The Rag and Bone Shop

Note: The vote on this review was made by a troll-creature intent on harassing me. The vote does not reflect the book at all!I read "The Rag and Bone Shop" with a deepening sense of dread. In this his last novel, Robert Cormier uses a brilliant economy of words to create a crescendo of dread and fear. The premonition that terrible things will happen hangs heavy in every word. Robert Cormier was never a writer to paint a rosy picture of childhood. Ugly things can and do happen. As they do here.Trent is a celebrated interrogator, a master at extricating a confession for crimes committed from even the most cunning of criminals. Jason is a twelve-year-old boy whose confession Trent is determined to pull out of his heart. After all, Trent's motto has ever been: "I must lie down where all the ladders start,/In the foul rag-and-bone shop of the heart" (Yeats). The victim is seven-year-old Alicia, a child Jason admires and whose company he enjoys. He is considered the prime suspect for her murder.Two interior monologs, first one, then the other, of Trent and Jason, comprise the majority of the novel. Trent's thrill of the chase, his burning desire to get that confession, his thoughts and reactions to Jason's every facial gesture, every thrill of his body movements, every pause, drive Trent in an increasing intensity of the climax of a confession. Add to that two factors: public demand that the killer be found and a promised reward by the area's senator for Trent "to write his own ticket" if he manages the rag of confession from the litter of bones in the heart of this Jason.There is no question that the human heart contains rags and bones as the detritus of the human propensity to do evil. Robert Cormier is a master of the story depicting this negative and awful condition. That he frames it in young adult novels is what is so shocking.Another distressing example from Cormier's body of work is  We All Fall Down . (What? This book is out of print?). In it a gang of boys go on a joy ride then break into a house and trash it, including defecating on the floors, writing on the walls, and destroying furniture, pictures, and obviously prized possessions. Later one of the boys meets the girl who lives there. They begin a lovely relationship until he confesses. It is a shocking and heartbreaking novel.Cormier's most controversial and often banned book (prior to "The Rag and Bone Shop") is  The Chocolate War (Readers Circle) . This is a devastating story of a boy forced to sell chocolate. It bears the theme of nonconformity trapped in man's inhumanity to man. One does not easily read a Cormier book without considering the rag and bone shop fouling man's heart.Another reviewer acidly wonders how Cormier could do to Jason what he does. I ask: Why not? It is an awful thing, but given his character and his nature, he acts legitimately. No, the ending makes me sick, but I think Cormier expressed a very damning road that some people willingly and knowingly take as their choice for their life's journey. "You are what you do."

In my Middle Childhood Developmental Literacy class this past fall, I asked my students to prepare Book Talks as in a Middle Childhood classroom via video Book Trailers. One of my students used this book. I was so intrigued that I immediately bought the book. When I communicated this with her, she said,"Oh, you will just scream at the end." So as I began reading, those words reverberated in my mind and I was prepared to scream, yet dreading what was ahead.The book begins as a 7-year old girl is murdered and 12-year-old Jason is the last person to see her alive, or is he? As the story unfolds, the authorities seek Jason's "help" in solving the murder. What young boy isn't drawn to the excitement of being a part of solving a murder, especially a boy who is socially on the outer edges. Trent, a supposedly brilliant interrogator, with his own self-created demons, creates a scenario of seeking Jason's help while manipulating a confession. All the while I was reading, questions came to my mind. Why would this mother let Jason go alone to the police station? Why wasn't she suspicious? What did the police think they were doing? Wouldn't there be repercussions? I asked my Criminal Justice husband, could this scenario really be? Would the police actually manipulate the situation to deceive the players? Sadly, he said interrogators can be very manipulative. This was not a comfort to me. On the inside I was beginning to "stand up".While the book had a completely unexpected ending, and was indeed worth "screaming", even crying about, it was only partially satisfying . Yet, isn't that what books are supposed to do? Make us scream, make us cry, maybe make us uncomfortable, make us consider more deeply? Yes, yes, yes! This book does all of these and while it may deserve a 5, I did not love it. I did not love screaming.

When seven-year-old Alicia Bartlett is mysteriously murdered, Trent, a relentless ace investigator for the police department, finds himself faced with a difficult and irresistible moral decision. Is it worth the risk to sacrifice truth for the sake of his impeccable reputation? As Trent interviews Jason, a thirteen-year-old friend of the victim and the last person to see her alive, he questions whether or not the innocent, naive boy, too, is expendable. With no clues as to the identity of the murderer, Trent's hard-earned, perfect record of criminal confessions is in danger. But young Jason has even more to lose.Concisely and subtly, yet effectively and without didacticism, Cormier bravely poses a question facing the human condition: what price would one pay for success, love, and reputation? In this dark novel, the protagonist struggles against himself. The reader is afforded a glimpse of the same "foul rag and bone shop of the heart" of humanity that Trent claims to visit in each criminal he interrogates. The backdrop settings, from the freshness of a sunny and carefree early-summer vacation day, to the sweltering confines of the tortuous interrogation room, are highly effective in reinforcing the chacterization and heightening the tension of the plot. The unexpected denouement is thought-provoking and alarming. This novel may not be for everyone, though. Raw emotional brutality is part of the plot and may be too frank and offensive to some readers.

This is a book about ambition and how it clouds your mind if not held in check. Well written and a bit of a twist at the end. Very much enjoyed the book.

We can see how corrupt officials can destroy an innocent boy. I started thinking that there could be many prisoners who made forced conffession and got victimized. Sad ending.

This book kept me intrigued the entire time. Great and easy read for adults and young adults alike. Very suspenseful.

was a gift

少女殺害事件をめぐって、尋問の達人と、生前の彼女と最後に会ったと思われる隣の家の少年との間に交わされる応酬を通して、真実とは、そして悪とは何か、という問題を浮きぼりにしていく作品です。作者の他の作品と同じく、簡潔な言葉を用いて、実に深い内容を表現しています。青少年向けの物語作家でありながら、生涯を通して人間の魂の暗闇を描き続けた著者の最期を飾るにふさわしい傑作です。