From: Steven at westlinn.lib.or.us <Steven>
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 09:02:51 PST

Like most everyone else who's commented so far, I enjoyed
"Tenderness" and admire the author's skill at creating such an unusual and thought provoking book. Then I read "Buffalo Tree" and realized the one thing that bothered me a bit about Cormier's book. As fascinating and believable as the two main characters are, I always felt an author's presence behind them. Their actions and emotions all contributed to my understanding of the characters, but I never escaped the feeling that there was an overseeing hand behind them, setting up (maybe even manipulating) the events to make me think about the things that he was trying to get across. I don't mind that hand, and it is successful...but it's there, and it puts a bit of distance between me and the characters. I felt the same thing in "We All Fall Down" too, which I also think is a very good book. But I didn't feel it in "The Chocolate War" and certainly not in "Buffalo Tree." Though I guess we're not officially discussing that book yet, I'll just say that Sura felt like a real person to me...the two "Tenderness" characters felt like realistic characters created by an author. Maybe Cormier's approach is necessary given the story he had to tell, but it makes a different kind of book than
"Buffalo Tree." I'll think about Lori and Eric for a while, but I think I'll remember Sura foreverr.

-Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library 1595 Burns Street West Linn, OR USA 97068 ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us
Received on Thu 07 Aug 1997 12:02:51 PM CDT