The Lemming Condition [Paperback]

Alan Arkin (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

The wonderful story of Bubber the Lemming that teaches everyone something about conformity and individual values

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alan Arkin was born in New York and attended Los Angeles City College and Bennington College. He is an award-winning actor and author who has starred in films, plays, and television shows. His books include: The Lemming Condition, The Clearing, and Some Fine Grandpa! He lives in Weston, CT.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (October 18, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062500481
• ISBN-13: 978-0062500489
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lemming Condition, October 2, 2004

By 

Mary McCawley (Lake Forest, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lemming Condition (Paperback)

I began using this book in my classroom about 20 years ago.
I have read and discussed it with children 10-18.
Most notably, I read it to students at a continuation high school where I worked for three years. Many of the students were in gangs and had already been to jail. Many of the girls already had their first child and had settled into a pattern that would spiral their lives and those of their children into misery. This book offered them an alegorical exposure to the idea that life need not be preset series of events leading to the leap of no return and the long death.

It remains one of my most stolen books, always a compliment. Mr. Arkin reminds us that it is not only okay, but necessary that we break from the pack to survive.
I am so grateful for his authorship and the effect it has had on so many. I wish he knew.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for enjoyment reading, September 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] Karl (Vancouver, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lemming Condition (Paperback)

If you like stories that are simple, yet challenging then the Lemming Condition is for you. Alan Arkin the author of the Lemming Condition wrote this story for kids, but its just as much a novel for adults as it is for children. The children side of the novel reveals the Lemmings as tiny little creatures that are living happily ever after. Until one day when all the Lemmings are talking about heading west and executing the wet walk. Bubber, the main character in the book is confused about the situation, so he goes around and tries to find out information from family, relatives, and finally friends. When none of that seems to satisfy his nagging urges he scouts information on his own. The adult part of this story is the 2nd level that isn't revealed in plain black and white English. What Alan Arkin does is he creates a hidden meaning in the story, which is known to the writers and readers as allegory. With these two parts in the story working together, it makes for a wonderful reading time. This book is highly recommended for enjoyment reading for all ages.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, November 1, 2002

By 

Alyssa Manley (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lemming Condition (Audio Cassette)

Bubber's family was getting ready. So were all the lemmings families in burrow after burrow, all over the tundra. It was the morning of the great march west and the leap into the sea. Bubber was excited about it, until his crow friend starts asking some pretty pointed questions : Could a lemming even swim? What comes after the leap from the cliff? Bubber found that he couldn't say for sure. He had followed the crowd and taken it for granted like everybody else. The lemmings were doing something; he was a lemming. However, Crow's questions startle and unsettle him, and he starts having questions of his own - ones that had to be answered before the day was over. Short, very short, but wonderfully written, the several levels of storytelling meshing into one throughly enjoyable whole. However, despite it's shortness and cute illustrations, it is not for younger children - a few cuss words and the graphic, disturbing depiction of the mass lemming sucidide might not be apportiate. But everyone else will pick up important messages and meaning from this allegorical furry tale. Though I must add as a side note that lemmings do NOT kill themselves. It's a myth that was perpetuated by a few cameramen shoving them off a cliff for a Disney nature film in the fifties.