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A review by jgraydee
Deadline by Chris Crutcher
2.0
Ben Wolf is a wiz-kid, light-weight high school senior who learns that he has a terminal illness at the beginning of his senior year. An 18-year old with "rights," he decides to deny treatment and to not let his friends or family know about his illness. Ben's rationale is that if he has only one year left to live, he wants to live it to the fullest, and does not want the pity of others or the rigors of treatment (which would only prolong his life, not save it) to hinder his final year of high school. Alas, Ben goes on to the have the dream senior year of high school: he dates the hot chick of his dreams and becomes a football star beyond anyone's wildest imaginations. It's a teen book, so I'm game with all of this so far. (If you're gonna dream, then dream big).
And the book has some redeeming qualities: Coach's character and both of Ben's parents (his dad in particular) are well grounded men who give sound advice when asked. Also, Ben has dreams with Hey-Soos (which sounds an awful lot like...) that are thought provoking at times (but NewAge-like almost all the time). Finally, Ben and his brother Cody have a strong, supportive relationship.
What I did not like about the book is that it reads very, very slowly. Ben finally works out that he needs to tell his friends and family about his illness, but the reader has to wade through pages and pages of inner turmoil to get to that point. Crutcher needs that introspection to make the story progress, but I would like to have seen that written with more dialog, more interaction with the characters of the story (Hey-Soos does this the most; but, perhaps Ben's psychiatrist or his doctor? They were both prominant characters toward the beginning of the book, but just disappeared by the middle?). Also, if you're not a fan of football and play-by-plays, prepare yourself to skim a few passages. Snore...
What I really did not like about this book though is the liberalism is promotes, and the amount of shockers that Crutcher put into his book. Maybe I'm naive, but (despite what I hear teens have to deal with these days), I think putting a manic-depressive mother, a once-molested girlfriend with a 5-year old son, and an alcoholic, ex-priest, child moslestor ALL into a teenager's life (who, don't forget, has an untreatable terminal illness) is a bit much?
And the book has some redeeming qualities: Coach's character and both of Ben's parents (his dad in particular) are well grounded men who give sound advice when asked. Also, Ben has dreams with Hey-Soos (which sounds an awful lot like...) that are thought provoking at times (but NewAge-like almost all the time). Finally, Ben and his brother Cody have a strong, supportive relationship.
What I did not like about the book is that it reads very, very slowly. Ben finally works out that he needs to tell his friends and family about his illness, but the reader has to wade through pages and pages of inner turmoil to get to that point. Crutcher needs that introspection to make the story progress, but I would like to have seen that written with more dialog, more interaction with the characters of the story (Hey-Soos does this the most; but, perhaps Ben's psychiatrist or his doctor? They were both prominant characters toward the beginning of the book, but just disappeared by the middle?). Also, if you're not a fan of football and play-by-plays, prepare yourself to skim a few passages. Snore...
What I really did not like about this book though is the liberalism is promotes, and the amount of shockers that Crutcher put into his book. Maybe I'm naive, but (despite what I hear teens have to deal with these days), I think putting a manic-depressive mother, a once-molested girlfriend with a 5-year old son, and an alcoholic, ex-priest, child moslestor ALL into a teenager's life (who, don't forget, has an untreatable terminal illness) is a bit much?