Customer Reviews

Boy's Life

5 star:		(183)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It's 1964, a time of racism and turmoil. Zephyr, Alabama, is a small town, but it's caught up in the events of the world, too. There's no escaping reality, as one boy, Cory Mackenson, is about to find out.

It begins when Cory and his father witness a car disappearing into a lake rumored to be bottomless. Cory's father dives in, and before the car goes completely under, he witnesses something terrifying: a man, handcuffed to the wheel, with copper wire around his throat. Murdered.

But summer is coming. A summer filled with wonder, mystery, magic, and tragedy. It is a summer where Cody will realize that magic can really happen; where he will witnesses a creature that should've been extinct millions of years ago; where he will discover the power and love of family, and the unbreakable bond of friendship; where he will know terror as no one ever has.

Robert R. McCammon's writing is not always consistent. Some of his novels, such as "Mystery Walk," have been almost unreadable; others, such as "Stinger" and "Swan Song," have been enjoyable but forgettable; others, such as "Wolf's Hour," have been masterpieces. "Boy's Life" belongs in this latter category.

A comparison to Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine" is unavoidable; however, McCammon manages to throw something into his tale that even Bradbury could not: suspense. This is a suspense novel, set aound a young boy and his quest for the truth, no matter what the cost.

"Boy's Life" is completely enchanting and thoroughly unforgettable. It is a novel for fans of any literay genre. It is, plain and simple, a masterpiece.

I simply love this book. After I read if the first time, I lent it to every single reader I knew. When it got back to me, I had to buy a second copy because it was falling apart! I've read it twice since then and will read it again soon. When I asked my nephew what I could get him as a going away gift because he's moving to Nova Scotia, he said that I didn't have to get him anything but if I insisted, I could get him a book I thought he would enjoy and this is the one! It's a wonderful book and I recommend it highly.

Once in a while you find a rare book which stays in your mind long after your finished it. Boy's Life is just that. The story is simply beautiful and still captures my heart and imagination after reading it the second time, 10 years later. McCammon is famous for his horrors. But in Boy's Life, Mc Cammon has written a brilliant story filled with sensitivity, humanity and emotional depth. It is about a 11 year old boy coming of age. Narrated in the endearing young boy's, Cory's, voice, Boy's Life captures what is meant to be a child once, when the world is still magical and filled with wonders, when a bicycle is a boy's steed, friendship is permanent, a dog is one's best friend and even "flying" is possible. And Boy's Life has its moments of poignancy when Cory has to deal with his best friends' death, evil when and where he least expects and bigotry in his young world. Boy's Life just tugs at my heart as it glows with warmth and comfort when parental love overcome the fears of growing up and always there to rely on in a child's life. Boy's Life is truly a treasure and I promise myself to read this gem again in another 5-10 years time.

I first read "Boy's Life" when it was first published over 10 years ago. I was still a young'un in college and could really relate to Cory's tale of childhood chills & thrills. I always thought "Boy's Life" was McCammon's best novel. I have often thought of this book and now with a son of my own I wanted to re-read "Boy's Life" and to capture again it's magic of youth and boyhood fantasy. I was worried though, because I began wondering if when I read again, a book that I remember so fondly, would I still view it the same and would it still have the same impact on me? I would have hated to find "Boy's Life" was something I had outgrown, or found the memory of the story and the story itself we completely different. The great news is that "Boy's Life" is still fantastic and is simply one of the greatest coming of age stories available. The magic and mystery of the novel are wonderful, and I found myself caught up once again in the goings on in the town of Zephyr. If you haven't read "Boy's Life" or were hesitant based on it being written by a "horror" writer, give this wonderful novel a chance. It is unlike anything McCammon has written, and most likely, even coming out of his semi-retirement, will remain unlike anything he will write. Also, if you have read this novel and enjoyed it, make sure you pick up Dan Simmons' "Summer of Night". "Summer of Night" is stronger in the horror department, but the feel and flow of the book is very similar to "Boy's Life".

I was born in 1969 and grew up in Brooklyn, so Cory's little town and historical events were not part of my world, but his childhood adventures and fears sure were. So it doesn't matter really when you were born, if you ever believed that your bicycle was freedom or that you and your friends could fly, then this book is for you. Being a big horror fan I was not too sure about this book and the boy who was it's hero, all it took was getting to know Cory, his parents and his town to understand that it was much more about life than horror, and that was fine. Oh, don't be mistaken there are monsters here, the green dead type as well as the kind that lives next door, says "good morning" and goes to church with you. All those live and breath in Cory's town, you won't always know who to be more scared of but you will love every minute of it. The only sad thing is that it had to end.

Robert McCammon's Boy's Life is one that should reach anyone and everyone. Whether through the many adventures that Cory, the boy, is taken or just through McCammon's artful story-telling everyone should be reached. Cory, a young kid growing up like you did or are doing, is just enjoying life until one day when his father witnesses a brutal murder. Now, Cory is still enjoying life but the whole rest of the book is wrapped with the murderous thought lurking in the background. Now do not be depressed either because the book is one of life, in general, its joys and its sorrows. On another note I thought the beginning was a bit slow; however, once you get into the book and "know" Cory you should find it a very entertaining tale, all about that magical time called childhood.

Cory Mackenson (doppelganger to author Robert McCammon) is about to experience the summer of his life. Up until now, life in small town Zephyr, Alabama, has been nothing much to get excited about. But one day, while Cory accompanies his father on his milkman route, a car flies across the road in front of them and splashes into Saxon's Lake. Cory's father Tom dives in the lake to attempt a rescue and comes face to face with a naked man handcuffed to the steering wheel garrotted with copper wire. Obviously unsavable, Tom swims back to the surface, but that image will haunt him for many months to come.

And this is only the beginning of Boy's Life, a suspenseful fictional memoir that succeeds in capturing the magic of childhood. While his father suffers the effect of haunting dreams, Cory is introduced to the many quirky characters that make up many small towns. The Lady is the local clairvoyant who seems to know what Tom's problem is, Vernon Thaxter is the son of a reclusive millionaire and so is allowed to run around town naked with impunity, and Nemo Corliss is the new kid--a boy with a talent for baseball so natural that it truly hurts the reader to see that his mother won't let the fragile boy play.

These and other people (and creatures like Lucifer the monkey and the "creature from the lost world") co-exist with Cory in a town shaken up by murder. But this storyline is almost secondary to Cory's discoveries about himself (and his need to be a writer) and the world around him, including a bicycle that has a mind of its own, and seeing his first real naked woman (not found in the pages of National Geographic).

McCammon, as usual, writes like gangbusters and though Boy's Life is on the long side, those almost six hundred pages fly through the reader's fingers much like Cory's bicycle, Rocket. (If you like Boy's Life, be sure to also read Summer of Night by Dan Simmons, another horror/nostalgia piece.)

Out of the thousands of books I've read over the years nothing compares to the joys and sadness this book can envoke. I buy this for every new friend I make. Read it, today!

I had read Robert McCammon's other books and was very pleased with them, especially the rarely praised They Thirst. But this book just blew me away. I related to this book in more ways than I can count. All the characters and events feel real. And although I've never been to Alabama this book made me feel like I had been. I've bought this book several times and lent it out only to never see it again. Everyone I have recommended this book to loved it. Take the time to buy this book and read it. But read it slowly because you will want more when its over. A really great book.

Usually McCammon's books are pretty lame, but this one actually has some nice writing in it and develops a consistent and likable narrator remembering his youth. There is plenty of nostalgia for the old days in this one and until the end when the Nazi-plot thickens this is a nice book.

I would say that if you loved King's IT and wished to heck there were another book like that with likable kids and all the nostalgia for the old days of Silver Flyers and honesty in small towns etc... you will probably enjoy reading this through while you wait for someone else to write another book like IT.