Rating: 
Summary: Toby Wolff; an Unsung hero
Review: Tobias Wolff's memoir entitled This Boy's Life is a poignant look at a dysfunctional family set in the "Baby- Boomer" era; a time in America when society was still being exposed to the portrayal of family by such icons as "Lassie" and "Ozzie and Harriet". This book proves to be a worthwhile read as it encompasses the struggles, triumphs, and qualities of an unsung hero.
Toby (our hero) once said "I wanted to call myself Jack, after Jack London. I believed that his name would charge me with some strength and competence inherent in my idea of him. [P. 8]" In this comment it becomes clear that Toby held internal struggles and he wanted to have a fresh start and outlook on life. With that being said, it becomes more evident that he struggled before he left and wanted to have a name that would "charge" him with "strength and competence" so that in the future he could triumph over his struggles. Or help prevent those that lie ahead of him all together. That same alter ego helps him in his struggles with Dwight, his evil stepfather and nemesis.
Throughout the book, one basic cliché that makes for a great story is stressed and that is "You can achieve anything that you put your mind to". Although that exact phrase is never mentioned in the story, the way the hero, Toby, overcomes all of his obstacles shows just how pertenent the above mentioned phrase is to Toby's whole life. Like when Dwight made Toby play basketball in dress shoes because he was too cheap and cruel to buy him sneakers. Despite the humiliation of repeatedly tripping, Toby continued to play because he was determined to finish the game.
Toby is "Every man's Hero" because he is a whirlwind of contradictions. He's deeply flawed yet focused. He is vulnerable but sly. And in the end we cheer for this insecure, young boy who proves to be a tower of strength and courage. When Toby risks his life to rescue someone in danger, the evolution of his character is complete. The Unsung Hero.
This Boy's Life: A true classic and a great tale of "Good Overcoming Evil" and a testament to moral fiber and hard work.
Rating:
Summary: This Boy's Life
Review: Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life is an intriguing, realistic insight inside the mind of a struggling, adolescent boy. Wolff's portrayal of the frustrations and cruelities of growing up in a dysfunctional family is excellent, causing the reader to feel the pain he went through as a child. The author illustrates his own fight for his true identity and self-respect against the unrelenting hostility of a new stepfather. This story of a struggling family is exhilirating. The novel is darkly funny, but can also leave the reader feeling depressed to learn of such a sad childhood.
Ten-year-old Toby and his divorced mother, Rosemary, are constantly on the move in order to escape Rosemary's violent boyfriend. Rosemary has had numerous relationships, but none of them work out. When they make the final move to Washington State, Rosemary meets a man named Dwight whom she eventually marries. Unknown to Rosemary, Dwight is an abusive liar. He forces Toby to join the Boy Scouts, take a job as a newspaper deliverer, and to do more than his share of chores around the house. In retaliation, Toby forges checks, steals cars, and gets in fights. Once, he even ran away to Alaska. Dwight was a major part in the downfall of young Toby.
Toby is an example of a tragic hero. He has the potential for greatness, but has a huge character flaw. Toby's character flaw is his decision-making. When life is tough, he tries to avoid it by forging checks and stealing cars. If Toby had made better choices, his childhodd would have been better and even his life today could be better.
This Boy's Life is an outstanding novel that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. The majority of the book is extremely well-written. However, the ending denies the reader of any pleasure of finality. This novel was intended for an audience looking for an enjoyable, yet depressing, real-life story.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant Book
Review: This Boy's Life is an excellent written and intriguing book. The author Tobias Wolff writes about his childhood relating well with many other people's lives as well as the feelings and emotions that are a part of it. Even though there are many pages to this book the reader becomes lost in the story of Toby's life to read very quickly. This is an exceptionally good book if the reader loves action. In many cases, Toby escapes This boy also tries to be fierce and a rebellion, someone he is not at all inside. Conflicts internally and externally erupt in him as Toby travels through the journey of life.
Toby experiences the hard age of teenage years during this book. In the beginning, Jack, as he had preferred to be called at this time, grows up with a single mother who is also looking for herself. She searches around looking for the "perfect man" destined to be out there, dragging Jack from Florida to Utah to escape a boyfriend to find themselves in no better conditions. Toby recalls, "There was no reason for me to have this feeling. I thought I'd left it back in Florida, together with my fear of fighting and my shyness with girls, but here it was, come to meet me." (Page 12) This mother brings her child across the country finally settling down with an individual named Dwight just outside Seattle. Toby goes to a highschool called concrete and doesn't get the best grades, yet he hopes to go to college someday just like his brother Geoffrey who lived with their father. Geoffrey goes to a high-maintenance prep school, making Toby strive for the same acceptance. Dwight however seems to have no respect for Toby or his mother. Many children today struggle with the same conflict as Toby, the absence of a fatherly figure letting others understand how it feels. Jack also feels "uncool" at times. Many adolescents in this stage feel the natural feeling of low self-confidence and regret. The author thoroughly understands and remembers the feelings some teenagers secretly feel inside. Wolff approves in many instances, mostly of the approval of men by his mother when it secretly bothered him. Toby is on a journey to discover who he really is in life. He is constantly searching for a purpose and approval. This memoir has 288 pages altogether. This may seem like a long tedious book however it is not. This Boy's Life is a fast read, little time goes by as the reader notices s/he has read many pages. The author makes every page worthwhile by letting the reader become lost in the book, eager to know what will happen next. Occasionally, the author also catches himself, making it even more exciting. He adds thoughts of what he would do after looking back at the situation or thoughts of his presents home connected to the story. "I can always see Dwight's face and hear his voice. I hear his own voice in my own when I speak to my children in anger. They hear it too, and look at me in surprise. My youngest once said 'Don't you love me anymore?'" (Page 232-233) Toby wrote this in the middle of the book explaining what Dwight meant to him, helping the reader to understand his point of view. The autobiography by Tobias Wolff is also interesting to the reader who loves action. Throughout the whole book Toby lies to his mother and other adults about his grades. He changes the C's to straight A's so his mother does not worry. At one point, Toby changes costume and lies to a kind woman and ends up being chased down the street by her. Thankfully he gets away and changes back. Toby uses the costume to convince himself he's a "bad boy" so he could fit in with his friends. However, inside he wants to comfort his mother. This book is highly recommended. Every page is worth it as Toby travels his journey of life. Read this book for more of Tobias Wolff's adventures as the author recalls his/her childhood and relates to this outstanding book.
Rating:
Summary: Finding Identity
Review: In this memoir of a young boy, Tobias Wolff, tells about a young man struggling
with his identity while growing up in the 50s and 60s. In the beginning Toby, a
ten-year old boy, and his mother, who is divorced, move to Utah from Florida.
Toby and his mother soon later move to Washington State because they want to
escape Toby's father. Later on in Washington State Toby's mom marries an
alcoholic who is abusive towards Toby and his mother. During this Toby
struggles with finding his own identity and thinks what other people think of
him is what his true identity is. Toby is having trouble finding his own
because of obstacles that he has to overcome, his mother, and his stepfather. I
think that Toby is trying to say that through all the bad things in life that
make people want to give up there is still hope in believing in oneself and
becoming what someone wants to succeed in life and what they believe in.
At one point when Toby and his stepfather were fighting one of Toby's thoughts
was, "I learned a couple of lessons. I learned that a punch in the throat does
not always stop the other fellow. And I learned that it's a bad idea to curse
when you're in trouble, but a good idea to sing, if you can."(pg.177). This
shows that even though Toby has obstacles in life that he has to overcome it is
possible to overcome them and achieve in what goals are set. Toby goes through
a lot in his life with dealing with his identity.
During Toby's life he is always trying to please his mother by showing her that
he is a good kid and has good grades in school. Toby shows this by always lying
to his mother and stealing. Toby tries to be the person he thinks his mother
wants him to be. Toby thinks that it would be good if he would go to a private
school but his grades aren't good and he couldn't tell his mother that because
he has told her that his grades are outstanding. Toby then steals applications
from the school that he is attending and writes letters to the private school by
signing other teacher's names. This shows that Toby was having trouble with
being who he wanted to be; he thought that if he were somebody that other people
wanted to be he would be able to be successful in life.
Throughout Toby's child hood he has always had his stepfather there to remind
him that he is nothing but a "liar". When Toby's mother was deciding on whether
to marry Dwight, Toby's stepfather, she asked Toby if he liked him and if she should really go through with marrying him. Toby told his mother that he got
along with Dwight great and thought that she should marry him. This was all a
lie the only reason that Toby told his mother that was because he wanted to make
her happy. Dwight always had Toby do chores that were unbearable and he would
always be abusing him. Since Dwight was always telling Toby what a liar he was
and how he would never get anywhere in life it was hard for Toby to find his
true self because he was starting to think what Dwight was always saying to him
was the truth. Toby went through a lot in life but he was able to take it and
act like an adult.
I think that even though Toby did a lot of things wrong he still showed that it
isn't that easy trying to find your true self in life. Also I think that Toby
showed that if somebody really wants to succeed in life it is possible if there
is effort put into it and that letting go in life and being oneself isn't better
than being somebody that isn't your true personality. Toby is a hero for
himself by trying hard and not giving up in life even when there are some
extremely tough events that are occurring in life. I think that this book is
worth reading because it helps to understand things about your own life and what
people really want in life and what matters the most to them.
Rating:
Summary: This Boy's Life is Wonderful
Review: Tobias Wolff's, This Boy's Life is a wonderful book that shows the trials and tribulations of growing up as a young boy in the United States, during the 1950's and the 1960's. The main character Toby is a hero for himself and shows that you can always save yourself by learning from your mistakes. This Boy's Life is a great book for all ages, because almost anyone can relate to what Toby goes through. Tobias Wolff narrates the book in a very interesting way, and this is the technique that catches the reader. This Boy's Life is about ten year old Tobias and shows how he grows up, despite the fact that he travels from one dysfunctional family to another. He and his mother constantly decide to run from whatever life that they are unhappily living with and migrate to a new area. Toby picks up the idea that you can run from whatever problems you are having and that they will disappear automatically from his mother. She teaches him that this is a good idea early on in the book when they begin to travel from one place to another because of their constant unhappiness. This book is wonderful because it has a great "life lesson", which is that one must learn from their mistakes and that one usually repeats their parents mistakes unless they notice them early on. Even though Toby feels a sense of power because he feels that he has control of himself, he doesn't have power and this understanding idea is shown when he states," Fearlessness in those without power is maddening to those who have it." Toby makes it obvious that at the time that he was going through his obsession with his Winchester .22 rifle he was unable to control his urges of wanting to shoot people. Now that he is grown up he knows what it's like to be at both ends. He learned that when you are ignorant to the unavailability of power that it does not bother you but it drives the ones with power crazy. Throughout the book Toby learns that he makes a lot of bad decisions and that these decisions hang over him and have control of him. Toby is so used to making bad choices that it is old hat for him to lie to even his mom about doing things wrong. When he writes the obscenity on the bathroom wall he very clearly says to his mom and the assistant principle," I didn't do it." He has no problem with lying to get himself out of things or to make himself look better. However the fact that Toby learns from his mistakes in the end makes him a hero to himself. Toby is a great hero, but he is a much different hero than the kind of heroes that are depicted in Greek Mythology. The characteristics of a Greek hero are someone who is strong, smart, beautiful, and is able to defeat its enemies with either wits or strength. This is unlike the heroes of today, which can be anyone, anywhere. In the world as we know it today, we can be heroes to ourselves or heroes to other people. It could be as simple as helping someone with their school work, or as big as the men who worked to save lives at the World Trade Center bombings. Some of the traits that made people heroes in mythology would not make people heroes in today's world. For example, in mythology all you had to do was be physically strong, but today you can't just be physically strong, you must do a good deed or help someone to be a hero. Mythology also teaches us that the Greek civilization had very different values than that of the values that we hold today. In mythology it is okay to have many spouses but in the U.S. today that would be wrong and immoral. Unfortunately for Toby, his parents do not do a good job of showing this to him throughout his teenage years. In some ways there is a huge gap between the heroes of old Greek Mythology and the heroes of today, but in other ways things have never changed.
This Boy's Life is a captivating book that portrays the ups and downs of being a child. It has all the makings of a young hero, who is simply looking to find his place in life. The story of Toby catches all readers because everyone goes through the act of searching for themselves at some time in their life. This is a great book which was very well written and narrated and is suggested for everyone.
Rating: 
Summary: A Boy's Life, Non-heroic and quite long but fun
Review: In the autobiography, This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff, Mr. Wolff remembers his teenage life and the conflicts that went on. He spent most of his teenage years in a small town called Chinook, a very unique but appropriate setting, where his stepfather Dwight, his mother, and two of his half siblings lived. Dwight was an abusive stepfather and throughout the book Tobias was always planning to run away and take his mother with him. His mother was very caring toward Tobias but she was too oblivious to the bad things he was doing and always thought of him as a good kid. These were just a few of the main characters, all of whom were explained in great detail. This book is seemingly appropriate for kids in their teens although some language is used so it is not recommended for kids who are younger. It is this author's opinion that the book is dragged out, but it does an effective job of showing how Tobias's good qualities are canceled out by his faults. In the book Tobias has to deal with many conflicts which the author, Tobias Wolff, describes very well, but it is this writer's opinion that he takes too long to resolve the conflicts. For instance, from the time Tobias starts living with Dwight and his family, he is carefully watched, judged and put to work on many laborious tasks such as working on a paper route which is described on page 96. Dwight also makes Tobias shuck horse chestnuts everyday without gloves, which is described on the next page. Tobias realizes that this man is trouble but doesn't do anything about it. His mother, who was living in Seattle, marries Dwight. Knowing from the beginning that this man was bad, Tobias goes most of the book without resolving the conflict with this, making it almost the entire plot, instead of his doing something smart. The reader is left waiting to see what will happen for almost 150 pages. This may be ho he lived his life, but this reader believes that the story would be improved with a more active plot. Though the conflicts happen, Tobias has some very good qualities, which help him survive his troubled life. He demonstrates perseverance and is always looking for the way to get what he wants done. For instance, when trying to get into a private school, he found many things that stood in his way such as not having money, not having the grades, not being liked by his teachers and many more things. Yet he ended up finding a way to get into the private school. Another good quality is his staying with his mother, even when he could leave her to Dwight and his wicked ways and escape. Tobias stays with her to make her feel better. These are a few reasons that Tobias might be considered an ok kid, but they come nowhere near to making him a hero. Tobias wouldn't be considered a hero because he has many bad qualities. When trying to get into a good school, which is a good goal, three quarters of the documents Tobias handed in were fraud, made up by him. He had had some one steal the office paper, and he erased the grades on his transcript to make himself look good. During the book Tobias also drinks, smokes, and fights for the wrong things. He even ends up fighting with his "best friend" on school grounds and gets caught by a teacher running a boxing night for adults to watch kids with conflicts fight it out. A bit strange you might say but it happened, and who gets to do it but Tobias and his good friend, Arthur. This did a good job of destroying their friendship. This book deals with the whole teenage life of Tobias Wolff, including his ups and downs and his thoughts, in a very detailed story. The writing describes the struggles and tests he had as a teen and has some interesting points, even if it is a little dragged out. It is in the opinion of this author that if someone is looking for a book to make them feel better about their conflicts, this would be a good book because it would allow them to look over the situation they're in and say "Hey it's not so bad. Look at what this kid went through," but this author would not choose this book as one of his favorites or one that he would like to re-read.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable!
Review: This Boy's Life is a remarkable memoir of a boy growing up in the 1950s. Toby Wolff presents himself as tough and mean, yet he is neither of these things. The story follows the boy's personal struggles and triumphs, while a mother who is always on the move and with a different man is raising him. Not only does his mother choose men that treat her wrong, but she eventually marries a man that has absolutely no respect for Toby or her. Catching the reader's attention and staying consistently entertaining is one of the most successful traits of this book. The plot draws the reader into the story in a hypnotic way. And the author mischievously connects the reader to the story by bringing up reminiscent thoughts of every reader's own rebellious adolescent stage. The honesty and reality of the memoir is the reason why it is a success, which pleases each reader in their own personal way. It seems hard to believe that the young rebellious boy in the story has grown up to become such a profound author as Tobias Wolff. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys coming of age stories. It is truly a gem.
Rating:
Summary: Brutally Honest
Review: "This Boy's Life" is an intriguing, realistic insight inside the mind of a brutally honest adolescent male. The main character Toby manages to get himself into trouble that by luck he escapes. Good is a word that falls short from describing the content and impact this book entangles the reader in. It's not a matter of being a good or bad book. It's a matter of utter shock as you read about the ignominious acts Toby was a part of; the pain and anguish his mother, Rosemary, goes through in not knowing how to deal with her son, and in failing to accept the responsibilities of being a mother. His sordid life makes one grateful. In the beginning, Toby's father leaves he and his mother. From that day on, he never knows a father. Each man Rosemary meets fails to love this mistake she made. Toby chooses to act out his pain in various ways--forging checks, stealing, and fighting--to catch his mother's attention. The abuse and pain Toby goes through with his step-father seems surreal, and by all means unacceptable.
While there is so much twisted about Toby's way of thinking and struggles, it is none the less a novel that refuses to be put down. When you think the worst has come, a new plot twist lurks around the corner. The honesty in which Wolff writes is somewhat appalling, and somewhat admirable. His ability to convey the thoughts in a manner that holds nothing back scares me of male youth, and yet captures me by the way everything seems to work out. The novel is bold and exorbitant, and yet silently passionate. The motivation with which Wolff wrote his book is passed down to the reader. You feel the pain Toby goes through, and are in fact scarred by it yourself.
The one downfall to this book is the ending. Through all that's happened to this character, and after all that the reader is pulled through right along with him, the end proves disappointing. It comes to a screeching halt, denying the reader any pleasure of finality; any pleasure of knowing that good truly does conquer evil and Toby was able to turn his life around. My suggestion is to check the book out for yourself. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: This Boy's Life- Tobias Wolff
Review: This Boy's Life is a captivating book filled with the personal struggles, triumphs, and experiences of Tobias, a young boy trying to find his way in a harsh, unfair world. Tobias is constantly on the run with his mother, who always seems to meet men who make Toby's life miserable. One of them is Dwight. He hates Toby, and tries to make his life unbearable. Toby struggles with peer pressure, getting in trouble for various criminal acts such as writing obscene phrases on bathroom walls. One of the only drawbacks of this book is its ending. The book comes to a conclusion a little too quickly in comparison with the rest of the book; however this is more than compensated for by the quality of writing in This Boy's Life. Tobias Wolff does an incredible job of portraying the world he grew up in, providing detailed descriptions of events in his journey from Florida to Western Washington with his mother. Tobias's journey in this book is not only a cross-country trek, but an inner struggle to straighten his life out and find himself before it is too late.
Rating:
Summary: An escape from poverty and mediocrity to success
Review: Tobias Wolff was stuck at Concrete High School in the sticks, living with his divorced mother and, eventually, an abusive stepfather, while his brother Geoffrey, who was raised by his father, attended an exclusive prep school and an Ivy League university. Tobias eventually became a professor, and so his tome is better written than his brother's, The Duke of Deception: Memories of My Father. Particularly unforgettable are his account of a friendship with a somewhat effeminate but pugnacious classmate and his description of the supreme act of self-invention through forged documents which won him entry into his brother's more fortunate world. His visits with an indifferent and often insolvent father are also memorable. As a writer of a published memoir, Living Among The Swiss, which is also listed on this website, I can recommend Tobias's work as an especially entertaining and readable example of the genre.
|
