Customer Reviews

The City Boy

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first encountered Herman Wouk through The Winds of War and War and Remembrance in the late 1970s. These started me on an odyssey through all of his books. The hardest one to find was City Boy, but the effort to find it was certainly worthwhile! I have read this book at least a dozen times, have worn through two copies and am looking for my third. I have read so much of it out loud to my husband and kids that they all know the story as well as I do. Herbie Bookbinder is a character that rings so true, you instantly identify with him, whether or not you are a boy, or Jewish, or from New York City, or lived your childhood in the 1920s. I am none of those things, but I love Herbie just the same. His feelings, experiences, self-doubts, triumphs, family troubles and foibles strike a chord in us all. If you haven't read this one, give it a try! You won't be able to put it down.

Herbie Bookbinder is a Jewish New York City kid with a little too much brains, a bit short on athleticism, and an indelible crush on Lucille Glass. His adventures, at school, and at camp, are a fun window on urban life in the twenties, and a slightly biting on the summer camps of that era. But things really heat up when Herbie and pal Cliff need to return secretly to the city . . .

While kids would naturally interest themselves in Herbie, there is an adult story, of Herbie's parents and their business troubles, going on just beyond Herbie's nose. This doesn't really hit Herbie, and the juvenile reader, until near the end of the story, but the adult reader can watch the subplot building until the resolution of all at the end of the story.

Well worth reading, perhaps not as great as Wouk's later books, but written with conviction, probably from his personal experience (at least as regards the school and camp scenes!).

This is one of those books which would be ruined were it translated to film. There really is no plot, just a lot of situations, yet Herman Wouk's descriptions of people and places, and the "dialogue" which takes place not only in words but in the imaginative Herbie's mind, are so hilarious that I can read this book annually (as I have since the 1960s) and laugh aloud each time.

Herbie is, to borrow Wouk's words, a "facile fictioniser," whose elaborate tales become reality in his mind as he ponders or shares them. Though many of Wouk's "side comments" show sophistication, everyone is actually presented according to Herbie's point of view, with evil in this world "traced mainly to adults or Lennie Krieger." This is actually far more accurate a depiction of an adolescent's mind (as also offered in the Tom Sawyer to whom Herbie is often and well compared) than one would see today. Those who would find the adult characters to be unbalanced in presentation must recall that Herbie would see only their main influence on him.

Though Herbie's crush on Lucille Glass is the source of much of the far-fetched action in this novel, this is not actually a romantic book. The reader, who can see through Lucille all too well, can enjoy Herbie's glorified version of her. One regular theme in this book, and one very true, is that the highly intelligent Herbie is so lost in dreams and ideals that those far less intellectually gifted (Cliff, Elmer Bean come to mind) actually have a far deeper grasp of the situations.

Though this is not a children's book, it certainly is suited for kids' reading. I would caution anyone who passes it on to a youngster not to ruin the book's delight by using it for "a talk" or to explain differences between "then and now." Herbie's version of life, entirely his own self-centred and humorous creation, should not be muddied by Mrs Bookbinder's lack of career opportunities; whether he sees the girls only in relation to his own dreams (what 11-year-old would not?); or whether his bizarre midnight ride violated safety rules. (No parts of this plot are intended to be taken this seriously.) And anyone, in the context, would see Herbie's having to deal only with a spanking, not years behind bars, when he is... beyond naughty as a welcome substitute. The continuing theme in the book is that Herbie, like all children, never considers consequences for any action, and gets the message that such can exist - don't spoil the impact with a discussion of 1990s attitudes towards corporal punishment.

The characters are memorable, the camp settings a happy fiction of songs, shows, and remarkable freedom, and the school scenes enough to make anyone laugh in recognition. I, who am not a fan of Herman Wouk, count this as the funniest book on any of my many shelves.

Readers of Herman Wouk are readily familiar with his incredible ability to capture the essence of humanity in the development of his characters. Not since my second reading of Huckleberry Finn have I looked at life through the eyes of a young boy. While reading "City Boy", I was Herbie. Wouk is able to create images of Herbie's feelings of joy, despondance, jealousy, puppy love, and more, that draw the reader into a world that is fresh and opens up under the scrutiny of an inquisitive and intelligent young boy. Herbie journeys through the depths of despair when he fears he is losing his heart's desire to his arch rival and nemesis, to feelings of incomparable delight when his wildly successful development of a thrilling ride at summer camp make him the envy of the entire camp and temporary master of the world!

It is not the description of Herbie's experiences that captivate the reader so much as Wouk's ability to allow you to share the feelings and emotions that Herbie undergoes in anticipation of an event, or resultant of an unexpected outcome. This little book is a jewel that is sure to delight both those young readers
who would enjoy from their youthful vantage point,"Tom Sawyer" and "Huckleberry Finn", and those older readers with the benefit of experience who may wish to experience once again, the exaggerated emotions of innocent youth.

At a loss for something to read, I picked this book at random - and then read it in three days flat! So nearly one of the best books I have read, it's full of true-to-life characters, plenty of touching moments and a lot of laugh-out-loud ones too.

The main character is obviously Herbie Bookbinder, an eleven year old growing up in the Bronx in the early 20th century. He is a fat but very intelligent boy, so intelligent he skips a year in school. However his main flaw in the book is that he falls hopelessly in love with a girl, Lucille Glass, a love so intense that he is led to do some truly extraordinary things. The intensely passionate feelings he has for this girl are to me what makes the character of Herbie so real.

The main event of the book is Herbie, his cousin Cliff, his arch-enemy Lennie and Lucille (among others) going to a summer camp, Camp Manitou. This turns out to be a fairly prison-like establishment, but dissent is kept to a minimum by shrewd calculation on the part of the camp owner, Mr. Gauss.

With Mr. Gauss, Herman Wouk has made into a person all those unpleasant characteristics we encounter in everyday life - greed, cunning, false charm and many more. He feeds the children ice cream on the first night, to dull their unhappiness at the dismal nature of the camp, and when the camp is defeated at games with another camp, Mr. Gauss manages, somehow, to inculcate a feeling that in fact Manitou won a great victory. As the final outrage Mr. Gauss effectively steals money from the naive Herbie.

The climax of the book comes with the confession of Herbie stealing from his father. It is very noticeable that the book gets a lot more serious towards the end, but it is never overly serious, and the warmth of it still shines through.

There are a lot of extremely funny moments, mostly involving a horse by the name of Clever Sam, and Wouk's dry humour at these points really had me laughing out loud.

The only thing that spoiled the book for me was the very end. Here it seems that Herbie and Lucille are finally going to realise their love for each other and perhaps share a truly romantic moment which has eluded them for so long - but instead the book ends with an extremely ambiguous encounter with an older boy whom Lucille seems to like. Even though this ending was obviously meant to be ambiguous in this way, I found it unsatisfying given all that Herbie and Lucille have gone through before. I really wanted to know for sure if they would ever get together.

Still, if anything this shows what real and sympathetic characters Wouk has created, and this small point did not seriously affect my view of the book as a whole. It is a thoroughly enjoyable and absorbing read, and I would recommend it to absolutely anyone!

As an overweight, lethargic, intellectual child with an overactive imagination, Herbie could have been an inspiration for the 1960s comic book anti-hero Herbie Popnecker. Taking one year of Herbie's life in the east Bronx of the late 1920s, Wouk portrays the adolescent perspective of life in all its timelessness. Herbie's infatuation with Lucille Glass, his struggles with the school bully, Lenny, and his encounters with the Creek Gang are all lovingly portrayed. The summer in Camp Manitou is an extremely well written part of the book. Good character development and plot help make this an enjoyable novel to read.

I found this book about 50 years ago at my grandmother's house, and read it with great pleasure. I've read it several more times over the years, with the same pleasure as the first time. It's funny, unpretentious, and almost perfectly captures the feelings of what it's like to be a child -- especially when you steal money from your father (for a good reason, of course) and are worried about being caught. We see the world largely through Herbie's eyes, not Wouk's.

Though I suspect Herbie is, to some degree, Wouk. Herbie is a smart kid who does well in school, but has almost non-existant athletic abilities. The scene in which Herbie plays Grant to the Lee of the school's best athlete -- chosen for his looks and build, not because he could act -- is perhaps Wouk's attack on a world in which looks matter more than intelligence.

The original's jacket had a pastel (?) rendition of Herbie and Lucille (I think). There were also about a dozen full-page pen-and-ink drawings that captured the story's feeling quite well. These (I assume) are not included in this edition.

The original cover art should have been kept. Herbie is a few pounds overweight, not the gluttonous porker portrayed. The art director should be fired.

Strongly recommended.

I've read this book at least 'more than' 15 times. I don't

know where I got it, as a birthday gift, I believe, but wherever,

I took to it as I have to few books in my life. I was unathletic

as a kid, though not as smart as the fictional Herbie, so that

helps. The book is dated, though not in a bad way, one can say

it just increased its attractiveness as a historic reference. Hard to

say how much Mr. Wouk is recalling his own childhood, but one can tell

he loves the characters, and it shows.

I recently ordered this book for my son, who is off to sleepaway camp for the first time. As we talked about his summer and the sorts of things he would likel experience, I found myself telling him the whole story of Herbie, the amiable and smart "fat kid,"; Lennie, whom all the parents love but who is secretly a bully; and Mr. Gauss, Herbie and Lennie's elementary school principal who is also the director of the camp the boys attend.

What surprised me was how well the themes and the conflicts portrayed in this book withstand the test of time. What could a story written in the 1930's about a Jewish boy's camp in the Poconos possibly have to say that would be interesting to kids today? You'd be surprised.

It was an absolute delight to share one of my favorite stories from childhood from the next generation, especially when my son had the same magical reaction to this book that I did. The characters are wonderfully drawn, and the prose is so evocative (who could forget the story of 'outfielder, outfielder') and the scenes Wouk depicts, from the tension with Herbie and his first girlfriend to the risks he takes to produce a wonderful camp show, to the corruption and hypocrisy he suspects in the adults around him, will literally stay with you forever. Don't wait to purchase this book and make sure to share it with your family.

I have read most of Winds of War and Herbie Bookbinder is as opposite of it as can be. They are both great books but Herbie is a hilarious book. It was a great read and it is funny, realistic, sad, and suspenseful. I would recommend this to someone who wants a nice light read and who wants a few laughs.