Customer Reviews

park's quest

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

 

 

Like an Arthurian knight setting out on a quest, eleven-year-old Park is determined to learn the truth about his father, who died on his second tour of Viet Nam. But his mother clams up on the subject, refusing to share critical information about the elusive man. Will she nurse her grief forever or is there more to it? This story reads like a squire's swift lance, as Park's imaginary mental adventures parallel real life situations. (There are quotes from Emily Dickinson's poetry and Rosemary Sutcliff's Arthurian novel, the Sword and the Circle.)

Denying the danger, growing frustration and possible shock of knowledge wrongfully withheld from him for a decade, Park pursues his goal relentlessly; yet he is sickened by gradual then sudden revelations, as he pieces together the pathetic patchwork of his father's life. Both sides of the family kept him in deliberate ignorance, but whom were they trying to protect--the innocent boy or their own hurt pride? Park seriously considers an abrupt departure from the Colonel's stately Virginia farm, since it was His choice to make the trip, therefore his right to leave. Why stay where no one wants him or believes he has a right to be?

This boy has a critical need to find and know his father--even in death--yet his mother seems to deny his very existence. Does she have the right to obliterate her son's biological and cultural heritage? "They needed the life flowing from his memory." How can he convince her to stop using his baby name of Pork? When will he be granted the minimal courtesy of being called Park the Fifth? A poignant, fascinating book about a boy's journey into the Past, in order to come to terms with the Present, thus to reshape his Future. Sensitive with compassionate humor, an entertaining introduction to our post Viet Nam national shame, delusion and prejudice.

I picked this up for 25p at Bookworld in Edinburgh, and it was good for the price. Katherine Paterson writes well, but this book does not have the complexity or the punch of Bridge to Teribithia. Park, an eleven year old boy lives with his mother. His father died in Vietnam, but his mother won't talk about him. At Park's insistance, he is allowed to go on a visit for two weeks to his father's family, where he finds out about the family history. Park is fascinated with stories about King Arthur and knights and chivalry, and he often day dreams about his life and his father in those terms. Predictably, the truth is a grim contrast.

This is not a particularly happy or comforting story. Nor does it have the emotional depth of Katherine Paterson's other books. I would not have liked it much when I was in the 10-12 age-group. At 27, it was worth the 40 minutes it took to read.

Katherine Paterson is one of my very favorite authors. As a young child, I read many of her books including The Great Gilly Hopkins, Bridge to Terabithia, and Jacob Have I Loved. I recently finished reading Parks Quest as an assignment for my college childrens literature class. As I began reading Parks Quest, I must admit that I was confused when Park, the main character, went back and forth between his character and an Arthurian knight of old on a quest. It took me a long while to figure out why Park switched to speaking/thinking as if he were a knight. But once figuring it out, that he (Park) was on a quest to find out more about his father who was killed in the Vietnam War, the concept of the Arthurian knight made sense. Since Parks mother does not inform him of his father, he begins searching for his fathers roots and family. As Park investigates more about his father and family he gathers startling and important information to help him along his quest. Does Park find the true history about his father, is the question that the reader has the whole time while reading the book. This book by Paterson is cleverly written to keep the reader wondering the whole time and engaged in the book until the last words.

I would give Park's Quest by Katherien Paterson four stars. I have to admit I was confused when the flash back to Midieval Times started. The book was about 11-year-old Park who tries to find imformation on his father's clouded past. But Park finds something he never would of imagined. The ending of the book was excellent with discriptive words and great sentences. But the beginning of the book was dull. Otherwise it was a good book. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes Historical Fiction.

My 10 year old daughter and I read this book together. I couldn't help it, I just had to read ahead after she went to bed at night! Hope you enjoy it as well. The only other book we've read together that had the same effect on me was "Letters from Rifka." (K. Hesse)

The material in this book would serve for a 500 page adult novel, NOT a 130 page juvenile. The Walter Mitty attitude of Park obscures the action and confuses real issues. Viet Nam veterans (I am one) have had it unpleasant enough without this kind of propaganda aimed at kids. If there were any way to rate it less than one star, I would.

This book, to put it in short, just wasn't great. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was the worst book I've ever read, but I'd have to say it's the worst book that I've ever finished. It just wasn't the kind of thing you'd look back on and say, "Wow, I really enjoyed reading that."

The writing style was confusing at times, because of Park's daydreams about knights and chivalry. He considers his mission to find out about his father like a knightly "quest." You got used to it after a while, though. Some other things that were confusing were the way Paterson introduces "Randy" as Park's mom. Before that, it had always said "his mother", or "his mom", and then it just refers to her as "Randy", and I guess we're supposed to catch on.

The first twelve chapters were an agony to read, and I would sum them up as monotonous schlock. To me, they were uneventful. I would say they were the very worst twelve chapters I've ever read.

I also really didn't like Park's racist attitude, and the way the author says "So what if he got some Oriental disease" or "He still couldn't believe that Frank would marry one of them" , referring to the Vietnamese people in the story, really annoyed me. I really didn't like Park as a protagonist. As one reviewer said, he was a kid with issues, but still, he was very unlikable.

The last two chapters really made up for it, though. I saw Park change a bit as a character, and the ending was sad, but pretty satisfying.

Overall, it was not a great book, not really a good book either. It was also a sad book, and the ending didn't change that either. I just think it could have been better, and that I've read much , much better.

This book, to put it in short, just wasn't great. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was the worst book I've ever read, but I'd have to say it's the worst book that I've ever finished. It just wasn't the kind of thing you'd look back on and say, "Wow, I really enjoyed reading that."

The writing style was confusing at times, because of Park's daydreams about knights and chivalry. He considers his mission to find out about his father like a knightly "quest." You got used to it after a while, though. Some other things that were confusing were the way Paterson introduces "Randy" as Park's mom. Before that, it had always said "his mother", or "his mom", and then it just refers to her as "Randy", and I guess we're supposed to catch on.

The first twelve chapters were an agony to read, and I would sum them up as monotonous schlock. To me, they were uneventful. I would say they were the very worst twelve chapters I've ever read.

I also really didn't like Park's racist attitude, and the way the author says "So what if he got some Oriental disease" or "He still couldn't believe that Frank would marry one of them" , referring to the Vietnamese people in the story, really annoyed me. I really didn't like Park as a protagonist. As one reviewer said, he was a kid with issues, but still, he was very unlikable.

The last two chapters really made up for it, though. I saw Park change a bit as a character, and the ending was sad, but pretty satisfying.

Overall, it was not a great book, not really a good book either. It was also a sad book, and the ending didn't change that either. I just think it could have been better, and that I've read much , much better.

I remember reading this book in 6th grade. I hated it. See that kids review up there? That pretty much summed up how I felt about it. It confused the hell out of me, that Park kid never stopped day dreaming. I didn't like Park as a character.

I remember we all had to read books in groups. I saw Parks Quest and thought "Oh cool Vietnam!" I had this obsession with war book back then, and I just read this really cool journal about a solider who was in the Vietnam war.

I also remember the back of the book being misleading. It seemed way cooler when I read the back. But its just all boring garbage. Terrible story. I regret reading this.

Out of all the books this author has written I feel that this is her WORST.

Want to read a cool book about Vietnam? Read The Journal of Patrick Seamus Flaherty. That was the journal I was talking about. It also gives you more of a real feeling about how the war actually was.

Don't read about Park and his terribly boring quest.

I'm a big King Arthur book fan so I appreciate knowing about another good tale. I served in the Army during the Vietnam war and one fellow in my company tried unsuccessfully to get permission to marry his Korean sweet heart and bring her home (that was in Fort Belvoir , Virginia). I found that going to the east coast from California was like stepping into a time machine. The ideas of "class" and "race" had not passed away with civil rights laws, but seemed written on people's hearts. The children of our liberation from prejudice had to shoulder the load? I doubt that a world free of prejudice will ever happen, but the first to bridge that gap have to be the children. Although maybe a little forced in sentimentality at the end, this is a fine story of an old family coming to grips with a new reality.