| Product: |
The Tutor - Peter Abrahams |
| Date: |
01/01/06 (101 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: great characters, great read
Disadvantages: abrupt ending, expected development
***The story***
The Gardner's are a typical middle-class American family: The parents Scott and Linda are primarily concerned with their status in society. One of their most important focal points is the future of their son Brandon. In their eyes, Brandon will have to make it into one of the top colleges, or else his career prospects will be doomed. And of course it is important to Scott and Linda that Brandon is able to compete with his cousin Sam. Much to their disappointment, however, Brandon is far from succeeding in classes. He did appallingly below standard in the SAT's, keeps cutting class, missing and failing tests - and is more interested in boozing and becoming a bicycle messenger in New York than focusing on an "acceptable" career. There is only one answer to solving this problem and he comes in the form of Julian, a personal tutor.
Julian is perfect - he's not only charming and highly intelligent, he seems to be able to get through to Brandon and always seems to appear at the rescue when things are going wrong. But behind the façade of a perfectly decent citizen hides every family's worst nightmare.
***My thoughts***
I really enjoyed the read, it was certainly one of the best books I have read in a long time. However, it was far from what I expected. On the cover of the book, there is a quote from Stephen King stating that the author, Peter Abrahams, is King's "Favourite American Suspense Writer". Naturally, I expected something rather gory, something that would make me jump with every turn of the page.
In my summary, you may have thought that I have given away too much of the plot, as I have already revealed that there is a problem with Julian, the tutor. He is obviously not a very nice person. However, I have actually not given away more than you could discover from the back of the novel itself. I think that is a bit of a shame, as with every turn of the page you are just waiting for his niceness to turn into horror.
Knowing that something bad will eventually happen, it is all the more surprising that the feel of the book is more like the feel of a fluffy novel with a touch of voyeurism. What Abrahams is trying to do in his writing is to develop each and every character in such detail that they grow on the reader and makes the reader care. The characters are so life-like, so real, that the reader can clearly visualise them.
Scott, the father of the family seems to suffer from an extreme inferiority complex and feel a need to compete with his brother Tom and others who have better lives: a better tennis game, a more intelligent son, a faster car, more fancy holidays. Linda seems to suffer from a guilt complex - rather than spending time with her children Brandon and Ruby, she is out earning money, often doubting whether she is really fulfilling her motherly duties and doing what is best for her kids. Brandon is a typical confused teenager - the more his parents push him to succeed, the more he blocks and goes against their authority. And Ruby is a charming 11-year old girl who loves to read her Sherlock Holmes books, play with her dog and still tries to please her parents by engaging in all sorts of after school activities that she is really not interested in.
In a way, reading about all these characters is almost like watching "Big Brother", like a video camera has been attached to them to follow them through their lives. And it is voyeuristic type of writing that draws the reader into the story and makes the reader want to jump into the pages and advise the characters against their own stupidity and their upcoming mistakes.
I did not find the read particularly suspenseful, in fact, it is more like a journey through a family's life until close to the end of the story - at which time there is some suspense here and there as to how things will pan out, although there are no real surprises hidden at every turn of the page.
The secret to the enjoyability of this read lies in the author's ability to depict images and feelings in the minutest detail. The only downfall? The slightly abrupt and unsatisfactory ending to such an unimaginable nightmarish situation.
In any event, this is certainly worth a read for those who appreciate great character development and simply beautiful writing.
***Further information***
Penguin Books
Pages: 353
Price: £6.99 for a new paperback
ISBN: 0-141-01129-7
Summary: A gripping read with real characters that suffers only from extreme predictability.
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