From: Willingboro Public Library <wipl>
Date: Thu, 07 Aug 1997 09:28:45 -0700

I do not feel that Cormier succeeds in making us feel compassion for Eric or very much compassionfor Lori, nor does he intend to. Instead, he brilliantly shows us why they act as they do. Most fascinating and masterful in terms of writing is how he shows them INTERACT, both manipulating and truly relating to each other. I thought about Mary Pipher's Reviving Ophelia as I read Lori's narration. How perfectly she exemplifies the out of control teenage girl who is very strong and willful about getting what she wants, yet who submits totally to the man she chooses, even if he is an abuser. Lori is even ready to allow him to smother her. I agree that Eric is sexually abused by his mother. An early reference to their cuddling in bed is all innocence but its evil twin appears on page 196, with its reference to her lips trailing across his flesh and her passionate murmuring. Subtle, but this IS Cormier. Christine Hill, Willingboro Public Library, Willingboro, NJ
Received on Thu 07 Aug 1997 11:28:45 AM CDT