Customer Reviews

School's Out

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

 

 

The cover blurbs lead one to expect a thriller of some sort - think Class Trip. If this is your expectation expect to be disappointed. One can be a third of the way through the book and still have little tension causing you to read until 3 a.m. - my test for a good thriller or mystery. And unlike The Class Trip, School's Out will not lead you towards understanding of an individual's aberrant behavior. Rather the strength of School's Out is philosophical and group oriented. Through the rather detailed exploration of the personalities of individuals who must deal with middle school class, the book explore how individuals and groups cope with "reality" - especially the adult coping through becoming an observer, the middle school class coping through uniform compliance. Suicide, physical assault, and other "thriller" plot elements counterbalance the philosophic bent to create a very enjoyable read.

On the down side, the translation is at times awkward. I would like to explain the difficulties away by claiming British usage but phrase such as "two crew" rather than "two crew members" disrupt one's reading more than simple British-isms. The book could be improved by a bit of editing - in the early part of the book the scene setting is overly long for its narrative function. But Dufosse is definitely an author worth watching - entertaining and thought-provoking.

School's Out is a really intelligent, dark, and weirdly funny thriller. The students in Pierre Hoffman's classroom are out to get him, but he's not sure why, and the disturbing messages he keeps receiving aren't helping. I couldn't put this book down! Definitely for fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History.

I want to say that I only managed to get to page 78 in this book and even that was difficult. The write-ups on this book make it sound like it's about students when they didn't even enter the picture until page 54 and only in a perfunctory interaction (and that was the only interaction through page 78). What this book really seems to be about is a boring, solitary bachelor who dwells far too much on his own thoughts (annoying attempts at deep thinking and quasi-intellectualism that end up being nothing but annoying). I could not force myself to finish this book. I figure if it had anything to say, it should have started saying it before a quarter through the book. This was just tedious. I read hordes of books, particularly for young adults (as an English teacher) and I would never recommend this.

I picked up the book because of the reviews and acclaims on the cover and the interesting beginning to the novel. After the first page however, it turns out to be a very badly written piece of work. I gave up by around page 50. The narrator describes in excess every single, physical, unimportant detail of the setting or of minor characters and engages in poor similes. His style is badly written. Flat characters are introduced briefly which have no bearing on the plot. Don't waste your time on it.

I don't even want to waste anymore time on this horrible book, just wanted to warn people not to read it. The most boring book I've ever picked up!

I can say I managed to finish the book, if only not to have it defeat me. I should never have started it. It had sounded interesting, but I discovered that the blurb on the back cover was not even entirely accurate. There's nothing useful here. It's a dreadfully insipid piece of writing. The translator must be an Englishman, as the book contains words and phrases one would hear from someone from England and not someone from the United States. This can lead to confusion if you're unfamiliar with them. There's not much reason to read this one. Certainly, I will not recommend it at all. Your time can be spent better elsewhere.