Customer Reviews

The Wrestling Match

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

 

 

For the first few pages of this book, I expected to dislike it - its language was awkward, much like a poor translation. However, once the story developed its own momentum, the language became natural, pleasant to read.

The book is an excellent story of coming of age in a changing culture - the elders seemingly fail to understand the youth that has some education. These youth are caught in the middle; they don't want to farm in the traditional way yet they lack sufficient education for it to provide employment. They are in the middle in another sense - they are the children of the civil war. This leads to their coming of age event to be a wrestling match rather than a dance. Quietly and wisely in the background, several village elders orchestrate the events to teach the youth a lesson - in war everyone loses.

While this novel is unlikely to become a world classic, it is well worth reading.

This book is excellent reading for high schoolers. It exposes the reader to a culture that they probably no little about. More importantly, it is a story about teenagers and their struggles as they try to find their place in the world.

I am a highschool honors english student, and I just read this book, and man, let me tell you, it [***]! It is dull and pointless, about a group of worthless, underdeveloped characters who all talk the same and are very annoying. The language is unrealistic, and the style is very dull and uniteresting. It is clear that this particular author is not famous for her writing skill, but only for her subject matter (black women's independence). The so - called "moral" of the story is hastily tacked on at the end, definately not an integral part of the book, and worst of all, it is given away on the back cover! One does not even need to read the book, just the summary. Please, if you are a teacher considering to include this in your lesson plan, don't; my whole class hated it and wants no part of it, it is simply decreasing our morale and quality or education. Put plain and simple: do not read this book. I would gve it no stars if possible.