appalingly cliched, the characteres are two dimensional caricatures, and the writing is sloppy, lazy and bereft of skill or style... I'm sorry, remembering the time I wasted reading this excuse for a book is making me feel sick...