Rating: Summary: WHAT A GREAT BOOK! Review: this is a memoir of boyhood, in the 1950, about this boy called Tobby, which later he changed it to Jack. This book is easy to read and to understand. This memoir is based on the author's childhood. This book is about this guy and his mother who is trying to get a better life after his mother divorced her husband. Leaving his father and his brother behind, Tobby moved to another state in hoping to live an easy life. Most of the book focuses on the boy, who is trying to become a man instead just being a kid, to protect his mother from getting hurt from a man named Dwight, which is the stepfather for Tobby, because Dwight threaten to kill his mother if she left him, so to make sure to protect his mother, Jack past a great opportunity for him to get a good life and get a good education and to be a kid with his uncle in Paris.
Rating: Summary: Letting Go Review: Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life is a moving tale of the frustrations and cruelties of growing up in a dysfunctional family in the 50s and 60s. At the beginning of this novel, Toby, a ten year old boy, and his divorced mother move from Florida to Utah and then to Washington State to escape Toby's violent father. Once in Washington Toby and his mother find themselves no better off than back in Florida; Toby's mother marries a man named Dwight who turns out to be an abusive drunk and a liar. Throughout this book Toby struggles with his own identity as a man, and with less than ideal role models, he finds himself becoming a master of deception, pretending to be whatever other people want from him, instead of who he himself is. He tries to make his mother happy by becoming what he thinks she wants him to be, and in doing so he ruins a big part of his life. Despite the somber nature of this story of family strife and lost identity, however, it has a darkly funny and artfully structured quality that leaves the reader feeling exhilarated rather than depressed.I believe the message Tobias Wolff was trying to convey was that despite all the hardships in life and all the expectations left unmet, there is always hope. It may sound a little corny, but I think the author was showing that no matter how bad things get you still have yourself, and humanity will find a way to thrive. Throughout this book Toby is trying to appear to be the person he thinks his mother wants him to be, and he doesn't stop at lying and stealing to achieve this end. In doing so he loses sight of his own identity. What I think is most powerful about this book is that it does not end with him being successful at the private school he was accepted to (due to his lying). Instead, this book, in somewhat of an unconventional manner, ends with Toby and his friend driving home and singing their hearts out. Toby hadn't really accomplished anything material, he still was in a tough situation, but there he was singing. Toby had finally accomplished what years of effort had failed to do. He had let go, and for one of the first times in his life he was actually happy and almost relieved to be himself. "I didn't come to Utah to be the same boy I'd been before. I had my own dreams of transformation, Western dreams, dreams of freedom and dominion and taciturn self-sufficiency. The first thing I wanted to do was change my name. (p 9)" These lines from the beginning of the book show Toby's expectations of his new life out west. In contrast, at the end of the book, Toby reflects, "When we are green, still half created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests, and that falling and dying are for quitters. We live on the innocent and monstrous assurance that we alone, of all the people ever born, have a special arrangement whereby we will be allowed to stay green forever. (p 286)" So Toby had woken to the realization that he had failed. He was not the person his mother wanted him to be, he did not excel at private school, and he still lead a troubled life. And yet he was singing. Perhaps what the author is trying to get across is that if we can accept our problems and ourselves for what we really are instead of trying to fight it, we are more likely to better ourselves and our situation, just as in Toby's case. I, like Toby, have always wanted to be the best. I too want to believe that if I try as hard as I can, I will succeed, and all my hopes and aspirations will come true. Unfortunately, life doesn't always work that way, as Toby learned in the end of the book, and although its hard to stomach I know that in Toby's case as well as in mine a large part of success depends on luck. Unfortunately for Toby, luck did not work in his favor, and he was born into a dysfunctional family. He seemed like a normal boy not unlike me; he too wanted to be the best, but we both have learned that there is always someone better than you, and unfortunately, not everyone can be the best. This book was intended for all audiences; the language was not overly complex, and I believe it would be of interest to almost all ages. It was astounding that such a depressing story could be so enjoyable to read, indeed I read the entire book within days of my choosing the book. If it were not written so well I think this book would have been vary uncomfortable to read, but the manner in which Tobias Wolff wrote of his rather depressing childhood made reading this book very enjoyable and left me feeling refreshed. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, as I found it not only to be an interesting story of one boy's coming of age, but also a moving, well-written almost artistic piece of literature.
Rating: Summary: A Teenager's Life Review: Not being much of a reader, I found the book easy to read but confusing in parts as to where he was or how he got there. The story itself is a typical alcoholic's story about how dysfunctional life with an alcoholic can be. The most exciting part of the book came when Toby's Mom marries an alcoholic named Dwight. Dwight turned out to be very abusive towards Toby and his Mom. When Toby broke his finger, Dwight smashed that finger and thought nothing of it. After a night of drinking, Dwight would come home and take out his problems on Rosemary (sometimes by hitting her). Toby and his Mom eventually considered Toby going to live in Paris with his Uncle to get away from Dwight. Except for his mention of how his English teacher thought he showed some potential for writing, I don't know how Mr. Wolff turned his life around and became a professor and a writer. Being a single Mom I thought I would relate to more of the story. In the story, Toby gets along with his Mom to the point of understanding how she feels but with my son he does not have any consideration for me at all. If you like to read stories about dysfunctional divorced family life then you will like reading this book. I do not think that the book was worth the price I paid for it. I would rather Mr. Wolff ended up with how he turned his life around and got his education instead of ending up singing drunk songs with his friend Chuck.
Rating: Summary: This Boy's Life Review: A boy makes a choice that will change his life for the worst. Jack decided that he wanted to make his mother happy over his own happiness. Jack kept a repeated lie going on to his mother about how happy he was in Chinook and how good he was getting along with Dwight. At the end of the six months of living with Dwight, the man who wanted Jack's mother; Jack told his mother he was totally happy when she asked. Jack wasn't happy at all. Jack had been driving Dwight's cat without permission because he knew if he asked that he wouldn't have been able to drive it. Jack didn't drive it the way it was to be driven, the car started sounding bad. Jack was scared to enter the house for he feared Dwight had heard the sound of the car. When Jacked walked in the house Dwight said nothing. Jack had been lounging in his room and out of no where Dwight came in screaming, swinging, and grabbing. Jack had to punch him in the throat to even get him of for a second. I think this part of the book is the most bothering because any reader gets the idea of how Dwight really is. I don't think that Jack should have stolen the car but I don't think he should have gotten his for it. this part of the book was the only part of the book that really seemed to grab me in how bad things could be. I would have rather not of read about that incodent but that how things were Life might have been different for a teen living with a stepfamily if it was a couple decaded earlier. I think that a person who likes fun history would like this book. people would like this book because it's based through 50's and 60's ,the time period is thown through a boy's life. The boy's life is based on school, fun, family, and friends. It shows the good times and bad times of his life. I thought this was a really good book and expressed important issues that people of today still deal with. I thought that this was a enyoyable because of the reason that the reading was not to hard, and because the words flowed smothly. The vocabulary wasn't so hard that I couldn't go on with the story.
Rating: Summary: Dysfunctional family Review: Toby had no choice but to be married into a dysfunctional family. Toby's mother Rosemary and his father later divorced.During the years passing toby and Rosemary decided to drive across the Contintial Divide in 1955 when toby was only 10 years old. They started off in florida to get away from a man named Roy who she was afraid of and to get rich on uranium. Soon after they got to utah where toby attended catechism classes only after he changed his name to Jack because a girl in his class had the same name. Toby was a bad boy he was always out with his friends throwing eggs at cars and smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol. Soon after Toby moved in with this man named Dwight who Rosemary was dateing to shape him up. Toby worked around the house and dilvered newspaper to the neiborhood,but Dwight was not very nice to him. After six months or so Rosemary married Dwight till he started beating her, and the left again .I always wonder why writes write about there own life experience maybe because it might make them feel better.To me i didnt really enjoy reading this book, becuase it was to sad so if you like sad books or storys, this would be good for you to read.
Rating: Summary: All The Way! Review: This memoir was fantastic! The character that Wolff created was incredible because he was so creative and so enthusiastic about all the lies that they seemed to come to life right of the pages! The movie was no where near as good as the book. Without reading the book, one may not enjoy or understand the movie and gain false information. I can only imagine what Wolff's english students are thinking when they are being taught by him. Even I would want to ask him questions about his life, since it is explained in a book. I loved this book and hope that other people can enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating: Summary: This is one of the great books of the Last Ten Years! Review: I really hate to give 5 stars to anything here because so many books on Amazon are obviously over-rated, but this book really deserves it. No, R E A L L Y really. I've read it at least 4 times now and it just slays me everytime. Great story of adolescence and survival and triumph in the tradition of Huck Finn and David Copperfield.
Rating: Summary: This book is good Review: Hi... I'm not very good at writing so I can't use those big words other people use when they write reviews so i'm just gonna come out and say that i enjoyed this book very much(this coming from someone who hates to read) and I recommend it to anyone who is over the age of 2. Furthermore, I would like to point out that I am a single 19 male
Rating: Summary: very good Review: I just want to point out that Jimmy (who owns 12 copies of this book!) cannot possibly live in Kosovo, Czechoslovakia, for two reasons. The first is that Kosovo is in Serbia. The second is that Czechoslovakia ceased to exist some years ago. It is now called the Czech Republic. Pedantry, perhaps, but these people have just had a bloody war, and we might as well do them the small honour of having some idea where it is that they live.
Rating: Summary: Perfect book to read from cover all at once. Review: I had to read this book for my summer homework. I usually hate doing summer homework, but I actually enjoyed doing that homework. The book gives vivid descriptions that turn you into the main character. I reccomend this book to everyone.
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