Rating: 
Summary: Compelling
Review: When I read this novel, it gave me chills. It is about a boys tortured adolescence at a certain period of time, (the anual Trinity School fund-raiser) and his struggle to overcome pressure from his peers and teachers. Robert Cormier has brilliantly created a believable cast of characters... the isolated outcast, Jerry Renault, and the suave, sinister Archie Costello, who torments your mind and life at Trinity if you attempt to stand up to his commands. Despite Archie's cruel, heartless nature, he was my favorite person in the story. He brought out the evilness and turmoil at Trinity, along with his group, the Vigils. I would highly recommend The Chocolate War, and hope that readers will enjoy it as much as I have.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't get it
Review: First, I think this book was written for 13- or 14-year-olds, and I read it when I was 17, so that may be part of why I found it so simplistic. But my big complaint is with its literary style, not the author's ability to use language. You get three characters worth thinking about: a villian, the villian's enabler, and the excuse for a hero. The "hero" does some incredibly stupid things, and it's no surprise that something awful happens to him in the end. There isn't a single admirable character in the book. The hero may have noble intentions, whatever those are, but there is no escaping the sheer idiocy of sticking your neck out just because you feel you have to. It is very difficult to take any sort of lesson away from such a story, and I don't see what point there is in reading it.Perhaps the author's message is about the social nature of the sorts of schools he is describing, not his characters. Maybe he meant to say that such an environment fosters the worst in people, and that it isn't possible to do the right thing, even if you try. But it is still a wasted message, as he offers no positive alternative, just a bunch of contemptable characters. Probably the only reason to read this story is out of literary curiosity, for its anti-hero, Archie. The most famous anti-hero is Satan from Milton's Paradise Lost, but this book is much, much easier to read than that. Still, whatever point the author was trying to make is opaque to me at 23, and certainly won't be any clearer to a 13-year-old, if there is a point at all.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe I'm a "Wimp"
Review: Yes, it's "great" that poor Jerry Renault "disturbs his universe" and "stands up" to the horrible Vigils and Archie. But, it is so disturbing how those manipulative, callous, power abusing characters create such havoc and destroy the other sensitive young intelligent caring students that they do; I think especially for young adult readers that it could be overwhelming. Maybe I'm a wimp, but with all the concern with school "bullying" now and sensitivity training in schools. . .this is everything we're trying to fight against and change.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: I started reading this book, simply thinking it would be a quick fun read, but ended up getting a lot out of it. I totally loved it and was not ready for it to be over. I could not believe how much it makes you think about how mean people in general can be, and what an impact just one kid can make. Definetely read this book!!
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books ever written- A MUST!
Review: The Chocolate War is a multileveled masterpiece! On the surface are Jerry and the other kids who attend a middle class private school, that seems to be religiously affiliated, but inside are issues of: authority, self-perception, puberty, decision making, good vs. evil, social responsibility, and so much more. Of course the adults in this story are evil and rotten, as are some of the boys. Jerry is the hero in more ways than one- sometimes vulnerable but always strong. It is possible that Cormier wanted to blast religion in this novel, but I see him as empowering kids, to not simply lie down and let the world happen to them. Don't I wish I'd read this book as a teenager? YES I DO!
Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood Genius
Review: I must say that this book has been taught and mistaught over and over again by hundreds of teachers. If all that students are taking away from this book is death and depression, then the surface has not even begun to be scratched. This story was inspired by an event in Cormier's son's own life, though nowhere near to the serious degree in the story. The idea that this book is an anti-Catholic novel is equally as misguided. The book is very Catholic and Christian in its themes, but more to the point it is human in that it shows the failings of individuals, no matter what their public persona may say otherwise. The setting just happens to be a Catholic high school. This could just as easily have taken place in a public school. It is a statement against injustice, and inequality. Jerry Renault is a Christ figure, sacrificed for his viewpoint by a ruthless authority and mob. The Chocolate War speaks to the youth of today and tomorrow. I'm not speaking as an educator, but as a student myself, and I realize that this book may be disappointing to people who are looking for fairy tales and happy endings. But the often overlooked Christian theme of the novel reinforces the fact that happy endings are not going to be found in many aspects on this earth. "They murdered him." The first line of the novel leads us to the end, and with Jerry's "death," we are to understand, where the contemporary audience is not, what it is that Jerry gave up for others: his "life" in Trinity, his dignity. He disturbed the universe where no one else would, defied authority, and showed that one human can make a difference, and an impact. Please, those of you who have read The Chocolate War, especially if you didn't like it, give it another try, and, if it would help, find a criticism of Cormier's book. But don't dismiss this book offhand because of what you have been taught or are supposed to think. Think for yourself, teach yourself, and learn from Mr. Cormier and from Jerry. Disturb the universe a little.
Rating:
Summary: A cynic's puny, monodimensional view of human existence ....
Review: This is a depressing, bigoted, hate-filled story that depends upon anti-Catholic stereotyping for a setting (a Catholic high school run by a religious order) sufficiently insular (if one is willing to buy into the outdated stereotype) to validate the inhumane, violent and sociopathic characters and plot upon which this book is premised. This book is defined by a cynical, Clockwork Orange-ish vision, with characters and a premise that fail completely to give voice to or acknowledge the collective sensibilities of the many young adults I know. I was sorry I read it and felt compelled to wash my mind out with something that more closely resembles worthwhile literature after I had finished. The "Jerry" figure here does not teach empowerment. Read the reports of depression by youthful readers on this site alone. "Empowerment" requires self-awareness of a core personal goal/value and a belief that a struggle to achieve that goal/value is itself valuable. In the weighing of the cost and the benefit of the struggle, the empowered person voluntarily chooses, recognizing there may not be a "happy ending." "Jerry" does not. He has no core personal motivation but merely wallows in the author's putrid, insular "universe" of a stereotyped Catholic boys school authority, where he is "victimized" by the various forms of nastiness incubated there. Nor is this a parable of Christian "sacrifice" as has been suggested. Far from it. The "sacrifice" of Christ, Christianity teaches, was with understanding by Christ of the suffering to be endured, yet nonetheless freely chosen to "redeem" others. None of that here. A bug, trapped on the wrong windowsill, may have its legs pulled off in various fashions by cruel persons, but there is no value in reading about the occurrence. For Jerry, life [isn't good] whether or not he sells chocolates. Not empowering. Not voluntary. Not redemptive. Nastiness, cynicism and ugliness ARE out there. To wallow in them, read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Stupid!
Review: WE had to read this book in school and it is the absolute worst book I have ever read! It is filled with nothing but gross evil stuff. I wouldnt read this book again in a million years!
Rating:
Summary: Terribly dated, shallow, unsatisfying, undeserved "classic"
Review: After reading all the references to The Chocolate War as a young adult classic in the recent obituaries of Robert Cormier, I decided to finally pick up a copy since I'd never read it as a teen. Boy, was I disappointed. The way the book portrays the theme of rebelling against conformity and asserting one's individuality is terribly dated; it reads like the poor young adult's version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, here set in a Catholic boys' prep school with a Brother Leon instead of a Nurse Ratched. The short sentences of the stacatto prose mean to be deep but come off as self-conscious and inane, and the characterizations are shallow--The Goober and Jerry, particularly, remain enigmas. Why does Jerry stay on the football team if he's become disillusioned by the school? Shouldn't Janza be angrier with Archie than Jerry? It seems like Cormier is talking down to his audience--Jerry not understanding at first the poster that says "Do I dare disturb the universe" although he already is. The plot strains credulity--who does all the selling of the chocolates, and why does everyone go along with the phony numbers?--and the ending, as other reviewers have noted, is unsatisfying, not because Jerry doesn't triumph, but because there is no payoff to the other characters: Obie, Archie, Brother Leon, Brother Jacques, the girl at the bus stop, the hippie behind the fence, etc. And why doesn't Jerry just walk away from the fight? THAT would have ruined Archie's supposedly ingenious plan. But of course, then there couldn't have been the cut-rate Lord of the Flies-ish finale. It's shocking that this book is frequently banned--I guess because of the violence and references to masturbation that are relatively tame by today's standards--but what's really shocking is that the book is even more frequently assigned in school. It takes my breath away that this book is mentioned by some as being in the same league as Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies; this supposed "classic" will be forgotten with time. Instead of reading The Chocolate War (or after, if you have to read it for school), pick up Catcher or Cuckoo's Nest or Anthem by Ayn Rand, even if they may be above your reading level, for a more intelligent, thoughtful, fleshed-out, beautifully written, engaging look at one man standing up to the rest of the world.
Rating:
Summary: Chocolate or Choconot? Cormier writes a winner
Review: School, many people consider a very boring place. People go in, people go out, not much else. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier was a successful attempt at recreating the more...intersering parts of high school. Cruelty. Jerry Renault is a freshmen in his new school Trinity. Him, trying to fit in wants to join the football team, with success he it selected to play for Trinity High. Jerry soon enough meets up with the mob type rule on the school known as The Vigils. The Vigils run like this, a senior named Archie makes jobs that students in the school must perform in order to keep safe in the school. An example of a "assignment" is a student having to unscrew every desk in a teacher's room. Before Jerry is in the school long, he is given a Vigil assignment. His assignment is to refuse to sell the chocolates the school sells every year. Now at every other school this would not be a big deal, however at Trinity, not sgreeing to sell is like a high crime. Jerry successfully completes his assignment however he even then refuses to sell. This brings the entire school in hatred on Jerry. This story is great, it portrays the cruelty at schools perfectly. This book is highly reccomended by me.
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