Customer Reviews

After the First Death

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Using a narrative tool employed by THE CATCHER IN THE RYE to startling effect, Robert Cormier goes inside the minds of three teens, one of them apparently institutionalized, to tell the story of how they dealt with a terrorist attack in AFTER THE FIRST DEATH. It's a brilliant novel, one of Cormier's most frightening and effective, and it doesn't matter that it's classified as "juvenile literature." Given the realistic and topical aspects of the plot, AFTER THE FIRST DEATH is a page-turner, no matter how old you are.

Two foreign terrorists, one of them a teenager, hijack a bus filled with small children on their way to summer camp. They take the bus to a bridge, announce their intentions and demands and begin to negotiate the release of the hostages with local military. Though they're reluctant, they assure the military that they will kill children if their demands are not met. The teen terrorist, one of the narrators, is both a frightening figure and a confused kid. He's capable of volatile actions, yet, at the same time, he's young, occasionally caring and vulnerable.

Another of the narrators is Kate, the 16-year-old girl who is substituting for the bus driver on the day of the standoff. Thus, she becomes the primary caregiver for the children, who end up drugged, scared and sick. At the same time, she's still just a child herself, questioning her own bravery. Her relationship with the teen terrorist becomes key, as well, for she's the first girl with whom he's had any contact. She senses his feelings and wonders if she can use them to her advantage, if she even dares to do so.

The third narrator, the son of the general who's negotiating the standoff, is the one in the institution, telling the story in flashback. Though this same device was used in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, it's used for a different purpose here, and it leads to a rather shocking ending. The general's son becomes directly involved in the hostage situation at a point late in the game, and his life is placed at risk while the two sides come to terms with the situation.

The title, "After the First Death," takes on several meanings throughout the course of the book. Taken from a Dylan Thomas poem, it seems to reflect on how the death of a child is no more and no less significant than the death of any person. Additionally, though, the title, if considered in a Biblical context, deals with the "first death" - the murder of Kane - and the ramifications of a juvenile's violent actions.

The book deals with teens having to face the consequences of their own actions, having to face the dangers in a troubling situation where their are adult consequences. There's also a subtext surrounding children trying to please their parents.

The ending passages are shocking, foreboding and heartbreakingly sad. The book stays with you in the manner of a resonant nightmare.

It's a fascinating, layered book thick with plot and harrowing situations, and it's one of the best books I've ever read.

"After the First Death" is an outstanding, exciting read, driven by terrorism, violence, and bloodshed -- and, even more importantly, by Robert Cormier's tight, lyrical prose. Few other young adult novels are written with this level of verbal ingenuity. What impressed me most about the book's style is the mixture of narrators and narrative styles; Cormier shifts from first person to third person and back again, jumping back and forth in time as well. Normally, such an experimental style would drive young readers bonkers, but Cormier makes it work beautifully. This is a book that worked on all levels for me, both as a reader and a teacher, and it's been a very successful read with my freshmen. "The Chocolate War" may be his most famous, but I think "After the First Death" is his best.

I read this book last year in my 8th grade English class. I was used to reading books for school that were boring and a chore to read. But this year, every book was amazing. One was After the First Death. This book pulled me in from the start. It was suspenseful and weird. You got inside the mind of a "bad" person. And you felt sympathy for this person. I read this book really quickly, It really helped to discuss this book as a class and talk about the ending. I would have never understood it fully without discussing it. Robert Cormier is a fabulous author. This is his best work that I have read so far. The Chocolate War was good as well. but After the First Death was more intriuging

Using a narrative tool employed by THE CATCHER IN THE RYE to startling effect, Robert Cormier goes inside the minds of three teens, one of them apparently institutionalized, to tell the story of how they dealt with a terrorist attack in AFTER THE FIRST DEATH. It's a brilliant novel, one of Cormier's most frightening and effective, and it doesn't matter that it's classified as "juvenile literature." Given the realistic and topical aspects of the plot, AFTER THE FIRST DEATH is a page-turner, no matter how old you are.

Two foreign terrorists, one of them a teenager, hijack a bus filled with small children on their way to summer camp. They take the bus to a bridge, announce their intentions and demands and begin to negotiate the release of the hostages with local military. Though they're reluctant, they assure the military that they will kill children if their demands are not met. The teen terrorist, one of the narrators, is both a frightening figure and a confused kid. He's capable of volatile actions, yet, at the same time, he's young, occasionally caring and vulnerable.

Another of the narrators is Kate, the 16-year-old girl who is substituting for the bus driver on the day of the standoff. Thus, she becomes the primary caregiver for the children, who end up drugged, scared and sick. At the same time, she's still just a child herself, questioning her own bravery. Her relationship with the teen terrorist becomes key, as well, for she's the first girl with whom he's had any contact. She senses his feelings and wonders if she can use them to her advantage, if she even dares to do so.

The third narrator, the son of the general who's negotiating the standoff, is the one in the institution, telling the story in flashback. Though this same device was used in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, it's used for a different purpose here, and it leads to a rather shocking ending. The general's son becomes directly involved in the hostage situation at a point late in the game, and his life is placed at risk while the two sides come to terms with the situation.

The title, "After the First Death," takes on several meanings throughout the course of the book. Taken from a Dylan Thomas poem, it seems to reflect on how the death of a child is no more and no less significant than the death of any person. Additionally, though, the title, if considered in a Biblical context, deals with the "first death" - the murder of Kane - and the ramifications of a juvenile's violent actions.

The book deals with teens having to face the consequences of their own actions, having to face the dangers in a troubling situation where their are adult consequences. There's also a subtext surrounding children trying to please their parents.

The ending passages are shocking, foreboding and heartbreakingly sad. The book stays with you in the manner of a resonant nightmare.

It's a fascinating, layered book thick with plot and harrowing situations, and it's one of the best books I've ever read.

I enjoyed reading this book because it is well written and full of tension that forces one to read on and on. Although I didn't know all the vocabulary it was easy to understand the storyline and the main ideas of the book. One thing that was a bit confusing to me first was the author's splitting up the story into chapters told from diferent perspectives: either Miro and Kate on the bridge or Ben, who described the whole action from his point of view, looking back at the event after a few months. But towards the end the reader will understand Ben's role. Moreover I liked this psychological thriller because I'm interested in suspense novels that build up expectations and then produce an utterly surprising outcome. your Kathy 11 A (KG)(G)

The novel, After the First Death by Robert Comier, is an exciting thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. This book gives you three different perspectives of what is going on in the book. Comier allows you to enter the minds of three main characters named: Kate, Miro, and Ben. Kate is the innocent bus driver which has no control of the terrorists that entered the bus, Miro is one of the terrorists that take over the bus, and Ben is a son of a General who is part of a top secret agency in the military. I came across this book when I was assigned to read it for English class in school. This book is so exciting that I read past the number of assigned pages for the night just to find out what would happen next. The way Comier decides to narrate the book captures you into reading more of the book.
The book first starts you out with Ben's perspective of what had happened the day on the bridge. What he thinks of happened ruined `Inner Delta' which is a top secret military agency which his dad is apart of. And then you witness your first perspective change in the book when the point of view switches to Miro who is one of the terrorists assigned to hijack a school bus full of kids. This shift tells you the plan of what is going to happen and when it will happen. It also gives you a background of Miro where we learn that Miro calls his team of terrorists `Freedom Fighters' who are trying to win back their precious `Homeland', and we also discover he is a regular teenager with likes/ dislikes. After we learn what the terrorists plans are we then witness the hijacking of the bus, how it was exacuted, and where they are taking the bus. And then finally we get the perspective of the bus driver whose name is Kate. Cormier allows us to enter the mind of Kate and find out what weaknesses and strengths Kate has. People who enjoy exciting thrillers will enjoy this book. This book has left me on the edge of my seat and I'm sure it will to you to.
I highly recommend this book to teens who don't normally read books. This book may change the teenagers opinion on books. When you start reading this you will not be able to put the book down. Go and pick up a copy of this exciting thriller today!

As a college student studying English, I was recently assigned this book for a young adult literature class. I found it an incredibly well written book- powerfully narrated and emotionally strong. The characters are very believable and very real, and you can understand what they are feeling and why. Even the terrorist Miro is believable, because his motivation is not just to kill. He has other motivations, and he really thinks what he is doing is the right thing to do. Of course, we dont agree with him, and I dont think were supposed to, but because he actually thinks about things- because he is more than just a one-dimensional character- he is real. This book makes you think about it long after you are done reading it. You are able to feel exactly what you would feel in the situation that is presented.
One thing that particularly added to this book, in my opinion, was the unusual format it is written in. The book starts off being written as a first person narration by Ben and then switches its focus to Miro, the boy terrorist, then to Kate, the bus driver. Later in the book the points of view of other characters are added as well. Throughout the book the focus shifts from one person or incident to another, sometimes without any apparent relevance. It goes from people thinking about the current situation to them thinking about the past, and everything is jumbled together, just as it would be, I think, in a real situation like this one. This sometimes makes the narrative a little confusing, but I think it also makes it more realistic. After all, wouldnt be being captured by a terrorist be a little confusing? The horror of the situation is very realistically portrayed and the many points of view provided in its make-up add to the general feeling of cacophony.
It is impossible not to admire Robert Cormiers strength as a writer. His book is deep and impressive and makes you think about many things, not just terrorism and the sanctity life. It was especially powerful to me when I read it, because it was assigned to me on September 11. 2001. It is one of the most well written and thought provoking books I have read in a long time. And, after having said all that, I would have to say that in good conscience I could never recommend this book to anyone of any age. It is powerful and realistic and terrible- and I will never read it again

What can I say? Robert Cormier once again delivers. The true beauty of this book is that no one is right. It makes you wonder who to root for. Personally, I don't think that the book could have ended any other way and still had the same effect. After the First Death is hauntingly honest, and it is real in a way that very few stories are. Why? Because in real life, even the innocent die, and not every ending is happily ever after.

I read this book with high school sophomores, and they loved it. While the content is harsh, there are valuable lessons to be learned from it. We examined family relationships, cultures, and patriotism, and we had some wonderful lessons on comparing similiarities among Miro, Kate, and Ben. The book itself is filled with figurative language. I had students identify some of the similies used. The students were eager to read, and this really thrilled me. Some innocent people do die in this novel, but, as other reviewers have already said, this makes the book true to life.

Robert Cormier's Thriller "After the first death" is dealing with a problem that is even more topical today as in the days Cormier wrote it 1979: terrorism.
He writes about the hijacking of a bus full of children on an old railway-bridge and the consequences for all people who were involved in it. The plot is described out of different perspectives in different times which could be a little bit confusing at the beginnig, but this style of writing later makes it easier for the reader to understand the actions of both sides, on the one hand the actions of the terrorists and on the other hand the reactions of the victims, esspecially Mark and Ben, a General and his son, whose relationship is very problematic, and Kate, the driver of the bus, who tries to fight against the threat of the terrorists.
All in all, Robert Cormier's style of writing and the detailed description of the inner selves of the characters who all undergo a certain development keeps you reading to an Hollywood unlike ending.