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Summary: A surprisingly dark and engrossing page turner.
Review: One of the nicest surprises! By the cover, this looks like one of those dumb football books, but it is actually quite different. It is about the lives of some boys at a Catholic school. It is very dark and disturbing, but it's a very fantastic book. What I like about it the most is that it's easy to relate to. The author(Robert Cormier) is great at writing the lives of teenage males. In conclusion, I suggest this to anyone who does not have a weak stomach
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Summary: Maybe mixed-up, but very perceptive and convincing
Review: First of all, I am an eighth grade boy at a Catholic school, and I can tell you that Cormier's conception of a Catholic school seems to be a bit off. I think that whereas displaying how human cruelty is evident everywhere by making such a big deal about chocolates was an important point, the Vigils was pverdoing it. COrmier's obvious attempt at making this book seem down to earth and familiar fell apart witha secret organization that runs a school - a pathetic concept. I can see easily how many people would shun this book, but being of approximately the same age as this character, I can tell you how familiar so many of his thoughts seemed to me. Also, the ending was excellent, in that it showed you DON'T always overcome challenges, things don't always come out well, and many of the novel's reviewers on this web page seemed to have overlooked Cormier's attempt at portraying the inherent cruelty and adhesion to conformity that is present in adolescents. Had Jerry overcome his challenge, THEN the novel would have been pointless - the author wasn't trying to say that things always come out well, because they DON't. Life is not fair - believe me, I know that - and novels that want to portray life must portray this unfairness, or else they will contain nothing but the shallowness and superficialty of people who have been lucky - a great minority.
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Summary: cruelty & conformity share the spotlight in this bleak novel
Review: I feel I need to defend this novel, especially after the plethora of reviews from December 17th. Often in childrens/YA novels good v. evil is played out in fantasy terms (witches, demons, etc, but this novel disturbs the universe and places real people in real situations. A freshman at a private high school decides to "disturb the universe", and soon realizes that he may have done overstepped his bounds. The shifting narrative is very distinct and unique, yet sometimes confusing. This is a great novel for classroom discussion with some strong themes: to include, courage & cowardice, peer pressure, victimization, individualism, good v. evil and god and religion. The ending is unconventional and truely climatic, can you remember when you first realized that life is not fair, and sometimes doesn't come close to being fair? This book opened up the new genre of YA literature, and Cormier certainly "disturbed the universe" with its publication. This book is constantly under the eye of parent groups who would like to see it "banned" or placed on a restricted list...because that is the case, it should be required reading for all teenagers. If you are younger, you may want to read Spinelli's WRINGER: a story so foul, so horrifying that it should be shelved next to Cormier's The Chocolate War.As a young adult librarian, I will continue to offer Cormier's books because he refuses to compromise the truth as he sees it. For an indepth look at Cormier's writing try: PRESENTING ROBERT CORMIER Twayne Publishers, 1989
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Summary: The Choclate War was pointless
Review: The Choclate War started out confusing. I thought that since the book started out so pointless that maybe it would erdeem itself in the end, but it got worse! I agree with some of the other reviewers; their is deatiled descriptions of things that have no relevance to the plot, like the girl he meets at the bus stop and calls. The end is not only dissapointing but extremely pointless. My final synopsis: watch the movie. It has a sensible ending, and is worth the time if this topic interests you. This is the worst and most boring book I have ever read.
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Summary: A GREAT book
Review: The Chocolate War is a rare find - a book about high school that does not condescend. If you are looking for a sappy, happy ending don'y buy this book. If you are looking for a page-turner about a young man with the guts to disturb the universe in which he lives, against formidable opposition then this book is for you. Jerry Renault is a great character because he fights no matter the odds... or the outcome.
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Summary: What is the Sense?
Review: Robert Cormier has always been viewed as the average old Young Adults writer, and here, he takes that verse to the truth. This book is full of childish shinigags, high schoolers and advanced middle school readers will find this book rather dull and highly unbelieveable, it doesn't lack in much. The writing was alright, but how pathetic can be selling chocolates be? By the author of I am the Cheese, you would expect that kind of twisted childlike humor.
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Summary: Great but a little confusing
Review: I really enjoyed this but at times it got very confusing. It was hard to put down. I am looking forward to reading Beyond the Chocolate war
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Summary: The Chocolate War is not worth reading
Review: The novel 'The Chocolate War', though well written, is not a worthwhile book to read. The author, Robert Cormier, leads you towards the end making you think the main charactor will come out triumphantly, but then drops him flat on his face. The main charactor, Jerry Renault, is a freshman at Trinity high school. His life mainly consists of football and school, that is until the acting head master, Brother Leon, starts a chocolate sale. Because the school is down on money, Brother Leon makes the chocolate sale twice as big as the year before. Unfortunately, the chocolates are not selling very well. Leon is forced to get help from Archie Costello who is the leader of the Vigils, a secret gang that has lots of power over the school. When Renault defies the chocolate sale, and thus the Vigils, by refusing to sell chocolates, he becomes extremely popular and a school idol. Archie cannot stand being defied and humiliated, so he immediately turns the tables against Jerry by making the sale popular. Instantly, Renault becomes the most unpopular kid in the school. Then, just when you think that Jerry will come back, he gets put down worse than ever. In my opinion, you read a book in order to see other people overcome challenges, and to make life's problems look resolvable. This book on the other hand makes life look like happy endings never happen. I would not recommend this book.
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Summary: The Worst Book Ever!
Review: The novel, The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier, is not the best book that I have ever read. This story takes place at an all boys Catholic school with a "secret society" in it called the Vigils. The Vigils go around the school harrassing kids by giving them assignments to carry out, such as not selling chocolates for the school sale, or unscrewing all the screws in a class room so everything falls apart. The novel is confusing and hard to follow. For example, in just one chapter there are six different scenes with six different characters in them. The author does not make it clear when he is moving from one thought to the next. At the end of a chapter, Cormier is in the middle of a thought and then starts off the next chapter talking about a totally unrelated subject. Another reason why this book is not the best book that I have ever read is that the book goes into too much description about nothing. For example, in chapter 14, the author goes into great detail about a bunch of boring kids; this is irrelevant to the rest of the plot. The end of the novel is exactly not what you think it will be. I would not recommend this novel unless you like vast amounts of description, you can follow absolute mayhem, and you like surprise endings.
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Summary: A real war has action but The Chocolate war does not.
Review: The novel, The Chocolate War, is not an interesting, nor a well-written novel. It has a senseless plot, no excitement, and the scenes skip around a lot. The Chocolate War is about a group at a prep school (Trinity) called the Vigils. They give out assignments to other students such as telling a kid to unscrew the screws in a classroom. Archie Costello is a part of the Vigils and is the one who gives out the horrible assignments. Every year, the school has a chocolate sale where each kid must sell 50 boxes of chocolates. Jerry Renault, a freshman at Trinity, is told by the Vigils not to sell chocolates for ten days. He follows the Vigil's assignment but after ten days, he continues to not sell the chocolates. Jerry is a person who wants to be different. The kids in the school feel the same way as Jerry about not selling chocolates. If all the kids would get together and get a leader, they might overrule the Vigils about selling chocolates. But do they? This novel is not very interesting because there is not really one big plot. There are many little individual plots in the novel. Usually books have a couple big morals to the story but this novel has many little morals. This novel does not have a subject besides selling chocolates. Also, this novel has no excitement. To me, I know that for a novel to be interesting, it must have excitement. Maybe this novel has a couple pages here and there about a fist fight but that is even boring to read about. If you are one of those people who likes boring novels without any action, you might enjoy reading this novel. The Chocolate War has many parts where scenes skip around a lot. For example, in one chapter there are seven different scenes. It becomes confusing and hard to understand. It is not a well-written novel. I would definitely not recommend this novel. There are many novels out there which are a lot more interesting!
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