A Boy I Once Knew: What a Teacher Learned from Her Student

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful re-working of a tired genera
Review: Stone was given a task that was impossible to do: being asked to reconstruct a life and a story in a way that would both please Vincent and be worth writing. Granted, Vincent's life was tragic, but is not a story worth repeating. It is not new tale: a troubled gay youth struggling to fit in, finding refuge in a gay metropolis, and ultimately dieing of AIDS.
What is much more interesting is Stone's story. What a remarkable situation to be in: Having to write the story of a former student who has since grown estranged; to see her very human reaction to Victor's sad story. Untimely it is much more compelling and thought provoking that the story given her.
Stone is an expert of narratives (as per her other book and work.) I think she could see the limits of Victor's tale; which would make for a very unremarkable and unoriginal work. Instead we see how she reacted, and we in turn can react likewise. Tragedy for Stone is not in the grand narrative, but in all the subsequent and supporting narratives.
In the tired genera of AIDS-memoir Stone has breathed new life into it. Vincent is surly pleased.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read, But Not What I was Expecting
Review: A Boy I Once Knew is a bit of a miss-titled novel. Although the book is an interesting read, I was expecting a book about the title character and his life journey from the time he was a student to the time he died. Instead, the book focuses primarily on the author who draws parallels between what is happening in the Journals to what is happening in her own life. While sometimes interesting. In that sense it was disappointing, leaving me to wonder about the diaries and what I didn't learn. A more apt title for this book might have been, The Diaries I Received From A Student And How They Made Me Reflect On My Own Life.

Rating:
Summary: Bold Testament to the Transforming Power of Imagination
Review: A Boy I Once Knew packs quite a wallop. Stone's fascinating and beautifully written story of the death of her former student drew me ever more deeply into his life -- and allowed me to join her on her own courageous journey of self-discovery. Confronting issues of loss, memory and meaning, this teacher's gripping narrative took me hostage, then set me free, wiser for my time under its spell. At story's end, I felt affirmed in my often shaky belief that imagination and love can transform dying into a bold act of living. If you're a teacher, a student, or, like me, just someone coping with loss, you'll love this inspiring gem of a book by a wonderful writer.

Rating:
Summary: a boy i once knew....
Review: A large brown box appears on the doorstep of teacher, Elizabeth Stone's front door. Inside she would find the journals and inner workings of former student, former human being, former AIDS patient; Vincent.
This book was extremely slow going. I felt that it asked too may questions and sort of implied the story rather than to tell it. Yes I am aware that Miss. Stone only had the journals as a reference yet I still believe this work could have been executed in a way as to end up with a much more impressive piece of writing.
In reading "A Boy I Once Knew," I also came across a variety of typos and errors thus proving the type of effort that went into the book.
Stone also seemed to focus much more on her life than Vincent's, the one she meant to be preserved.
When I look at this book as a whole I can't help but wonder if Vincent was made into the person he wanted the world to know. But, at the same time, I don't know if we were properly "introduced".

Rating:
Summary: An intriguing story about a unique relationship
Review: An unusually intriguing, hard-to-categorize book. Yes, the book is engrossing and well written, but it is the basic idea of the book - how someone who's dead emerges from a UPS package and, over time, lovingly muscles his way into the minds of the author and the reader - that stays with you. There is a kind of parabola in Vincent's life - alive, dead, and back to life again - that is fascinating. And the intersection of Vincent's curve with Stone's struggle to come to terms with these issues in her own life adds depth and universality to the story. I found myself nodding again and again as I ran into Stone's (or Vincent's) offhand insights on living and dying.

Rating:
Summary: You Never Know
Review: For me, this book highlighted the idea that we never fully realize the impact we have on others who pass in and out of our lives. As his school English teacher, Elizabeth Stone obviously had a great influence on Vincent - one that stayed with him his entire life. But only after his death, when she received his diary journals, did she begin to comprehend her power in his life. Then Vincent, in what has to be one of the most beautiful - yet unintended - gestures, reciprocated by becoming teacher to Ms. Stone in her quest to deal with some very major life issues. This is not a story about AIDS, death or an individual life. It's about our connections with each other and how we never fully know the impact we have on another human being.

Rating:
Summary: You Never Know
Review: For me, this book highlighted the idea that we never fully realize the impact we have on others who pass in and out of our lives. As his school English teacher, Elizabeth Stone obviously had a great influence on Vincent - one that stayed with him his entire life. But only after his death, when she received his diary journals, did she begin to comprehend her power in his life. Then Vincent, in what has to be one of the most beautiful - yet unintended - gestures, reciprocated by becoming teacher to Ms. Stone in her quest to deal with some very major life issues. This is not a story about AIDS, death or an individual life. It's about our connections with each other and how we never fully know the impact we have on another human being.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book, But...
Review: I must agree with the comment that it is too involved with the author's life. Personally, I had the impression that the book would focus on the main character, Vincent, but at times I found myself wondering how long it would go without mentioning his diaries. All in all, I did enjoy it though, it just wasn't what I had expected...A good read, but keep in mind what is the main focus before buying it.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Read, But Not What I was Expecting
Review: This book deserves a look at weither your gay or not. Every human being that is able to read and understand it needs to read it and undestand what is being said. Its sad that he had to end his life the way he did, but its because of the world we live in that causes young gay men, and women, alike, to kill themselves, because it is the only other option that is left to them. The world needs to wake up by reading this book. Would recommend this book to anyone that asks. A++++ writting

Rating:
Summary: A touching book for all to read
Review: This book deserves a look at weither your gay or not. Every human being that is able to read and understand it needs to read it and undestand what is being said. Its sad that he had to end his life the way he did, but its because of the world we live in that causes young gay men, and women, alike, to kill themselves, because it is the only other option that is left to them. The world needs to wake up by reading this book. Would recommend this book to anyone that asks. A++++ writting