Rule of the Bone: A Novel
by Russell Banks
List Price:
Our Price: $7.48
You Save: $6.51 (47%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Russell BanksEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-05
ISBN: 0060927240
Number of pages: 390
Publisher: HarperPerennial
Book Reviews of Rule of the Bone: A Novel
Book Review: Ugly Beginning, Beautiful Outcome
Summary: 5 Stars
Tired of perfection? Tired of all those typical coming of age books where everything turns out right for the character in the end? Well, Rule of The Bone by Russell Banks is the book for you. The main character is not just an ordinary American kid, with a 4.0 grade point average, and the perfect family! He is a kid that disobeys authority and has fun doing it. Don't you hate when everything is predictable in a book? This book is unpredictable! You maybe thinking one thing and then, BOOM, something out of the ordinary occurs. Surprises always make a book a good read, and there are many more of them waiting for you to read. I fell in love with the book because it shows the ugly side of life, which we rarely see. People in society today are so wrapped up in TV and advertising, which makes everything seem better than it truly is. Similar to Rule of The Bone, it exemplifies the true meaning of imperfection and, it's sad to see a young boy experience this corruption first hand. Chappie's life is lost and confused but with the help of his friends, he overcomes the ugliness of society and evolves into a beautiful human being. Rule of The Bone proves that every good aspect of life has a bad side as well. Russell Banks does an excellent job creating a society of mass corruption, which makes this book a new type of coming of age story. Rule of The Bone is out of the ordinary compared to many typical coming of age books. If you like a rebellious, adventurous, and scandalous story, then Russell Banks wrote Rule of The Bone just for you!
A quality book always establishes a strong and open-ended thesis that allows the reader to make his or her own assumptions or a connection to society. Rule of The Bone establishes a strong point that American adolescents are far from perfection, especially Chappie. Like I stated before, Americans are brainwashed by false images of a perfect America, but in reality, American society is far from perfect. Russell Banks does a tremendous job of revealing American's ugly side, tremendous! For example, in the book we see the sick minds of grown men who are attracted to younger females (children). I know it sounds corrupt but it's true, and Russell Banks captures this captures this corruption perfectly. Chappie sees this little girl, who is frightened, walking with this grown man that is not her father. He says " I'm looking down this tunnel at the Canadian guy and the little girl, especially at the little girl who I was really worried about now, like some terrible thing was about to happen to her and she couldn't see it coming"(p. 29). Don't tell Russell Banks I showed you that, but I just had to show all you readers the reality of the predicaments that occur in the book. Yet, this is only a little taste of the corruption.
This coming of age story is nowhere near perfect because the reader will suffer, along with Chappie, the pain of death within a friendship and the aftermath. Russell Banks strikes again! This book is no happy go-lucky story. The rebellious boy encounters a Rastafarian man, who holds the power to change Chappie's life in good and mysterious ways. This relationship is an excellent topic for teenage readers to touch upon in the classrooms. The relationship between Chappie and his Rastafarian friend teaches people that friends can be from totally different backgrounds and still have a positive impact on one another. I mean, can you imagine a teenage American boy and a 40-year-old Rastafarian man becoming close friends? I know I didn't when I first read it, but as time went on it taught me a valuable lesson and this lesson will impact students and teach them to become better individuals. An example of this is when Chappie finally connects with himself and he says, "I was starting to think that maybe that was a message I-man was sending me, that even though I was a white kid I could still become a true heavy Rasta myself someday but only as long as I didn't ever forget I was a white kid..."(p.360). This quote is one of the most influential lines throughout the novel because going from a American to a heavy Rasta is a large change, yet, Russell Banks teaches the reader how such a tremendous change can connect one with his or herself. C'mon admit it now, this book is perfect for teaching misunderstood teenage students about change and how to never forget one's foundation or background.
There are many pros then cons to this book, but the positives completely dominate the negatives, making Rule of The Bone an amazing read. One of the strengths of the book is how Russell Banks captures the voice of Chappie, a youngster with the mouth of a 22 year old. Banks makes the reader feel like he or she is having a conversation with the x-rated youngster. This strategy makes the audience feel a part of the story and creates a visual image for the reader. In my opinion, when I visualize the story I feel like I am watching a movie so the book goes quickly with many decisive details thrown at me. Another strength of the book is the realism. Russell Banks shows the true story of American and Jamaican society. Banks retaliates to all the advertisements that display America and Jamaica as perfect societies where everything just falls into place for the good. Russell Banks says " I DON'T THINK SO!" the impact each character has on Chappie and how he changes because of his encounters with all the minor characters. Russell Banks displays how the people we encounter always rub off on us in some type of way. For example, in the part of the book Chappie reflects on how his life has evolved into something good since meeting all the minor characters. "It would've been me, if I hadn't been for Sister Rose and I-Man and everything I'd learned about myself and life from coming to love them out there..."(p. 384). This quote is very deep because, Chappie learns that the people he met changed him into a true human being. The boy finally understands he is not the only one with problems, however, he also discovers that friends can help one get by when life is harsh. This quote represents one of the main points of a coming of age novel, which is the change the protagonist has made from page one till the end of the book. Russell Banks' main character, Chappie, proves that he has changed and Chappie is ready to prove it to you, the reader.
Rule of The Bone is not the typical of coming of age novel, which is one of the reasons why many people enjoy it. I recommend this book for all teenagers and for all people who believe society is perfect because this book will show you the ugly aspects of life. However on a happier note, Rule of The Bone is a good book for people who feel out of place in life because Chappie's world is lost and dark in the beginning of the novel. As time goes on, we see Chappie overcomes all the obstacles and in the end, he evolves into a better human being. I give Rule of The Bone, by Russell Banks, ten stars!!
Summary of Rule of the Bone: A Novel
When we first meet him, Chappie is a punked-out teenager living with his mother and abusive stepfather in an upstate New York trailer park. During this time, he slips into drugs and petty crime. Rejected by his parents, out of school and in trouble with the police, he claims for himself a new identity as a permanent outsider; he gets a crossed-bones tattoo on his arm, and takes the name "Bone."He finds dangerous refuge with a group of biker-thieves, and then hides in the boarded-up summer house of a professor and his wife. He finally settles in an abandoned schoolbus with Rose, a child he rescues from a fast-talking pedophile. There Bone meets I-Man, an exiled Rastafarian, and together they begin a second adventure that takes the reader from Middle America to the ganja-growing mountains of Jamaica. It is an amazing journey of self-discovery through a world of magic, violence, betrayal and redemption.
Literary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Angelsby Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.36
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops:
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptationby Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops:
Boonville: A Novelby Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
Carameloby Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Headhunterby Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The Whiteby Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Cloudsplitter: A Novelby Russell Banks
Harper Perennial; Published: 1999-01-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops:
Immigrant Voices: New Lives in America, 1773-1986University of Illinois Press; Published: 1993-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.25
Price in other shops:
The Circus in Winterby Cathy Day
Mariner Books; Published: 2005-07-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Middle Placeby Kelly Corrigan
Voice; Published: 2009-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.96
Price in other shops:
Afflictionby Russell Banks
Harper Perennial; Published: 1990-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
Trailerparkby Russell Banks
Harper Perennial; Published: 1996-06-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.60
Price in other shops:
Cloudsplitter: A Novelby Russell Banks
Harper Perennial; Published: 1999-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.85
Price in other shops:
Sweet Hereafter: A Novelby Russell Banks
Harper Perennial; Published: 1992-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.15
Price in other shops:
Continental Drift (P.S.)by Russell Banks
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2007-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Lost Memory of Skin: A Novelby Russell Banks
Ecco; Published: 2011-09-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.15
Price in other shops: