Holes - Louis Sachar

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc: London, 2000.
First published 1998.

Ages ago I saw the film that this book was based upon. Except for the physical appearance of the main character (who in the book is quite fat but in the film is portrayed by a young, slim Shia LaBeouf) the film turns out to be quite faithful to the plot.

That makes sense, because the plot is one of those intricately constructed ones where there are a number of factors that all come together at the end - think of the way the movie Signs makes sense of every character quirk and random non sequiturs in the final showdown with the alien. Holes includes a lot of back-story, interspersing it with the 'current' events, and each event and quirk from the past (a family curse, the family name, onions, etc) all come together at the end to help resolve the plot.

So, its an interesting story. I wouldn't say I was 'gripped' while reading it, but it still gives that sense of "oh, clever!" at the end. Kinda like the movie for me, actually.

To give a sense of the basic plot: Stanley Yelnats, the last in a line of Stanley Yelnats, has been sent to a juvenile detention centre for stealing some shoes (which he did not actually steal). While there, he and the other campers are forced to dig countless holes - apparently to build character, but in reality, to search for some missing fabled treasure. Stanley slowly befriends some of the campers, particularly the quiet loner Zero, and is forced to decide whether to stick up for Zero when events go south.

This would work well for an audience of slightly younger readers (12 or 13ish) who are looking for a book with a little more to it than their previous reads.  

Completed 4 June 2025.

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