Customer Reviews

Singularity

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lets face it. Sleator has made a lot of garbage lately. His best books were made in his prime, which ended maybe 7-8 years ago, and include: Others See Us, Oddballs, House of Stairs, Interstellar Pig, The Green Futures of Tycho and, of course, Singularity. In these books he treated the audience intelligently and dealt with science fiction problems in new ways, while keeping the reader sympathizing with the main character.

I'll summarize the plot quickly. Barry and Harry are twins, but Barry is strong and popular, and he bullies Harry, who is weak. Harry, eventually getting fed up, locks himself inside a room that holds a singularity, where time flies inside the room while time slows to a crawl outside. He keeps himself in the room for a year while a night passes on the outside world.

The best part of Singularity was not the psychological rivalry between the twins, but how Harry managed to keep himself sane through a regimented routine of diet, exercise, meditation and reading. I found it very interesting how someone could find inner peace, and grow up to be a man, through such a regimented, solitary program.

Singularity was my favorite book in middle school. I just read it again for a class in college and I still really enjoy it! Below is a review that I wrote for my class about Singularity that may be helpful. **Just a warning - it gives away the ending!

William Sleator writes of Harry and Barry Krasner, twin brothers who could not be more opposite. Harry, the narrator of the story, is the scientific, mathematical, timid brother, while Barry is athletic, out-going, and domineering. When the two are sent to their late great uncle Ambrose's farm to house-sit, they come across a very strange playhouse in the backyard. The brothers find out from Lucy, an attractive female neighbor, that the Krasner's Uncle Ambrose was a very creepy man who could make his neighbor's cows dry up and grow feeble over night.

As a team, Harry, Barry, and Lucy find the keys for the playhouse and being exploring. They soon find that time goes faster within the house, and that there is a portal to another universe that they can see reflected in water in the playhouse's sink. From the portal, strange things arrive such as a small blinking device that Harry realizes must be a clock for another life form. Other things also arrive like a green hairball and a purple furry fruit peel, but the three truly begin to worry when they see a large set of jaws coming through the portal. However, by now, they realize that it will take many days for it to arrive in their world.

In the meantime, Harry and Barry's relationship grows increasingly competitive, and Harry begins to worry that Barry will go into the playhouse at night and stay in there until he ages enough that they are no longer twins. Harry, who's character by now is getting a little annoying because he is so whiny and insecure, does something startling to both the reader, himself, and, later, Barry: Harry goes into the playhouse. He spends a year in "playhouse time" within the confines of the little shed, but in real time it is only a few hours. During this time, Harry develops a regimented schedule to keep himself from going crazy. This part is more interesting than one would expect. Through journal entries, Harry shares his deepest concerns and theories about his brother, the monster coming through the portal, and about life in general. As Harry ages, he truly becomes more wise and confident in himself, and this mini bildungs roman is exciting to view, as a reader, in such a short time.

When the playhouse year is finally over, Harry confronts his brother, which is actually only the next morning. Barry's reaction is satisfying for both Harry and the reader. Unlike many readers might expect, however, the brothers actually get along better when Harry is a year older. Sleator does a good job of emphasizing that Barry's new behavior is not just because Harry is now the older brother, but also because Harry has more confidence in himself and is more controlled in his reactions toward his brother.

That same morning, the monster arrives. As soon as Harry opens the door to the playhouse, the monster violently jumps out, destroying the playhouse and the portal, and consumes itself. Harry explains to Barry and Lucy that it was probably a robot sent to destroy the portal on purpose because it was a danger or an annoyance to have an exposed portal to another universe. Older readers may connect the end of the playhouse's power to the end of Harry's childhood, however, even if they do not fully understand the deeper intentions of this story, it is still an exciting sci-fi journey for readers ages 12 and up.

The last time I read this book was probably about 10 years ago, and plausible or not, the sci-fi time warp aspect of it is not what has stuck with me all these years. What I remember most (and loved best) was the development of the relationship between the brothers and how the picked-on brother became a mature, thoughtful human being through self-discipline, meditation, physical strengthening and intense study. It was a wonderful message about what is possible for the dedicated under-dog, and how very simple and accessible the tools for self-improvement are.

Every book has something good about it;however,this book has three good things about it. First of all, the charachters act like real people. You can identify with them. Secondly, it is extremely suspenseful. Sleator puts a master stroke with the "mouth", putting an exiting aimosphere in this story. Lastly, I enjoyed reading it. It was fun to read! Obviously, these three things make this book worth reading.

Lulu in CA

Everything is faster inside than outside the playhouse! Mrs. Krasner gets a letter telling her that her Uncle Ambrose died and he left everything to her. She and her husband has planned a vacation so they sent their sixteen year old twin sons, Harry and Barry, to go check the place out. When the boys get there, they find a playhouse behind the house. They try to open it and find it's locked. A girl named Lucy, that's about their age, comes over and tells them some stuff about their great uncle. They go inside and Barry finds a key that has PLAY written on it, but when they try that one in the lock to the playhouse, it doesn't work either. Barry ends up finding a key that has HOUSE written on it, but that key doesn't work either. Then, Barry tries using both key (by putting one in after another) and it works. The playhouse is full of spider webs and the floor is coated in dead insects. When they go back outside, Fred, Harry and Barry's dog, is still in the exact same place as he was when they went into the playhouse a few minutes before. They don't really think anything of this and go inside the house. The next day, Harry and Barry decide to clean out the playhouse. After cleaning for a while, Harry goes outside to get the trash bags and the door shuts behind him. When he opens it up a second later, he finds Barry asleep on the bed that's inside the playhouse and the playhouse completely clean. Barry wakes up and yells at Barry for leaving him in there al night, but Harry had only been outside a few seconds. Harry later figures out that the playhouse is a singularity, or a black hole, and that for every second outside the playhouse, a hour goes by inside the playhouse. Barry keeps making Harry mad, so Harry decides that he wants to be the one in command and the only way to do that would be to be older than Barry. Harry figures out that two and a half hours outside the play house equals a year inside it. Harry stays in the playhouse for two and half hours (in Barry's time) while Barry is asleep. This makes him a year older than Barry. When Barry wakes up, he finds that Harry is different. Harry tells him what he did and Barry freaked out. Then, the thing that they have been waiting for to come through the singularity finally comes through. It ends up eating itself. After this, Barry, Harry, and Lucy go inside the playhouse and find a broken stone on the floor. They look outside and find that everything is moving as normal the time zone is no longer there. Lucy leaves and Harry and Barry try to figure out how they are going to tell their parents that Harry is now seventeen. This book has a lot of adventure type stuff, weird stuff, and suspense in it.

Harry has most of the adventure, but some other people do to. Barry and Harry get to go check out their great uncle's house. Their parents go to California. Barry, Harry, and Lucy discover what the playhouse can do. Harry stays in the playhouse for a year.

There are many weird things in this book. The playhouse is weird and that it has a different time zone inside of it. It's also weird because it can transport items from a different universe. It was kind of weird that Harry decide to age himself.

This book is crazy with suspense. It was suspenseful when they were trying to figure out what was going on with the playhouse. The different things to come through the singularity was suspenseful. It was suspenseful while Harry was waiting a year inside the playhouse.

With all of the adventuristic stuff, weird stuff, and suspense, this book was jam packed. It was really good and different from anything I've ever read. I really liked the Sci-Fi stuff, even thought it was a little weirder than I'm used to. I would recommend this book to anyone who like really cool Sci-Fi books.

William Sleator is a newly emerging author into the world of science
fiction. One of his greatest works is Singularity, a story of teenage twins
Harry and Barry and their adventure in time. Singularity is an exciting
science fiction novel that is enjoyed by nearly all its raeders.
William Sleator was born in 1945 in Maryland and attended Harvard
University with intentions of becoming a scientist. After college, Sleator
began writing rather than getting involved in the scientific field. Some of
Sleator's most well-known books are: House of Stairs, Among the Dolls, The
Green Futures of Tycho, Interstellar Pig, and Singularity. Sleator spends
most of his time in Maryland and Bangkok, China. Sleator says, "Bangkok
makes me feel the most at home. It is so exotic that it feels like another
planet. (Don't ask me why that makes me feel at home.)"
In the novel, Singularity, twins, Harry and Barry, are teenagers living
in an average town. Barry is much more popular and outspoken than Harry.
Harry seeks revenge on his twin for his arrogance and cruelty. Harry and
Barry are on their way to the home of their deceased uncle where they are
to spend the summer. When they arrive, they discover that the house is
ornamented with skeletons of bizarre animals, unknown to our world. Out
back, there is a small, metal structure, almost like some sort of a bomb
shelter. It is barricaded by a strong double lock. After searching, the
twins find the keys to the "playhouse" and begin their adventure into time.
They quickly discover that time is slower in the playhouse; a second in real
time is like hours in the playhouse. At first, the playhouse is like a game, but
they soon wish they had never found the keys . . .
The characters of Singularity are very realistic while the setting is
characteristic of most science fiction novels. The "black hole" keeps the
story from seeming exceedingly realistic but the author does a wonderful
job of making it seem believable. The story draws the reader in, making it
almost impossible to put the book down after the first few pages. It is full
of excitement and wonder which encourage the reader to read on.
Singularity is a "crafty interplay of fantasy and sibling psychology"
(Kirkus Reviews). Sleator did a wonderful job of drawing the reader in and
making science fiction seem believable. Singularity is an excellent story,
even for those who don't enjoy most science fiction novels.

Singularity is about two teenage brothers who decide to stay at their uncle's abandoned house for the summer. But shortly after they arrive, they discover a strange "playhouse" in their backyard and realize how much stranger it is from the inside... After coming into acquaintance with a girl who lives nearby, they learn of old legends surrounding the area: how cattle have mysteriously disappeared only leaving piles of bones in their place... The three of them search for the truth regarding these mysteries and investigate the strange and eerie house of their deceased uncle. But the more they search, the more the answers seem to point to the same place- The Playhouse. Singularity is a story involving time warps, parallel worlds and intergalactic monsters. It is definitely a wild ride, and highly recommended to anyone who is the least bit interested in theories of time and space- or just in the mood for a fast paced adventure.

I loved this book, I couldn't put it down. I read a lot of books and it's hard to pick favorites, but this one is definetly one.

Harry and Barry are identical twins. Unfortunately Barry, the more aggressive twin is bossy and dislikes Harry. They get placed in an odd dead relative's house all alone. Fortunately their skinny dipping female neighbor is able to explain to them the odd time effects on their property (while wearing clothes of course- this is a teen book after all). They eventually figure out the secret of time travel (something to do with being right behind a black hole). Unfortunately the secret of time travel is that it takes long amounts of time and is incredibly boring to boot (totally not worth it in my book). Harry of course sees this as a method to escape his evil brother's influence and emerges as a naked indian brave (of course he is not an indian brave- he's just naked with long hair). Needless to say- he and the skinny dipping female neighbor hit it off and the evil aggressive brother gets left in the dust. How mr sleator makes something as boring as time travel in this book become exciting is the real magic here. 5 stars on inventfulness and character development.

This is the first William Sleator book I ever had the pleasure of reading, way back in those good ol' jr. high days. And the concept is one that has stuck with me--what is on the opposite end of a black hole?

Turns out it's the possibilities to tinker with time.

The single character obsession makes this book something of a slow read, but the concept is fascinating and there really is nothing wrong with the occasional character development.