《Holes》读后感

Louis Sachar's Holes is just about perfect. Maybe it isn’t the best book ever written

or even the best children’s book ever written, but it’s perfect in that does exactly what it

sets out to do

–

tell an exciting children’s adventure story with profound t

hings to say

about prejudice, friendship and loyalty

–

and does it beautifully.

For those who aren’t familiar with it (namely adults who don’t work with kids or

have kids or failed to see any of the ads for the film adaptation of the book), Holes tells the

story of Stanley Yelnats (palindrome intended), a meek, overweight, hopelessly unlucky

young boy. His run of bad luck, we learn, dates back to a curse laid upon his

“no

-good-pig- stealing-great-great-

grandfather.” The latest evidence of this curse occurs

when a pair of sneakers belonging to a famous ballplayer fall from the sky one day and hit

Stanley on the head. Stanley is blamed for stealing the shoes from a local homeless

shelter, which was planning to auction them off at a fundraiser, and gets arrested.

Then, as most twelve-year-olds could probably tell you, Stanley is given the choice

between jail and Camp Green Lake. Stanley chooses the latter, one of the great ominous

locales in children’s literature. Camp Green Lake, you see, isn’t exactly a camp.

There is

no lake. And nothing is green for miles around. It’s basically a work camp, where the

coolly authoritative Warden (as she is known) and her helpmates Mr. Sir and Mr.

Pendanski make the boys dig one five- foot by five-foot hole every day. They say

it’s to

build character, but Stanley senses something is up.

The book’s genius is that it delicately balances so many elements –

the camp,

Stanley’s history, his friendship with a quiet but thoughtful boy nicknamed Zero, a

legendary female bank robber nam

ed Kissin’ Kate Barlow and a mess of very creepy

yellow spotted lizards

–

without anything feeling forced. All the pieces of the story fit

together seamlessly. So seamlessly, in fact, that when it’s finished, you realize that it

couldn’t have ended any oth

er way.

It’s no wonder that Holes has been embraced by kids and adults alike. It’s smart,

funny, thrilling and moving

–

a treat for all ages.

You really get three stories for the price of one with this book, but the main theme

is how young Stanley Yelnats IV comes to redeem the curse which was visited upon his

great-great-grandfather and all the Yelnats family, through the generations, by Madame

Zeroni.

Here is the first thread of this story. Four generations ago, in Latvia, the young Elya

Yelnats fell in love with the beautiful but stupid Myra Menke. He sought the help of ancient

Madame Zeroni to win Myra's hand in marriage. In return for Madame Zeroni's help, Elya

promised to carry her up the mountain to drink from a special spring one more time before

she died. Unfortunately for Elya, the courtship went wrong and in a fit of despair he

boarded a ship bound for America to begin a new life before he had fulfilled his promise to

Madame Zeroni. Things never went right for long after that. Settled in America, Elya had

one son who succeeded in making a fortune, but he lost it all when he was robbed by

Kissin' Kate Barlow, the famous outlaw.

So, when we meet Stanley Yelnats IV, he is on his way to a boys' juvenile

detention centre for a crime which he did not commit. The family curse has struck again!

The second thread of this story takes place at Camp Green Lake. What can Stanley make