This is a book about a group of 6th grade Australian kids who go on a school camping trip. It centers on a group of boys that call themselves the Coconuts - or at camp, the Convicts. It is narrated by Mark, but the real focus of the book is the new kid Jonah - who arrived from the back country and who, for some reason, aroused the wrath of the meanest teacher in the school, the Bomb. The core of the book is a logging of the typical camp adventures; the soul of the book, though, is the conflict between Jonah and the Bomb.
The interesting thing to me about the structure of the book is that nothing is fleshed out, but still the book works. The kids in the gang are described, are meant to be unique, but somehow seem interchangeable. The teachers, the parents, the other kids - all seem sketched in broad strokes. Even the Bomb is more of a caricature than a real character.
And then there's Jonah. All you ever get of Jonah is little glimpses. But you end up having to be satisfied with that - and with never really knowing the whole story. The narrator isn't omniscient - only a witness to a later retelling of the key event. Such tantalizing glimpses. But the author seems to be saying - this is all you get. This is as close as you may look at him.
Still, the story works also from the sheer fun level. There are enough zany things going on that the crowd stays amused. The camp scenes are wonderful and typical. It makes me remember fondly various other camping outings, both as the kid and as the parent or teacher or counselor.
But, if you have never seen a picture of a wombat, you should look it up before you read the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment