Rating: Summary: Great chiller Review: Although this is the only Robert Cormier book I've read that contains a "fantasy" element, I loved the way he still kept the emphasis on the psycological aspects of the fade. Paul is growing up in 1930's Massachusetts when he first discovers his power to become invisible. While most young adult books would here dwell into tedious fantasy, Cormier focuses on feelings felt within the fade, feelings of isolation and depression that many ignored teen-agers can relate to. Only here, they're multiplied by 100. As the fade is passed from generation to generation, Cormier explores how the fade doesn't create but rather intensifies feelings of guilt and forsakeness in young people. Like almost all of Cormier's writing, this is a dark tale. I was throughly chilled and disturbed from the beginning.
Rating: Summary: Great chiller Review: Although this is the only Robert Cormier book I've read that contains a "fantasy" element, I loved the way he still kept the emphasis on the psycological aspects of the fade. Paul is growing up in 1930's Massachusetts when he first discovers his power to become invisible. While most young adult books would here dwell into tedious fantasy, Cormier focuses on feelings felt within the fade, feelings of isolation and depression that many ignored teen-agers can relate to. Only here, they're multiplied by 100. As the fade is passed from generation to generation, Cormier explores how the fade doesn't create but rather intensifies feelings of guilt and forsakeness in young people. Like almost all of Cormier's writing, this is a dark tale. I was throughly chilled and disturbed from the beginning.
Rating: Summary: "Every family has its mysteries." Review: Fade by Robert Cormier is a great book. Fade is a book with many different settings and point of views. It begins with Paul who is around the age of 13 when he finds out he has a gift. He is able to become invisible. Then there is Ozzie, Paul's nephew. Who is angry at the world because of his terrible life. After him there is Susan, Paul's distant cousin who finds a manuscript written by Paul about his life and the ways he dealt with "the fade." Reading the synopsis of this book I thought it would be a good book to read because I've always thought it would be cool if I could become invisible. I know, silly, but I thought about it before. Of course when I thought about things like that I didn't think about the negative aspects and ways that I would most likely abuse the power, but this book reveals all the possibilities if "the fade" were real. I am not surprised that this was such a good book, since Robert Cormier writes amazing books. This book also dealt with a lot of other issues and it was just an all around great book to read.
Rating: Summary: A benchmark book Review: From the opening line of Fade, Robert Cormier pulls the reader into 13-year-old Paul Moreaux's world. Paul is looking at a photograph of his father's family and there is one person missing from the picture - his Uncle Adelard. According to family lore, Adelard was standing right there when the photo was snapped, but when the picture was developed, Adelard was nowhere to be seen. What Paul learns later, is that Adelard faded at the moment the photo was taken, and Paul has inherited this same ability to disappear. The ability to fade is passed down from uncle to nephew and only one member of each generation inherits the trait. The plot is unpredictable and complex. The first part of the novel, narrated by Paul, takes him from pleasant tentative attempts at fading to witnessing actions that horrify him.
Fade is classic Cormier. It is filled with details that bring the reader right into the story. He honestly and convincingly portrays Paul's internal struggles and Paul quickly learns that the ability to become invisible is more a curse than a blessing. The rich narrative is as absorbing, suspenseful, and captivating as the events are dark and troubling. Touching on mature topics including incest and serial murder, with some truly graphic descriptions, this novel is best suited for older teenagers.
Rating: Summary: "Fade," From the Point of Veiw of a Young Adult Review: I am 14, in the eighth grade, and was assighned to read a book by Robert Cormier for my honors english class. I have read "I Am the Cheese," "Tenderness," "In the Middle of the Night," "Frenchtown Summer," "The Bumblebee Flys Anyway," and "The Chocolate War," besides "Fade," the book I decided to do my report on. I thought "Fade" was the most moving book I have ever read by him. I made a link with Paul's desperite feeling of slow isloation, was horrified by Ozzie's horrible acts toward the bum, and definitely identified with Susan's perspective of the book, and what ran through her head when she was reading it. I think it is the best book i have ever read by Cormier. The end of the book had my eyes glued open and my hands clutching the book, along with all sorts of wild thoughts running through my head like, "what if someone really CAN fade? what if i'm not really alone in this room at all?" speaking from the perspective of the age this book was written for, the book "Fade" may start out slow, but it's worth it. Frenchtown and it's people are now real in my mind. In my oppionion, the whole book is a carefully crafted and manuevered masterpeice anyone my age can wonder and connect with. Cormier is the only author I have ever read who can make the most unbelievable, overdone subject in the world breathtakingly real. So if you are thinking of reading or buying the book, I say DO IT! (I dont think adults would appreciate it though, and it would make a wierd gift.) ...
Rating: Summary: Yes! Review: I am a sophomore in college. I read this book almost 5 years ago, and it still sticks out in my opinion as one of the greatest pieces of "young adult" literature. It is true Robert Cormier, with all the twists and turns you can expect from him. A believable main character with real emotions and easy to relate to. I would reccomend this book to people of all ages for a great story. It truly changed my view of "reading books" for pleasure.
Rating: Summary: Nearly flawless, captivating! Review: I read this book in high school, for my own pleasure. I was so riveted by it that I snuck it into my classes with me and read it for almost an entire school day. Yes, Fade is a strange book. A kid can turn invisible? Sounds pretty corny. But Cormier's descriptions make the book seem almost scarily realistic. When you're done reading it, you almost believe that it would be possible for a human to turn invisible. That's powerful writing.
Like all Cormier books, the characters are simply flawless. Despite the fantasy element, the book is very realistic. When the Ozzie character is introduced, the book moves in a new direction, but it's still intriguing. I wasn't a big fan of the mid-book commentary by the fictitious neice, but I guess it adds quite a bit to the story as a whole, although I found it much less entertaining to read than the rest of the book. This is one of those books that you never forget and will be craving to reread a few years down the road. Truly powerful. Underappreciated. It's incredibly good.
Rating: Summary: A Great Story in the Line of Robert Cormier Books Review: I thought that Fade was a great story. I have read two other books by Robert Cormier, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway and Heroes, both are excellently written, just like Fade. I felt like I was Paul, that I could fade and that I had to deal with the problems that came with it. I really enjoyed hearing Susan, Paul's editor, and Susan's grandfather talk about their views on the story, and I even felt like they were real people. I was sad about how Paul's nephew dealt with the fade, but I knew deep in my heart that some people would use the fade that way. This story dealt with some issues that are hard to face and understand from the outside, but this book took me inside those issues, therefore I now understand them better. I wouldn't recommend this book to immature people, but to mature people who are ready to face real life issues.
Rating: Summary: If you have the book, toss it NOW! Review: If you like other books by Cormier, you're sure to like this one too. It is has several different settings and characters, and they take a lot of unexpected turns. Once I started reading, I had trouble putting the book down. Paul is 13 years old when he learns he has inherited the ability to become invisable. But, he soon finds out that it is not as great as it sounds, and that the Fade seems to have a mind of its own. We follow him throughout his first summer with the fade, until the terrible thing happens. Paul vows to never enter the fade again. As an adult, he must track down his nephew, Ozzie, who has just realized his ability to fade. It is up to Paul to stear him away from the evil that comes with the fade. But, will he succeed? P.S. I would recommend this book for older teenagers. However, it does have some mild sexual content and violence.
Rating: Summary: Fade Review: If you like other books by Cormier, you're sure to like this one too. It is has several different settings and characters, and they take a lot of unexpected turns. Once I started reading, I had trouble putting the book down. Paul is 13 years old when he learns he has inherited the ability to become invisable. But, he soon finds out that it is not as great as it sounds, and that the Fade seems to have a mind of its own. We follow him throughout his first summer with the fade, until the terrible thing happens. Paul vows to never enter the fade again. As an adult, he must track down his nephew, Ozzie, who has just realized his ability to fade. It is up to Paul to stear him away from the evil that comes with the fade. But, will he succeed? P.S. I would recommend this book for older teenagers. However, it does have some mild sexual content and violence.
|