The Chocolate War

Started this book because it appeared on banned book lists, and what better award? I was totally surprised by the rawness of it, its description of the turmoil and cruelty of adolescence and the sadistic part of some school as well as teacher-student relationships. It reminded me a lot of the Dead Poets Society, by its settings and characters, but by including a raw violence that is mostly rampant in the Dead Poets Society. This is a great book with quite an array of character that demonstrates a brutal but quite true view of adolescence and harassment.

Read in Arizona at the library

This book is charming and sheds a bit of light on boyhood. With sports, social situations, and girls, it is a delightful coming-of-age story. However, it also highlights how difficult it is to get out from under those in power. Power is everything. It's difficult to truly change a system and go against the current.

Quotes:
“Do I dare disturb the universe?
Yes, I do, I do. I think.
Jerry suddenly understood the poster–the solitary man on the beach standing upright and alone and unafraid, poised at the moment of making himself heard and known in the world, the universe.”

“They don't actually want you to do your own thing, not unless it's their thing too.”

I decided to read this YA novel today. It took just a few hours to read. The reason for it was because it was considered a controversial book. Reading this book in 2017 vs 1974 I'm sure makes a big difference on the reasons why it would be considered controversial.
Yet there is something disturbing about on how humanity sees things, while today we won't find the swearing offensive and the mentions of masturbation and sex too minimal to ban the book, the actual story line is still so true today. To see how bullying by classmates and even teachers is still of great concern for young adults and increasing even in the professional world, this book might as well have been written today.
I particularly liked the reason why Robert wrote the book in the first place, because his son had come home at the age of 14 telling them he just didn't want to sell boxes of chocolates and him and his wife supported his son's decision, but that lead Robert to think about how a simple voluntary school activity and a teenagers willingness to stand up for what he believes in could be taken into something negative and frowned upon.
Shouldn't all children and even adults have the freedom to stand up for what they believe in without judgement or aggression by their peers or authority, so ... Do I dare to disturb the universe?
Compelling book and a good read for all ages.

I don't know what to say.

I had really mixed feelings about this book. It made me really, really mad. The characters were all a bunch of jerks and are probably going to grow up to be sociopaths. The writing was wonderful, however, and the vocabulary was expansive. I was kind of annoyed, though, at the inconsistency of the POVs. They switched randomly, and I found myself re-reading parts to figure out whose POV I was in.

3.5 stars. I know it's supposed to be a classic, but it definitely is not quite a great book. It took a long time to get into and the characters never really felt fully developed.

I read this as a youngster but there's no way I actually understood it. I remembered very little of the plot and this is the kind of thing you remember. A horrifying look at peer pressure, corruption, and cruelty in a high school setting.

A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.

Jerry Renault is a freshman at a private Catholic high school. It is chocolate time, the time in which the students are asked to sell chocolates to raise money for the school. This year, students are asked to sell more chocolate than ever and the cost of each bar is twice as much.

At Jerry's school, there is a secret group of boys who enjoy the pain of others called The Vigils. The Vigils ask Jerry to refuse to take part in the chocolate sale for ten days. Jerry complies. On the eleventh day, when Jerry is supposed to fall in line again, he suddenly decides to continue to refuse to take part in the sale.
The group dynamics in this book are fascinating. I'd love to hear what high school students would think about this book.

This book reaffirms my belief in the horribleness of everyone.

I remember this from junior high school being very good. I reread it early in college actually and still really liked it.