"It all seemed like one big hole, and it would take a year and a half to dig it. He guessed he'd lost at least five pound. He figured that in a year and a half he'd either be in great physical condition, or else dead."
Holes
written by Louis Sachar
Believe it or not, but until this point I had not read Holes. I had also not seen the movie. I saw one brief clip from the movie that involved vomit, and at that time of my life, that was enough for me to avoid it. Apologies to Sandlot, Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids, and all the other movies that suffered that same fate. But back to Holes. I figured since I’m made of tougher stuff than my prepubescent self and since reading is famously not visually graphic, I determined it was time to read Holes. I was especially inspired after seeing a brief analysis video about how clever the book is. I do love cleverness, so I picked up my shovel and unearthed this treasure.
Holes begins with Stanley Yelnats being sent to a juvenile dentation facility called Camp Green Lake. This camp is hardly a camp at all. It’s not even a lake, just a dusty barren desert with an ever increasing amount of holes. Stanly and the rest of the “campers” are each made to dig a 5’ by 5’ hole a day in the hot sun. It’s bad luck for Stanly to be here, especially since he is innocent of the crime that landed him here. Misfortune seems to follow him, but surely that unlucky attribute that Stanly, his father, and his father’s father, and his father’s father’s father all share has nothing to do with the supposed generational curse put on his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing great-great-grandfather. Certainly not. Regardless Stanly is digging holes. Why holes? Another mystery.
I really had no big expectations going into Holes, and I am floored by just how much I enjoyed this book. It was a nice touch to have my partner exclaim "Madame Zeroni!" every time I brought up my reading progress. If you are somehow like me and have not yet read Holes or seen the movie, I highly recommend you give it a try. It did not take long for the story to reel me in. It’s fantastic and a new favorite of mine. Now I may not feel like digging a hole, but I do feel like eating a raw onion or too.
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