The Chocolate War

Rating:
Summary: Best Villian
Review: Archie is, over all, the best book villian I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. And trust me, I've read a lot of books.

What I, personally, like most about Archie, is that he has no reason for being the way he is. He wasn't the product of an abusive home, he doesn't have to fight for basic needs (in fact, his family seems well off). He has utterly no reason to be 'evil', yet he is.

Also, he's not an idiotic evil. He's always two steps ahead, and clever enough to make you think he's four. He's a cold, manipulating dictator in the making, and I would greatly fear anything put under his rule.

So, yes, I recomend the Chocolate War and Beyond the Chocolate War, if only for the villian

Rating:
Summary: The Chocolate War - interesting failure
Review: As an adolescent novel, The Chocolate War lacks the sophicasted, gloomy realism of John Knowle's "A Separate Peace" and "The Lord of Flies", nor does it have the obvious fantastic, supernatural elements of a Harry Potter book. For this reason, the story is trapped between realism and nonrealism, and suffers a bit. While many of Cormier's characters are well conceived and the circumstances surrounding the chocolate sale slightly plausible, there are many elements that border upon ridiculous; and this wouldn't be a problem if this book was narrated as a type of spoof or Hardy Boys adventure, but instead it's presented as a macabre, realistic account of high school.

I suppose I have scutinized the novel and its incongruencies a tad too much because I went to an all-male catholic high school in Massachusetts which was drastically different from this one.

Here are some of the ludicrous elements:

1. The ascension of Brother Leon to almost dictatorial status - Generally in Catholic High Schools, there are usually more than one Brother around making sure things are going okay. It's implausible that the other faculty, not to mention the parents, would let him and the students get away with all these antics. Maybe at a boarding school it's somewhat more believable.

2. Ordering 20,000 bars of chocolate beforehand and having them in the office is preposterous. Surely, this would incur the wrath of the other faculty. And since when do teachers browbeat students who don't do fund raisers, and not have the students retaliate in some way?

3. The students allowing the boxing match at the end to happen and continue for that matter once it became obvious someone was getting hurt, and their sudden malice for Jerry. It's inconceivable how quickly everybody changes their tune from admiring him to hating him. This works okay in a movie but not as convincing in a book. It felt like I was reading a Matthew Christopher book.

4. The unchecked power of the Vigils. As stated in the book, there are only ten or so in the club. Surely, there are other factions in the school who wouldn't stand for their bullying. Like the other athletes? While reading it, I was enraged at them, hated them and would have done anything to fight back against them -- I imagine that others besides Goober, Jerry and that Senior Guy who gets punched in the stomach would do something to rebel against them as well. There's no inclusion of a rival group at another school either, which could have served as an explanation why the Vigils had such sway over the student body -- as a means to defend and honor the school.

5. Why the Vigils care so much about the chocolate sale -- a group of people who orchestrate a boxing match of that sort are unlikely to be so disciplined in selling the candy and so desiriring to please Brother Leon.

6. The overall maturity of the characters seem more consistent with junior high students rather than high school ones. Cormier misses his mark on this one.

Well, that's all the griping I can stand. There were some delighful parts of the book as well. I especially liked some of the character descriptions - Tubs, Gouber, and even Archie the fiendish manipulator. However, Obie was poorly shown as were the other Vigil disciples. The two fight scenes involving Janza and Jerry were riveting and flowed effortlessly.

The opening paragraph is wonderful, and the first line imbues a sense of helplessness to Jerry's plight and forshadows the course of his life. "He was murdered." Of course, the reader finds out what happens to Jerry in "Beyond the Choc.", but as this novel ends, the inconclusive ending is excellent. Is Jerry alive or dead? Severely maimed?

Having read "Beyond the Choc War" first, I took for granted many of the characters and scenes in this book, but I'm not sure how they I would have perceived them had I read this one first. In many ways, there are extraneous characters here with only a few pages of description - David Corina, Tubs etc. Perhaps, Cormier realized he should have spent more time with the major characters or at least developed the minor ones and thus decided to continue the saga.

So, in summary, the book is wonderful in many ways if a reader can overcome his/her own realistic visions of high school and adolescence; but because i could not do so wholly, I deem it an interestic yet flawed work.

Rating:
Summary: he deserves credit for giving me an appetite for chocolate
Review: Robert Cormier's rather disgusting attempt to show how teenage males try to haze and torture each other did not exactly appeal to my taste. The only reason why I'm not giving this book only 1 star is because some parts of it were hilarious (I find humor in the strangest of situations). The characters were decently crafted, I admit, but the fact that Cormier opened up so many new characters and never brought them up again threw me off. I believe that many parts of the book were unnecessary--- I suppose teenage boys do think of sex and masturbation every few seconds (I wouldn't know because I'm a teenage girl), but there is no reason for Cormier to be unrelentless in his descriptions of the boys jacking off, having orgasms, et cetera. Archie and the Vigils also seem strange to me. I do not believe that young men actually have "secret societies" that act like totalitarianist governments. Most teenage boys are not as pernicious and power-obsessed as Archie is.
Also, is it my imagination, or is there an indecent amount of homosexual activity in "The Chocolate War?" I have nothing against homosexuals, but I do not think that describing a male pretending to take a picture of another male jacking off is appropriate. What makes it even more inappropriate is that Archie keeps telling Emile that he's beautiful and all of that...well, perhaps this is supposed to be a taste of "reality" to people such as myself, but what makes the book hilarious is the exact same incidents that make the book inappropriately sick.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely more for guys...
Review: I recently read The Chocolate War for an assignment in English class. The book did keep me entertained long enough to finish reading it, but that's about it. I'm a fifteen year old girl, and this book is written for about a thirteen year old boy. The book talks about looking at adult magazines and stuff like that from a male point of view. I was not interested, to say the least. The actual story line lacked any sort of reality, in my opinion. I mean, honestly, a kid doesn't sell chocolates and the entire school turns against him? He's "disturbing the universe"? Personally, I would transfer out of this hoity-toity private school as soon as I could! The characters in this book are described well, though. You can tell that the author has talent, but he should've used it to write something that was actually decent! I would not have finished this book if I didn't have to for the assignment. Basically, I recommend this if you're a 13-15 year old boy, but otherwise don't bother.

Rating:
Summary: Great book--conservative readers beware!
Review: I enjoyed the issues presented in this book, but wanted to warn conservative readers about the language and sexuality it contains.

Rating:
Summary: Uncannily True
Review: This book accurately portrays high school for those who dared to "disturb the universe", who didn't except high school's terrible social structure or its exceedingly competitive environment.

My apologies to the reviewer named "v. elliott" but it is quite obvious he has not been to high school in a very long time OR his high school experience was atypical compared to the average teenager. The Chocolate War, while satirical in nature, is a very honest portrayal of high school. For v. elliott to say that it is not realistic tells me that while he may be a well-versed reader, he is obviously inexperienced when it comes to Young Adult issues in literature.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because at times there was too much distance between the reader and Jerry, by having multiple points of view. I think Cormier should've taken it up a notch and let us know exactly what Jerry was going through and feeling and not jump to another POV as soon as the reader is about to discover what is happening to him.

Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever
Review: The book that I am reading is The Chocolate War. This book is a good book. There are some parts in the book is very funny and some parts are stupid but it is a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Do I dare disturb the universe?
Review: Few books have left as lasting an impact on me as The Chocolate War. Like Jerry Renault, I too remember the subtle and not-so-subtle cruelties people inflict on each other in school. Like him, I know what it is like to feel peer pressure and to feel despair over the direction your life seems to be taking and the need to make your mark. So I understood why Jerry felt he had to rebel against the evil rulers of the school. Getting ostrasized and beaten was preferrable to staying invisible and allowing the evil authority figures to get their way.

Robert Cormier was truly an incredible author whom I will sorely miss. Unlike other young adult authors, Cormier understood that adolescence is not necessarily a happy time of life. I think that's why I gravitated towards him when I was a teenager instead of other young adult authors who wrote chirpy upbeat teen books. Cormier might be depressing, but he certainly leaves an impression on you.

What I found especially disturbing about this book was the way the adults condoned the actions of the Vigils by turning a blind eye to them. I too remember in school how teachers sometimes turned a blind eye to subtle bullying because they didn't want to deal with it. The Vigils bring order to the school which is what the brothers want. The boys' parents send them to Trinity as they believe the school will bring them up right. Brother Leon even employs the Vigils to bring down a rebel student. For that matter, what about the way the students turn a blind eye to Jerry's plight? Even Jerry's friend the Goober is not there for Jerry when he needs him. Like Simon Peter, the Goober lets Jerry down...

There's something fascistic about Trinity High. It reminds me of Nazi Germany or the Taliban.

Rating:
Summary: The Chocolate Review
Review: Cormier certainly attempts to convince the reader that his creative efforts truly depicts the teenage male in The Chocolate War - including insight into his subconscious, his fears, his inadequacies and even his strengths, but this story falls short in convincing the reader that Jerry, Goober, Bailey and even Archie-the archtype bully are believable enough for the teenage male to indentify with the creative make-up of these characters. I believe that Cormier with great effort to present the inner war and the controversal image of the teen male fails in his this story. The Chocolate is not only incoherent and unrealistic implying that peer pressure is so powerful that one group can penatrate an entire school of extracurricular groups/ clicks/ bonds/ friendships and surrogate family ties. No group would ever be powerful enough to unite or control an entire school of boys-private or not to successfully band together against individuality. The human spirit just won't allow it. There were more Jerrys in Trinity, but Cormier had to unrealistically exclude them all to make this story work for his creative efforts and he failed! It is true that in some settings the male teen who is a loner may allow himself to be influenced into the clasp of a artifical/ brotherhood group such as the Vigils in order to be accepted, but many teen males would rebel against such pressure forsaking the need to be needed. This story is just too unrealistic, and way off track. If the story would have flowed better, it could have even been a good read but, because of the choppiness,loose ties and lack of character development- for example who was Archie? Did Archie have a mother and a father? What or who contributed to his pain and need to hurt others? Reading this story was a chore and not enjoyable. The Chocolate War became ultimately for me a Chocolate Mess.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Classic
Review: "The Chocolate War" is still among the most challenged books in public schools even nearly 30 years after publication. It has a recurring theme common among Cormier's books, a helpless protagonist thrust headlong into confrontation against a nearly irresistable force. His books also tend to avoid the happy ending and tidy resolutions to the problem. Cormier got his ideas from real life situations and added a "What If The Worst Thing Happened" instead? "The Chocolate War" came from one of his children being involved in a harmless chocolate sale at school and he wondered what would happen if...this book will not leave you unemotional at its conclusion. It will affect you emotionally and makes for a great classroom discussion tool.