Customer Reviews

The Beast

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Beast", along with "Monster" and "Scorpions" is another masterwork of Walter Dean Myers, one of the greatest writers of our time. The story is about a college freshman who leaves his home in the projects of Harlem and his poet/girlfriend Gabi, for college. When he returns to Harlem for Christmas break he finds everything different, especially Gabi who is thinner and doesn't talk much anymore. Spoon(the college kid) discovers that Gabi's using drugs and the book has to do with the battle to get his girlfriend away from the beast.

This book is amazing. There are unique characters like Gabi's grandfather and Gabi's little brother who runs with gangs.
The one thing I would've liked is if it would've given more detail to Gabi and her brother getting cleaned. Myers kind've skips through really fast so you don't really see the emotion of quitting drugs.

But this is still an amazing book for all readers. I recommend you read all his books and then read some of Donald Goines novels if you're ready for them.

"The Beast"= A+

Book Review
Title: The Beast Author: Walter D. Myers
ISBN: 0-06-440731-4

Returning To These Mean Streets
Have you ever went away and then came back to a place that you know so well but are so confused about it all? Or had someone that you were really close to do the most self destructive thing? When I first wanted to read this book it was right after my teacher Mrs. Lyons gave her book talk about it. When she read some parts from it I automatically fell in love with it.
This book is about a guy named Anthony Spoon who went away to boarding school and came back to Harlem, a place that he was raised that wasn't so bad when he left but was so chaotic when he returned. He comes home from school to be a mentor and to be confused about the relationship between him and his girlfriend Gabi. Gabi was a nice poet who Anthony fell in love with before he left to school. He thought she had it all. Brains, beauty, and street smarts. But just like most people she got sucked into the game of life and got rapped up in the mean streets.
I think that this book was a spectacular book. It talked about the real things that go on in life and that's the kind of books that I like to read. Although I didn't quite agree with choices that Anthony made it was still a great joy to read this. I feel that if Anthony would stay with someone it should be Chanelle (another character in the book that he tends to lust about). I also don't feel that the ending of the book fit the criteria of the book. I thought that it would be a real eye opener or a great cliff hanger.
Some things to know about the author Walter Dean Myers are: he was the first winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, a National Book Award, has written a lot of books about teen struggles, and helped establish the Walter Dean Myers publishing institute.
The theme in this book is that "EVEN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE TO THE MOST DISRTUCTIVE THINGS." Since the characters in this book do the most destructive things I felt that this theme fit the story best.
A quote from the book that I really found interesting was the quote that is on the back of the book. "It was funny. I had been away for only a few months from the place I had spent almost all my life. And suddenly it was ahead of me, like a shadow on the cracked concrete sidewalk mimicking my every move.
During reading this book I made a lot of connnections. One connection that I made was a prediction. I predicted that Anthony would break up with Gabi. I also made a t-s connection. I connected to the part where Anthony had said that he gets butterflies in his stomach when he gets around Gabi. I can realte to this because when I really liked someone I always got butterflies in my stomach whenever I got around this boy.
I recommend this book to any teen ager that loves an interesting book about real-life happenings and things that really can be true and love to read about their surroundings and the effects that it could have on someone's life.

The Beast describes the use of heroin. Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon has gone away to prep school in his senior year of high school. He left behind not only his family but the woman he loves Gabi(short for Gabriela).When he returns homes for christmas he realizes things are not the same. One of his friends drop out from school and the neighborhood good girl Clara is preganant. Anthony starts to wonder about his neighborhood and feeling strange being in Harlem again. The most devasting change in his life is when he finds out the woman he loves uses(heroin). Anthony is heartbroken but tries his best to be there for her.Walter Dean Myers do give a vivid imagery of Harlem and its people but I do not like how he ends the book. I would have like to know some more about Gabi if she stayed clean and what happen to her relationship with Anthony.

This could have been an amazing, powerful novel. Walter Dean Myers portrays life on the streets in vivid detail, and the affection between Spoon and Gabi is convincing and compelling. However, the novel lacks focus. Supposedly this is the story of Spoon's battle to help Gabi overcome her drug addiction, but there's so much going on in these pages that Gabi feels like one of many subplots. We never really get to know or care for the characters as we should. There really isn't much of a struggle - despite the ambiguity of the end, Gabi's journey seems too facile and contrived. Spoon seems to spend as much time hanging out with his rich-kid friends as he does caring for Gabi. It's a pity that this novel doesn't live up to its rich promise, because there are some moments of beauty along the way that will leave you breathless.

I teach in an inner-city urban school with 5th and 6th graders. While I had some minor concerns about the basis of the book's foundation about a meth addiction, I found that it true to form fit the lives and decisions my students often face in their own lives. In addition many of my students, have relatives, even parents, with this issue and they are constantly torn between this life and making good decisions for themselves. They love Walter Dean Myers and are always requesting more of his books. They particularly love this one, Street Love, Hoops, and The Game. If you are looking to grab the interest and get your students reading, this book will help you on your way. One more thing....if you are using it in a literature study, there are discussion questions at the back of the book to help guide your instruction. Happy reading!!!

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It tells you about real things that happen in real life. You can also make alot of connections to it.

I am an English teacher in an urban city, so I chose to do Walter Dean Myers as an author study and The Beast is, by far, my favorite book. (granted I read 8 books, not all of them). I do not want to give anything away, but the characters are so real, I felt their pain right along with them. Myers did an amazing job lettting us into the mind of Spoon, the main character, and the trials and tribulations that he struggles with. I even cried at the end of this novel, it was just so emotional! I absolutely LOVED this book and will be recommending it to all of my students this year!

Review by Teenager:
This book The Beast was an interesting read but only that. I gave one of the stars for originality, another for control/unpredictability.
I took one away because there were too many parts that were unordered and unclear. For instance, "Rafe was gang banging' last night." You're left with only that about Rafe the whole book and it didn't relate to the conversation at that point. I took another star away for a weak ending. The ending in this book makes you want your 4 1/2 hours back that you spent reading it! The ending seemed like the author ran out of ink so he stopped writing and called it good but that's' not what writing is about. The last star was taken away for poor story plotting. The book could've been great if the author had given a background to the characters lives and made us connect to the characters before there was drama thrown in. This book had great potential but just like a bombed test this particular book failed

When I first glanced at this book, I thought it was about some mythical beast from the land of enchantment or something like that. But never judge a book by its cover. The name doesn't really have anything to do with the book. The only thing that I can think of is that it is referring to drugs, which is a large part of this book.

Anthony Witherspoon left the hood to go to the academy. When he got back everything was different:

His girlfriend (Gabi) was using, she said she was only skin surfing but who knows what she was really doing. Things get worse when her mother dies. Gabi goes missing and no one knows what will happen to her.

Gabi's brother started gangbanging, his friend Clara got pregnant and his best friend dropped out of school.

This book is about Anthony's struggle with life in New York City. Will he help his friends or will he end up just like them? Read the book to find out, cause I ain't telling you nothing.

My review on this book is that the book is one of those true life get in your head and make you think type of book that can relate to an every day event.