Comments on: The Children and the Wolves

By: Blythe

Blythe — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:46:18 +0000

This is one of several books I carry around in my willow basket* and press on potential readers. It isn’t for everyone. As several respondents have noted, it is bleak–scalding and bleak. I found it a completely immersive reading experience, and it is Rapp’s control of language that made it so. I would describe the operation of this book as mythopoetic, and I argue that the “flaws” of voice in 3-yr-old Frog and her too-early lost tooth are not flaws at all but serving mythopoesis. It reminded me of both “The Book of Everything” by Kuijer and “Nothing” by Teller. There were times when both of those books shook the dust of realism off their feathers, and that is what I think Rapp did as well.

(*Other books in my basket are “Monstrous Beauty,” “Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl,” and “Deceit.” I’m not a librarian; I’m a crazy woman with a basket.)

By: Lectus

Lectus — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 13:02:12 +0000

I liked this one! I wanted to know more about Frog though, and what happened when she was returned. But I guess the book wasn’t about that. I was totally pissed at Bounce.

By: Carol E

Carol E — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 20:38:47 +0000

My problem with this book is that I hated it. I hated the plot the characters and only at that ending did I find anything of a reward for reading it. That said, as I think about it, I also think that the friendship of Bounce, Orange and Wiggins never seemed real. I never saw their humanity or could get why they were on a team. And, yeah, that 4 year old is not believeable.

BUT– and it’s where I come back to time and again on this title– do I nitpick it to death because I hated reading it? Or did the nitpicks that pulled me out of the book cause me to hate it?

By: Miriam

Miriam — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:52:26 +0000

I think Mark nailed it with “I kind of hate Adam Rapp for making me read his nihilism, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is really freaking good at it.”

By: Jen J.

Jen J. — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 01:54:01 +0000

I read this Friday night and I was glad it’s so short simply because it’s so unpleasant. I think someone could convince me to support this one, but I would probably not champion it myself because I’m so unsure of my reaction. Am I not seeing the qualities of the writing clearly because I disliked the characters so? Or am I overrating it in an effort to compensate for my discomfort? I can see some of the themes Rapp is working with – anti-consumerism, violence in our entertainment culture, what happens to the kids (from both ends of the financial/social spectrum) who fall through the cracks? What I can’t decide is how effectively Rapp presents those themes. If I were on the committee, I’d have to reread this one a couple times to clarify my feelings, but I’d probably wait for someone else to support it before doing so because there are just so very many books to read.

By: Sarah Couri

Sarah Couri — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:53:55 +0000

Mark, thanks! I wondered about Frog. Four year olds seem so sophisticated to me that I didn’t really question it (my 18 month old is fascinated — fascinated! — by four year old Caillou when we allow screen time. I think part of the appeal for him is that Caillou can just do so much!).

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:25:31 +0000

I just couldn’t forgive Rapp for allowing a kid named Orange to wear georgetown shorts. How ever unlikable their actions were in the first 100 pages nothing made me cringe more or want to throw the book across the room as much as realizing I’d been reading the inner thoughts of someone who would willingly wear hoya colors. His name was Orange!!! Why would Rapp do this. It wasn’t based in Washington DC there’s no reason for this detail, other than to make the character even more repulsive (as if kidnapping a 4 year old wasn’t bad enough). UGH

By: Mark Flowers

Mark Flowers — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:09:56 +0000

My mom and I talked about this book a few weeks ago (http://bit.ly/OYCfpS) and we both agreed that one real objective flaw in the book is the portrayal of Frog who does not come across as a convincing 4 year old in the least (I say this as the father of a 4 year, and the uncle of a 3 year old and a 6 year old). I thought it was a big problem.

That being said, I was pretty impressed with this book. I kind of hate Adam Rapp for making me read his nihilism, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is really freaking good at it. I found all three main characters to be incredibly well drawn (the black humor of Bounce’s character was disconcertingly funny), especially Wiggins’s slow move towards some semblance of a conscience.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:00:27 +0000

Thanks for this – I think you’ve captured the essence quite well.

It was a really rough read for me. Haunting and, well, horrifying. Might be the scariest book I’ve ever read!