There's really no book I love more than We All Fall Down. I first read it almost ten years ago, I still keep my copy in my sock drawer and read it probably once a year. Robert Cormier's well known for his dark, depressing writing and unflinching look at everything wrong with human nature, but this book just affected me in a way his more well-known works, The Chocolate War and I am the Cheese, haven't, it's raw, intense, incredibly tragic.From the first paragraph, Cormier creates a world that's both clinically brutal yet incredibly poignant. "They entered the house at 9:02 p.m. on the evening of April Fool's Day. In the next forty-nine minutes, they shit on the floors and pissed on the walls and trashed their way through the seven-room Cape Cod cottage ...." Needless to say, my first read through began in stunned silence. It's really a shame that Daring to Disturb the Universe, required reading for any Cormier fan by the way, only spends a few pages on this awesome book, but the one thing it really gets right is its explanation on how masterfully crafted, truly powerful that opening paragraph is. I don't think I have or will ever read anything so disturbing in its simplicity.More than just the shock value, though there is plenty of that, We All Fall Down is a book that's all about shades of gray. Buddy Walker, one of the trashers, is one of the most seriously messed up protagonists I've ever read, but I could still tell he's looking for redemption despite his family and alcohol problems. Jane Jerome, whose family owns the house Buddy and his friends trashed, is haunted by that night, what happened to her sister, the effects on her family. So when Buddy and Jane meet, it's one of sweetest things I've ever read, because these are two seriously messed up people who just desperately need each other.Even then, I just knew this wasn't going to end well, not when Jane finds out about what Buddy did. Not when the threat of the Avenger, the insane killer seeking to carry out his own twisted sense of justice, looms in the background. But in the meantime, Buddy shows he's not a totally irredeemable character, the way he treats Jane, giving up alcohol for her, his interactions with his sister, culminating in that awkward lunch with his ass of a father. It all makes Jane's discovery, cause obviously she does discover, all the more tragic.And the ending. The ending killed me when I first read it. Utterly soul crushing. In a book about random acts of violence, yes there's more violence. Jane's destroyed. Buddy's destroyed. I'm destroyed by some of the most wrenching words put to paper, comparing love to pee stains on a wall. The final scene between Jane and Buddy is so terrible it taught me the five stages of grief, first denial at what I read, then anger at Cormier, than bargaining for a sequel, then depression at Buddy's loss, then acceptance at the turn of events. That's when I realized how incredible this book is. Cormier excels at writing books so morally ambiguous, so psychologically compelling, so horrifically disturbing, they're going to stay with me for a lifetime. We All Fall Down most of all because of Jane and Buddy.
Did I like this book? Why yes I did. In fact, it's probably the best school assigned book I've read. The reason why is because there's a lot of intense moments that get you drawn in the book you never know what happens next! My favorite character had to be buddy, he was sort of a soft spoken character but the book revolved a lot about him, he's sort of the anti hero but did more bad than good. I just found his character interesting with all the lying and drinking he was a bad character but you still want him to win. One of themes themes of the story is in fact..falling down. You can take it both figuratively and literally. Figuratively the main characters in the book fall down. With the use of alcohol and guilt you know the characters are in a low part of their life, they fell down and keep going in a downward spiral. Literally some characters fall down stairs. One in a coma and one down a escalator that made him fall into love that pretty much made the death of him in the end. High schools should teach this because you can learn a lot of life lessens. I would recommend this book to my friends (if they read) because you can learn from this book and put it towards real life. You learn mostly is to take charge and your life and your past will eventually catch up to you and bite you in the ass...
What do You think about We All Fall Down (1993)?
I DON'T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT THIS BOOK OKAY I NEARLY VOMITED AND I HAD TO READ IT FOR SCHOOL AND NO THIS IS NOT AN OKAY BOOK On the other hand, I had an interesting theory while reading once I had figured out who the avenger was (before I got to the big reveal and whole explanation)(view spoiler)[My favourite theory of that book is that The Avenger was one of Mickey’s personalities (DID), that he didn’t even know about. Mickey didn’t know he had killed two people, or that The Avenger even existed, or that he called himself that. He would often wake up outside the Jerome house dazed and confused. He was truly a sweet guy, a sweet guy with deep seeded issues after his mothers death. He didn’t want to hurt, he wanted to help. I have pity for The Avenger. Much more pity for him than I do for Buddy Walker. That guy’s a dickhead. (hide spoiler)]
—ruthy
I think this was a good book, but it was a little bit confusing, because it jumped to different scenes and time period. My favorite character was buddy because he was bad at first when he did the trashing, then he felt bad and found his love of his love jane and became a better person for her.the theme of the story is to not let yourself get into problams because of drinking,because someone is always going to get the truth out of you sooner or later. i think this book should be tought in highschools because it shows that life isnt always going to be perfect and end up how u want it to be. i reccomend this book becuase it is a good book and shows that drinking isnt good for anyone.
—Silvia rodriguez
I had to read this book for a high school english class and I loved it. Alot of the characters in this book are really relatable and the plot of this book is bulletproof. My favorite character in the book would probibly have to be Buddy because I can relate to him the most (other than the fact that I'm not an alcoholic and I havent ever trashed a house.) Speaking of which; that's one of the themes in the book: teen alcoholism. I personally think that this book should be taught in all public high schools, because it teaches some good lessons in karma and conciousness. Now, granted, there is alot of graphic scenes and discriptions of things, but even then most high schoolers are mature enough to handle the graphicness. In the end I'd recommend this book to a friend. It's a good paced quick read of a book that leaves you wanting more with each page and every different scenario.
—Millerdeike6
