Crutcher, Chris (2005). The Sledding Hill. NY: Greenwillow Books. ISBN: 0060502436. 240 pages.
Oh, Chris Crutcher, what have you done? Crutcher's newest book features almost all of the trendiest fictional conceits: metafiction, use of the Dead Narrator, references to an earlier book by the author and, most horrible of all, the introduction of the author as a character in the book. In spite of the fact that I can hardly stand such a divisive concept-novel, The Sledding Hill could have been worse. Sure, it commits all the sins of contemporary fictional smugness and uses one of Crutcher's own teacher-as-mentor, challenged-book-as-vehicle-to-self- exploration plots, but, somehow, it works. Kind of. The story focuses on 14 year old Eddie, whose recently dead best friend narrates the novel, and who, upon losing his father and best friend in quick succession one summer, elects mutism as a response as he tries to figure out his now totally messed up life. Set in a small, midwestern town and revolving around the community's polarized response to a controversial book assigned in English class, Crutcher squeezes in touching philosophizing and observations around literary devices. This is one book that seems designed for class discussion; my only hope is that a few people come to it on their own before it's taken up and re-fed to the masses by librarians and English teachers. |
|
