"I'm kind of handsome, don't you think?" (Holes - Louis Sachar)

Member Name: theediscerning

Product:	Holes - Louis Sachar
Date:	27/11/03 (269 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very very good book

Disadvantages: Even better as a film

Theediscerning rather came to the phenomenon that is Holes the wrong way around, in that he saw the film before he read the book. However the film was so good ~ a joyous telling of a brilliant story of circumstance, fate and odd segments of plot roped together to form a seemingly miraculous whole ~ that the book was a must~read. And although the film was never as successful as it should have been, the book was eventually everywhere ~ even in the original 100 in the BBC's best book campaign.

It even turned up in multiple copies in theediscerning's local library, after a lengthy wait, so he was able to sample the book form at last. And at least this way, you can get some form of a review of the book, and a comparison with the movie.

Green Lake, in all its forms, is a place of learning. 110 years in the past, Green Lake the encampment is a little slice of heaven, made even more wonderful by Katherine the schoolmistress's spiced peaches, and the onions brought from across the lake by Sam and his beloved donkey. These onions can cure almost everything, although they fall short when it comes to the local tycoon's son?s smelly feet.

Unfortunately said son gets turned down by Katherine, who is then seen to be kissing Sam. Shock horror. After all that Sam has done for the town with his limitless supply of magic onions, and rebuilding the school house to perfection, he is chased and gunned down. The real reason, of course, is that he was black. And so Katherine learns just how powerful the emotion of vengeance is. She becomes an outlaw, with her own distinguishing calling card.

Cut to the modern day, and Camp Green Lake is involved in different forms of learning. The Camp has dried up as ever since Sam's death not a single drop of rain has fallen. Instead all there is is a thin line of shade, where Mr Sir's hammock stands in the middle of the Camp. The tents surrounding it are housing the inmates of the
Camp, which is a correctional facility ~ an alternative to prison for a wide range of miscreants, and Stanley Yelnats.

He arrives expecting paradise, and finds a surreal nightmare, where water is precious, and the shortest shovel is jealously guarded. Surreal, for surrounding the tents is a lunar landscape of holes, and their corresponding dirt piles. There is a precious short shovel because each hole has to be as deep and as wide as the shovel that made it. Every day each young inmate must get up well before dawn heats the dead lakebed up, and go and dig that day's hole. On return he gets four minutes' worth of cold shower water, and can then do as he pleases.

The reason given for all the digging is that it will lead to improved character, at least, that is what the staff ~ the bizarre and slightly cruel Mr Sir, and the boys' counsellor, Mr Pendanski ~ say. But is the even more bizarre and mysterious Warden relying on Camp Green Lake to teach her something too?

Most of the plot is the story of Stanley in the camp, but the main selling point of both book and film is that there are many threads of narrative woven together. We also need to be told about Stanley?s father Stanley, and his weird scheme to recycle trainers ~ minus their foot odour. The fact stinky feet were already mentioned is important, as everywhere here it is a case of what goes around, comes around.

But Stanley's family already know that. They blame all their misfortune on a @no~good~dirty~rotten~pig~stealing~great~great~gra ndfather@ of our Stanley. So we find out his story too. And that affects the present and the future as well.

Stanley's biggest lesson in this book, even when he himself is teaching, is that he does not have to rely on fate. Life is not just a question of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things may sail through the air ~ pairs of stolen trainers, sacks of sunflower seeds ~ but there are fixed re
alities that will always shine through. Here, at least, after a most enjoyable narrative, they include the power of a happy ending that ties everything together, and the truth of God?s Thumb.

Theediscerning, as he says, thoroughly enjoyed the film, although wondered at first if the narrative was perhaps a little too jumpy, cutting back in small segments to all the various background stories that were going on. Here these are in larger segments, which makes the book easier to read, but he still started reading with a little edge of a niggle in his mind which similarly waited for a quarter of the duration before going away.

To be fair, this is perhaps where the reading the book after seeing the film comes in, as he was forever comparing the former with his memory of the latter. There were bits like 'oh, that bit's happened earlier than in the movie', or 'that bit was spread out in the cinema', or some~such. Yet the narrative drive soon kicked in, its foot firmly on the floor, helped into a higher gear by the brilliantly simple language and fairly large print.

Yet, as many have said, this is a children's book that adults can read. Never does the language or plot strike one as being beneath the adult reader, and its success for all ages is testimony to the universal enjoyment given by such a fine spread of stories, and the way they come together in the second half.

Worry not, it does not come across as linked short stories ~ the plot weaves back and forth, even to old Latvia, yet strongly stays the same. It's a tiny disappointment that in the film tie~in edition at least there sometimes isn't enough of a page~break between areas of narrative.

Also, worry not about all the talk of learning above. There is no moralising in this story ~ except if you care to make a pun about "knowing your onions", which theediscerning doesn't. Instead you can just enjoy the breeziness of the
writing, and the excellent stories it tells you.

So, to compare film and book, to close. Because one will lead to another ~ there will surely never be the person who encounters one who is reluctant to check up on the other. Well, theediscerning thought from the film that the book would appear unfilmable. This is partly because Louis Sachar adapted his own book for the screenplay and made it, if anything, more convoluted, and more complex. Here, the simpler jumps to history are less alienating for the young.

There are minor changes and bits of new information that the book tells those who saw the film first. The Warden is supposed to be a freckled redhead, for one. But mostly the screenplay is if anything an improvement on the book ~ the humour comes across more successfully, and the film has Kissin' Kate meeting the end of her narrative much more strongly than she does at the close of part one on page. The film also adds the brilliant characterisation given to Mr Sir, especially with his oddball looks added to the scene where he has reason to say "I'm kind of handsome, don't you think?" to the boys.

But the biggest changes have been saved to last. The book holds great store in pointing out that Stanley is an outsider, because he is overweight. In the film he is tall, lanky, not exactly a dream~boat in looks, but he is given his lot in life at Camp Green Lake by fate, not partly by him being large, picked on and suppressed due to his size. He now seems to get his nickname and acceptance too speedily.

Is this Hollywood being fattist? Does it matter, at the end? It's to the individual to think on that, but it was a bit of a shock, and while the film's images enhanced the book, it was hard to imagine Stanley with an overweight waddle.

Still, theediscerning is happy to repeat that the film is brilliant, and the book is indeed in the same small class ~ although only just. For somehow t
he ties between storylines are less brilliant than on the screen. It remains as the Guardian said "a tightly plotted detective novel", but the indulgent genius Sachar employed to tie the loosest of connections between the most peculiar elements is not so obvious, and the discovery of the links not so outrageously feel~good. Is this because the novelty of the narrative had been lost in the darkened cinema? Theed's not sure, but remains certain that any version of Holes can be very highly recommended.



The film tie~in version of Holes, from Bloomsbury, features cover~art to match the cinema release, and eight pages of colour photographs from the film and film set. It bears the price £5.99 and the ISBN 0~7475~6366~7. It can be found cheaper on amazon's marketplace, but not by much, most people seem reluctant to pass this one on?

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