Customer Reviews

Last Summer

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I've read this book a few times and I'll probably revisit it again; it's a favorite.

"Last Summer" is the story of three teenage friends - Sandy, David, and Peter (the narrator) - who spend summer vacation on an island. Regularly slipping away from their parents, they create a little mischief throughout the summer - stealing beer from their homes, drinking, going topless (Sandy), bogusly filling-out a dating questionaire, etc. Their little circle is tight, until they "adopt" a sensitive and awkward freckle-faced girl named Rhoda.

The symbolism in the book is easy to see - just the way I like it. (What's the point of symbolism if nobody understands it?) The novel is divided into two parts: the first half is called "The Gull" and the second half is called "Rhoda." That makes it all the easier to understand the symbolism - the seagull and Rhoda are the same; both are wounded animals, both are adopted by the threesome, nurtured back to strength, and then cruelly betrayed, destroyed, and abandoned. Read the book with this in mind, and you'll see what I mean.

This novel is very real. Kids can be cruel, especially when trying to conform to the attitudes of their friends. This is the story of a "last summer" of innocemce - if not for all four characters, then at least for Rhoda.

There was a sequel called "Come Winter" which I borrowed from the library once and never finished. Maybe I'll have to give that one another try. In any case, I think I'll read "Last Summer" again. You should read it, too. (And check out the film starring a young Barbara Hershey, a young Bruce Davison, and a pre-Waltons Richard Thomas.)

Evan Hunter's Last Summer is one of the most under-rated novels of all time. It captures a period and the personalities of three teens like no other. the characters are very real, and this is no sugar-coated nostalgia. The feelings are raw and real, told from the perspective of one of the teens described. A movie version came close to doing the novel justice. Somebody please put this back into print!

Told in the sparest of prose, this dark coming of age novel recounts the loss of innocence of three teens on a posh summer resort island in the sixties. pulling away from the lighter activities of thier peers, the three create a private world fraught with social isolation and not so subtle sexual undertones. when a less sophisticated, kinder girl lonely for acceptence tries to penetrate the trio's barriers, tensions escalate with disturbing outcomes. the novel is brief but brutal, evoking the less idyllic flipside of the love generation. while it's detached and spartan prose may make it difficult for some to get involved in, Last Summer is makes for an interesting, ruthless glimpse into the perils of adolesence and the corrosive nature of peer pressure.

One of those haunting teenage summer stories, that doesn't seem dated. The typical teenage theme of wanting to belong, takes on an ending that is disturbing and memorable. Well worth a read or re-read. It seems like the perfect time for a re-make of the movie.

'Last Summer' is a remarkably simple novel with a powerful punch. Three teenagers, two guys and a girl, meet and become friends on a summer island community. These kids are at the cusp of adulthood, and social morals are in flux (..the story is set in the late 1960s). Lots of mischief ensues, mostly harmless stuff. But then they meet a nerdy girl who joins their threesome. At first it seems she will blend in but then it all goes so badly. No spoilers here but let's just say the social interactions of the threesome combined with the studipity of youth and exploding hormones yield a disturbing outcome.

I really like the overall structure and pace of 'Last Summer'. The story is very believable. My only complaint is with the characterizations. Not all the characters are fully detailed, although in truth this does not detract from overall reading enjoyment value.

Bottom line: not a book I'm likely to forget. I hope 'Last Summer' is reprinted so others can readily gain access to this fine reading material.

I recently saw this movie and wanted to find out who wrote this book and when it was written because it was so good. I took a world lit. class last semester and recognize the existential theme to this book, the ending especially. Teenagers would probably find this work most interesting for the "coming of age" content. I recommend this book and want to study it's content to help me write in my creative writing class next semester. Not often does a work stick in my mind as did "The Last Summer." Two boys are enticed over one very beautiful girl, Sandy, that's the grabber. The events thereafter are evident, but shocking and exciting. When the second girl enters the story and is a complete opposite of Sandy, things really start heating up. And again it's a gripping ride, until the ending, which blows ones mind, and keeps them asking, why? It leaves no answers, just as life.

I first read this book when I was a teenager, some twenty-five years ago, and have found myself coming back to it again and again over the years, particularly over the Summer. It was, and remains, stunningly and perceptively told and, speaking as one who grew up in that melieu, incredibly, almost frighteningly true.

A good read. I can understand why they made a film of this novel. It reads easily and has an impressive plot.

Evan Hunter's Last Summer is an incredible period piece, but more than that it is an engaging look at the coming of age of three teens. Warning, this is no sugar-coated nostalgia. This is hard-hitting and real. Emotions run from joy through callousness, and never blink. A movie version came close to capturing the mood of the book.

The teens in the narrative are not only coming of age but pulling away from the world around them. They are self minded and into the abstract.

The alchemy of the three is then torn asunder by an outsider who tries to remove the veneer put up by the three. The intoxication of their youth is then threatened and they respond in a climax of revulsion. ! A: