What do you think?
Youth and Other Fictions
the lonely boy who hears a voice inside his head. the stoic and cynical man who returns home in search of his lost childhood. the pretty goth girl loved and hated by both. Over the course of ten years, the children of Freedom will watch as their world burns itself to dust and ashes, first over a vicious school rampage and then over something far more insidious. In the world envisioned by Jonathan M. Cook, reason is a luxury, explanations are elusive, and desperation is absolute. Some stories never end. Some stories cannot be escaped. This updated printed edition features a completely reset text and a brand new Postscript to the novel.
260 pages, Paperback
First published September 21, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 17, 2014
To see my full review:
http://wp.me/p1jhaj-4UR
This novel is split into two parts: the “before” and “after.” It’s a very interesting way of dealing with a novel that involves a school shooting—whereas the beginning of the novel shadows that of Jack as he spirals downward, the second portion of the novel jumps ahead 10 years, following Jason, a young man returning to teach English at the very school he attended when the shooting occurred. This allows readers to gain the unique perspectives of both those leading up to the event and those still recovering from it years afterward.
Perhaps what I found most frustrating, but also rewarding, is the fact that Cook doesn’t give readers a specific reason for the violence that occurs on any account within his novel. No one aspect or person can be pinpointed for blame, which is, in reality, a truth I feel many people do not want to accept. Why do people do the things they do? The news constantly tries to pinpoint one specific reason, and I feel like it is our human nature to try and understand, to cast blame, but in reality there are so many factors that make up these nightmares that the finger pointing and blame game is speculative at best. Thus, Cook leaves readers with more or less an ambiguous look at the mindset of both Jack and Jason, which I admit frustrated me, but is probably more accurate in its portrayal of events than anything else.
Having escaped his hometown for a while, and reluctant to be back, Jason is roped into becoming the school spokesperson as the 10 year anniversary of the shooting comes upon the town. I found this fascinating, but as Jason tries to deal with his memories, his students, the faculty, and the people of the town, he begins to break down. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but I really zoned in on the antics of Jason as a teacher—perhaps because I am one myself—and I just couldn’t get over how terrible he really is at his job, morally speaking. Having witnessed illegal activities, I would expect him to report them right away—to intervene—to speak up—but instead, Jason begins to hide inside himself, pushing everyone away from him and, as faculty members begin to die and the blame game once again becomes the town’s favorite pastime, he begins to lose himself. While a very interesting look at the human psyche, my morals as a teacher made me quickly begin to lose any respect I had for Jason as the story unfolded. I think the point was that Jason was completely and utterly shaken to his core during the shooting; that it is an event he will never truly recover from, but as an adult in charge of children, I expected more out of him in this aspect.
I also found some aspects of the novel to be a little too predictable in terms of the current deaths plaguing the school, which is unfortunate, but could also be intentional as I feel Cook is more so interested in human nature and the psyche than a full on mystery novel. Overall, this is a well-written novel, but remains somewhat ambiguous on many fronts, especially with the ending, and there are a few grotesque events in the novel as well, aside from the mass shooting, so reader beware.
http://wp.me/p1jhaj-4UR
This novel is split into two parts: the “before” and “after.” It’s a very interesting way of dealing with a novel that involves a school shooting—whereas the beginning of the novel shadows that of Jack as he spirals downward, the second portion of the novel jumps ahead 10 years, following Jason, a young man returning to teach English at the very school he attended when the shooting occurred. This allows readers to gain the unique perspectives of both those leading up to the event and those still recovering from it years afterward.
Perhaps what I found most frustrating, but also rewarding, is the fact that Cook doesn’t give readers a specific reason for the violence that occurs on any account within his novel. No one aspect or person can be pinpointed for blame, which is, in reality, a truth I feel many people do not want to accept. Why do people do the things they do? The news constantly tries to pinpoint one specific reason, and I feel like it is our human nature to try and understand, to cast blame, but in reality there are so many factors that make up these nightmares that the finger pointing and blame game is speculative at best. Thus, Cook leaves readers with more or less an ambiguous look at the mindset of both Jack and Jason, which I admit frustrated me, but is probably more accurate in its portrayal of events than anything else.
Having escaped his hometown for a while, and reluctant to be back, Jason is roped into becoming the school spokesperson as the 10 year anniversary of the shooting comes upon the town. I found this fascinating, but as Jason tries to deal with his memories, his students, the faculty, and the people of the town, he begins to break down. I don’t know if this was intentional or not, but I really zoned in on the antics of Jason as a teacher—perhaps because I am one myself—and I just couldn’t get over how terrible he really is at his job, morally speaking. Having witnessed illegal activities, I would expect him to report them right away—to intervene—to speak up—but instead, Jason begins to hide inside himself, pushing everyone away from him and, as faculty members begin to die and the blame game once again becomes the town’s favorite pastime, he begins to lose himself. While a very interesting look at the human psyche, my morals as a teacher made me quickly begin to lose any respect I had for Jason as the story unfolded. I think the point was that Jason was completely and utterly shaken to his core during the shooting; that it is an event he will never truly recover from, but as an adult in charge of children, I expected more out of him in this aspect.
I also found some aspects of the novel to be a little too predictable in terms of the current deaths plaguing the school, which is unfortunate, but could also be intentional as I feel Cook is more so interested in human nature and the psyche than a full on mystery novel. Overall, this is a well-written novel, but remains somewhat ambiguous on many fronts, especially with the ending, and there are a few grotesque events in the novel as well, aside from the mass shooting, so reader beware.
October 24, 2011
Originally posted at Butterfly-o-Meter Books on Dec 1 2011:
Wow…you know, I sometimes wonder why it is that we’re so often fascinated with killers, and twisted minds, and despicable acts. We are, think about it; we watch the news knowing there’ll be crime in there, we watch the TV shows and documentaries about them, read the crime books. There’s something about the lost sheep that we just can’t resist, isn’t there? Maybe it’s proof of our self-destructive wiring. Anyways…
Reading this novel was a strange experience. I was oddly fascinated and yet constantly repulsed, experiencing random bursts of my misanthropist self. I was also overcome with a deep sens of helplessness and sadness. I’m not sure if this was the goal, but at times I just had to gape and say “You have got to be kidding me!!”. If you’re in a bad mood, this is not the read for you at that moment, that’s what I think.
As far as the plot goes, it’s dramatic and slightly horrifying and a tad disturbing; I say a tad because it’s fiction. Great writing, clear, direct, mature voice, and delightfully screwed-up characters, that’s what I thought of this novel. In a way, it has a lot in common with the TV show Midsummer Murders, it all happens in this small town, that has residents dying quicker then new ones are getting born, or at least that’s the feeling I get. There’s all this death, and loneliness and pain floating around in the pages…and yet reading the novel wasn’t depressing, but in a strange way it wasn’t quite touching either. Perhaps because I got into it already guarded, and treated it as an exercise of fiction instead of throwing myself into it emotionally, I had this feeling of detachment from the characters and their lives, but not complete detachment either. It was a very odd read for me, I’m sort of dazed after it, shocked and stunned I guess.
Did I like it? I’d feel bad to say I liked reading about all these people dying…so I’ll say it was a very interesting read. I believe I would have loved it more if it hadn’t given me this staccato feeling overall, what with changing POV’s and such.
If you like experimenting with your reads, you should definitely give this a try; I’m sure it would be a different experience to you, to me, school shootings being things I see documentaries on TV from far away places, it was something of an odd experience.
It’s a well written novel, with interesting perspective and very intriguing plot and characters, you should definitely give it a try.
Wow…you know, I sometimes wonder why it is that we’re so often fascinated with killers, and twisted minds, and despicable acts. We are, think about it; we watch the news knowing there’ll be crime in there, we watch the TV shows and documentaries about them, read the crime books. There’s something about the lost sheep that we just can’t resist, isn’t there? Maybe it’s proof of our self-destructive wiring. Anyways…
Reading this novel was a strange experience. I was oddly fascinated and yet constantly repulsed, experiencing random bursts of my misanthropist self. I was also overcome with a deep sens of helplessness and sadness. I’m not sure if this was the goal, but at times I just had to gape and say “You have got to be kidding me!!”. If you’re in a bad mood, this is not the read for you at that moment, that’s what I think.
As far as the plot goes, it’s dramatic and slightly horrifying and a tad disturbing; I say a tad because it’s fiction. Great writing, clear, direct, mature voice, and delightfully screwed-up characters, that’s what I thought of this novel. In a way, it has a lot in common with the TV show Midsummer Murders, it all happens in this small town, that has residents dying quicker then new ones are getting born, or at least that’s the feeling I get. There’s all this death, and loneliness and pain floating around in the pages…and yet reading the novel wasn’t depressing, but in a strange way it wasn’t quite touching either. Perhaps because I got into it already guarded, and treated it as an exercise of fiction instead of throwing myself into it emotionally, I had this feeling of detachment from the characters and their lives, but not complete detachment either. It was a very odd read for me, I’m sort of dazed after it, shocked and stunned I guess.
Did I like it? I’d feel bad to say I liked reading about all these people dying…so I’ll say it was a very interesting read. I believe I would have loved it more if it hadn’t given me this staccato feeling overall, what with changing POV’s and such.
If you like experimenting with your reads, you should definitely give this a try; I’m sure it would be a different experience to you, to me, school shootings being things I see documentaries on TV from far away places, it was something of an odd experience.
It’s a well written novel, with interesting perspective and very intriguing plot and characters, you should definitely give it a try.
September 14, 2013
Jonathan wrote Youth and Other Fictions to help him deal with a post Columbine shooting world. Likewise, I think reading it in high school could have really helped me deal with going to school where one of the first major shooting events happened and seemed to set off a ripple effect of all the horrible events to follow. If you're not in your mid to late twenties or early thirties, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. That's okay, you should be glad. In a way, you younger guys almost expect to not be safe at school, which is sad. I don't know what's worse though, having that feeling just kinda be there always, or having the illusion that you are safe at school ripped out from underneath you. I think it's the last option, personally. I was in elementary school when Luke Woodham decided to kill his mom, his dog, and then come to school with the mindset that he was going to kill two distinct people and anyone else who got in his way, then move on to each school in the district until he was done. I can remember being put on lock down because he had escaped the school and was on his way to ours. It's a day, much like 9/11/01 I will never, ever forget for as long as I live.
People aren't sure WHY these things happen, and I think that's the beauty of this book. It doesn't try to explain why. It doesn't give you false reasons like "he was bullied" or "he had a bad home life." It just gives you a fictional sense of how these sorts of events change people. Jonathan's book centered around his emotions and his coping mechanism for Columbine, but I read it as if it were meant for me, for the city of Pearl, MS, and for any other victim of a school shooting out there. That's another joy of this book. Although it has dark themes, you can almost positively relate if you've grown up in my generation. It's most definitely for the mature reader, and it's most definitely going to stir emotion in you. But give me a good book that didn't stir an emotion inside of you, and I will stand corrected in my thought that it's not possible to be a great author and not be mundane.
Kudos Jonathan, you've done it again. Or, shall I say, you did it the first time with this one. I appreciate the thought invoking read.
Full post at: http://grownupfangirl.blogspot.com
People aren't sure WHY these things happen, and I think that's the beauty of this book. It doesn't try to explain why. It doesn't give you false reasons like "he was bullied" or "he had a bad home life." It just gives you a fictional sense of how these sorts of events change people. Jonathan's book centered around his emotions and his coping mechanism for Columbine, but I read it as if it were meant for me, for the city of Pearl, MS, and for any other victim of a school shooting out there. That's another joy of this book. Although it has dark themes, you can almost positively relate if you've grown up in my generation. It's most definitely for the mature reader, and it's most definitely going to stir emotion in you. But give me a good book that didn't stir an emotion inside of you, and I will stand corrected in my thought that it's not possible to be a great author and not be mundane.
Kudos Jonathan, you've done it again. Or, shall I say, you did it the first time with this one. I appreciate the thought invoking read.
Full post at: http://grownupfangirl.blogspot.com
January 18, 2012
We've all heard the stories. Students bring guns to school and kill others, often ending by killing themselves. This book looks at the effects of such an event on students and teachers. The first half of the book tells the story of Jack, a outcast who is often bullied. He struggles with how he is treated by others at school. While he wishes for revenge, he is soon faced with the aftermath of someone else taking the ultimate revenge. As Jack tries to deal with what happened, he feels his life spiraling out of control. Jason is another student who survives the tragedy. He returns to town years later to teach. However, Jason is left answering questions from his school days. When bad things start happening again, he has to sift through all his emotions to be able to cope.
This book starts off as one thing and ends as another. With Jack, I felt bad for him. Here was a boy that was clearly bullied and depressed, and yet no one did anything for him. I wanted to get him help so bad. I was so caught up in him story that when the school shooting occurred, it really got to me. Seeing Jack trying to deal with all the feeling afterword was even more difficult. With Jason, I was definitely unprepared for where his story went. He talks of his class being considered by some to be cursed, and I started to believe that. I found the ending to be a bit abrupt and confusing though. I wasn't even sure what was real by the end.
Overall, I can't say I enjoyed this book in the sense that it was a fun read or anything. In fact, it was fairly hard for me to read because of the subject matter. I wanted so much to be able to change things for the characters. I will say that the story completely absorbed me. I did not want to stop reading because I had to know what would happen. This book does a brilliant job of getting into the heads of Jack and Jason. It shows the horrors of having to deal with the tragedy of a school shooting. It goes places you never expect. I think it is a book that people will want to read.
Book provided for review.
This book starts off as one thing and ends as another. With Jack, I felt bad for him. Here was a boy that was clearly bullied and depressed, and yet no one did anything for him. I wanted to get him help so bad. I was so caught up in him story that when the school shooting occurred, it really got to me. Seeing Jack trying to deal with all the feeling afterword was even more difficult. With Jason, I was definitely unprepared for where his story went. He talks of his class being considered by some to be cursed, and I started to believe that. I found the ending to be a bit abrupt and confusing though. I wasn't even sure what was real by the end.
Overall, I can't say I enjoyed this book in the sense that it was a fun read or anything. In fact, it was fairly hard for me to read because of the subject matter. I wanted so much to be able to change things for the characters. I will say that the story completely absorbed me. I did not want to stop reading because I had to know what would happen. This book does a brilliant job of getting into the heads of Jack and Jason. It shows the horrors of having to deal with the tragedy of a school shooting. It goes places you never expect. I think it is a book that people will want to read.
Book provided for review.
November 1, 2011
This is a book that is wholly relevant to our times, when violence of all sorts happen at schools. It seems like every day we hear about a kid being bullied enough to commit suicide, or retaliate against his tormentors in the most horrific manner.
At its core, this story is a psychological analysis of what causes a ten to be the perpetrator of an unthinkable crime. We see plot from two viewpoints: the student’s and the teacher’s. This gives us two very different perspectives and allows us to fully grasp the situation. It is chilling to see the progress, or should I say the deterioration, in the boy’s head. We see clearly what causes him to go over the edge.
The writing is clear, to the point, without too much fuss, which adds to the stark quality of the novel. There are some editing issues, but not enough to cause an issue with readers. This book is a great example of a story that will make us understand a bit more how something as awful as school violence can happen. I can recommend it to pretty much everyone.
At its core, this story is a psychological analysis of what causes a ten to be the perpetrator of an unthinkable crime. We see plot from two viewpoints: the student’s and the teacher’s. This gives us two very different perspectives and allows us to fully grasp the situation. It is chilling to see the progress, or should I say the deterioration, in the boy’s head. We see clearly what causes him to go over the edge.
The writing is clear, to the point, without too much fuss, which adds to the stark quality of the novel. There are some editing issues, but not enough to cause an issue with readers. This book is a great example of a story that will make us understand a bit more how something as awful as school violence can happen. I can recommend it to pretty much everyone.
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