Tunes for Bears to Dance To

De: Robert Cormier

Narrado por: George Guidall

From one of the most thought-provoking writers of young adult fiction comes a bold exploration of hatred, bigotry, and the abuse of power. A masterful portrayal of hatred, prejudice, and manipulation that challenges listeners to examine how they would behave in the face of evil.

Henry meets and befriends Mr. Levine, an elderly Holocaust survivor, who is carving a replica of the village where he lived and which was destroyed in the war. Henry's friendship with Mr. Levine is put to the test when his prejudiced boss, Mr. Hairston, asks Henry to destroy Mr. Levine's village.

©1992 Robert Cormier (P)1993 Recorded Books, Inc.

An Underrated Gem by a Master

Cormier wrote excellent, frequently challenging books for young adults. The key in this is that fundamentally, while his readers and his viewpoint characters were usually young and termed as “children,” he himself spoke to us (I myself was such a reader) as young ADULTS.

That is to say, his viewpoint characters generally are faced with complex moral decisions of the type that are tremendously concerning to teenagers, but which “grown-ups” generally term as unimportant — most of these questions are about self-identity and morality.

Here, in this book, Henry discovers he has a fascination with an old man who lives in a “crazy house” on the street where his tenement lies. Like the protagonist of “Rear Window,” while Henry recovers from his broken leg, mostly watching others through his window, he takes it a step further when, after he his cast comes off, he follows the elderly man on his daily walk, which leads him into adventure and moral quandaries. I shall not spoil this well-crafted tale by revealing most particulars, save that the old man is a Holocaust survivor whose village was destroyed by the Nazis, and who speaks little English, but who has a curious gift, that Henry is invited to partake in. Henry, a devout Catholic, has no compunctions about having a close relationship with the mysterious old man, but his boss at the grocery store where he works part-time has different views…. Meanwhile, his parents are still reeling from the tragic death a year ago of Henry’s older brother, Eddie, and are little inclined to inquire what Henry died in his scant free time.

Henry’s life, as with most young adults, is bounded by completely unintelligible motives by the adults in his life. Most confusing to him is the puzzling behavior of the old man and his daily long trips away from “the crazy house” — where does he go each day, and what’s in his black bag?

Where this book falls short of five stars is that Henry seems equally oblivious to the motives of anyone his own age as well. He has few friends and seems to have no hobbies of his own, which makes him almost as much of enjoy to the reader as the others who populate his post-WWII world. We gather that his family is poor (they live in a “tenement apartment,” albeit one in which Henry gets to have a room of his own), and Henry’s part-time job seems to simply be part of his family’s income, not a way to buy candy bars and comics, like most other teenagers).

Any reader/listener who is also familiar with “The Chocolate War” or “I Am The Cheese” will see that this work is slightly less well-written. However, Cormier’s incising insights into the hearts of young people trapped by their many commitments to inscrutable adults will ring true to anyone who still remembers “growing up” in a world seemingly made only for “grown-ups.”

The narration is mostly excellent, though there are some strange pronunciations of words (I apologize for not including examples off the top of my memory). But the narrator does express a depth of emotions on the part of the viewpoint characters and ever-confusing array of others whom he encounters.

You will be left wanting to shake Henry several times, even as you completely sympathize with him. Fair warning. (Also, possible trigger warning for anyone dealing with a recent loss, in that Henry is still processing how to feel about his older brother’s accidental death).

-K

Great Book, Definite Buy

This book was extremely suspenseful and enjoyable. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

The plot was amazing. I really felt the story.

Loved it all. However, the narrator sometimes sounded muffled and I could hear a clock ticking in the background.