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A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive.
Like the anonymously authored Go Ask Alice in 1975, an at times harrowing story of drug abuse for young adult readers, the Chocolate War – and others of the author’s books -- ran into trouble with parent groups who found the writer’s subject matter inappropriate and his approach too explicit. (According to Herb Fostal’s Banned in the USA, The Chocolate War was fifth on a list of the most frequently banned books in American public libraries and schools in the 1990s.)
Reviewers, however, praised his writing. A journalist for much of his life, Cormier balanced his characters’ grim situations with a deft, vivid, lyrical style. Reviewing The Chocolate War, a critic for The New York Times Book Review described it as “masterfully structured and rich in theme; the action is well crafted, well timed, suspenseful; complex ideas develop and unfold with clarity.” When it came to themes, Cormier was unromantic and unflinching. In I Am the Cheese, Cormier evoked the uneasy and elusive world of a boy whose father has testified against organized criminals; in The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, the story pivots around terminally ill teenagers; in Tenderness Cormier introduced a serial killer and a sexually manipulative teenage girl. “Every topic is open, however shocking,” he told a reporter for The Guardian in November of 2000, in what would be one of his last interviews. “It’s the way the topics are handled that’s important.” In Cormier’s world there are no easy answers and few happy endings, but there is extraordinary insight into the world of adolescence: the cruelties, the isolation, and the often-bruising search for identity.
Despite his reputation as a disturber of the literary peace, Cormier was a small-town writer, who spent nearly his entire life working as a journalist for the Fitchburg Sentinel in Massachusetts; he published a memoir of his career in 1991 titled I Have Words to Spend: Reflections of a Small-Town Editor. In addition to four novels for adults, Cormier wrote one last novel for young adults, Frenchtown Summer, the story of a young teenager’s arrival in a new town told entirely in the boy’s poetry. He died on November 2, 2000.
Cormier included his own phone number as that of one of the characters in I Am the Cheese, and wound up taking calls from thousands of teenagers.
I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I'm pedaling furiously because this is an old-fashioned bike, no speeds, no fenders, only the warped tires and the brakes that don't always work and the handlebars with cracked rubber grips to steer with. A plain bike - the kind my father rode as a kid years ago. It's cold as I pedal along, the wind like a snake slithering up my sleeves and into my jacket and my pants legs, too. But I keep pedaling, I keep pedaling.
This is Mechanic Street in Monument, and to my right, high above on a hill, there's a hospital and I glance up at the place and I think of my father in Rutterburg, Vermont, and my pedaling accelerates. It's ten o'clock in the morning and it is October, not a Thomas Wolfe October of burning leaves and ghost winds but a rotten October, dreary, cold, damp with little sun and no warmth at all. Nobody reads Thomas Wolfe anymore, I guess, except my father and me. I did a book report on The Web and the Rock and Mr. Parker in English II regarded me with suspicion and gave me a B- instead of the usual A. But Mr. Parker and the school and all of that are behind me now and I pedal. Your legs do all the work on an old bike like this, but my legs feel good, strong, with staying power. I pass by a house with a white picket fence and I spot a little kid who's standing on the sidewalk and he watches me go by and I wave to him because he looks lonesome and he waves back.
I look over my shoulder but there's no one following.
At home, I didn't wave goodbye to anybody. I just left. Without fanfare. I didn't go to school. I didn't call anyone. I thought of Amy but I didn't call her. I woke up this morning and saw an edge of frost framing the window and I thought of my father and I thought of the cabinet downstairs in the den and I lay there, barely breathing, and then I got up and knew where I was going. But I stalled, I delayed. I didn't leave for two hours because I am a coward, really. I am afraid of a thousand things, a million. Like, is it possible to be claustrophobic and yet fear open spaces, too? I mean, elevators panic me. I stand in the upright coffin and my body oozes sweat and my heart pounds and this terrible feeling of suffocation threatens me and I wonder if the doors will ever open. But the next day, I was playing center field - I hate baseball but the school insists on one participating sport - anyway, I stood there with all that immensity of space around me in center field and I felt as though I'd be swept off the face of the planet, into space. I had to fight a desire to fling myself on the ground cling to the earth. And then there are dogs. I sat there in the house, thinking of all the dogs that would attack me on the way to Rutterburg, Vermont, and I told myself, This is crazy, I'm not going. But at the same time, I knew I would go. I knew I would go the way you know a stone will drop to the ground if you release it from your hand.
I went to the cabinet in the den and took out the gift for my father. I wrapped it in aluminum foil and then wrapped it again with newspaper, Scotch-taping it all securely. Then I went down to the cellar and got the pants and shoes and jacket, but it took me at least a half hour to find the cap. It would be cold on the road to Vermont and this cap is perfect, woolen, the kind that I could pull over my ears if the cold became a problem.
Then I raided my savings. I have plenty of money. I have thirty-five dollars and ninety-three cents. I have enough money to travel first class to Vermont, in the Greyhound bus that goes all the way to Montreal, but I know that I am going by bike to Rutterburg, Vermont. I don't want to be confined to a bus. I want the open road before me, I want to sail on the wind. The bike was waiting in the garage and that's how I wanted to go. By bike, by my own strength and power. For my father.
I looked at myself in the mirror before I left, the full-length mirror on the side of the closet door in my parents' bedroom upstairs. I inspected myself in the mirror, the crazy hat and the old jacket, and I knew that I looked ridiculous. But what the hell, as Amy says, philosophically.
I thought longingly of Amy. But she was at school and almost impossible to call. I could have faked it. I could have called the school and pretended that I was her father and asked to speak to her, saying that there was an emergency at home. Her father is editor of the Monument Times and always speaks with emergency in his voice, his sentences like headlines.
But I have to be in the mood to pull off a stunt like that - in fact, those kinds of stunts are Amy's specialty. And besides, my mind was on the road to Vermont. I love Amy Hertz. It's ridiculous that her name is Hertz - she's probably heard a thousand car-rental jokes and I have vowed never to make one. Anyway, I decided not to call her. Not until I'm away. I will call her on the way to Rutterburg, Vermont. And I will soothe myself by thinking of her and her Numbers and all the times she let me kiss her and hold her. But I didn't want to think about all that as I prepared for my journey.
I went to the kitchen and took out the bottle of pills from the cabinet and decided not to take one. I wanted to do this raw, without crutches, without aid, alone. I opened the bottle of pills and turned it over and let the pills fall out - they are capsules, actually, green and black - and I watched them disappear into the mouth of the garbage disposal. I felt strong and resolute.
I got the bike out of the garage and walked down the driveway, guiding the bike before I swung into the seat. I had my father's package in the basket above the front wheel. I was traveling light, with no provisions or extra clothing.
Finally, I leaped onto the bike, feeling reckless and courageous. At that moment, the sun came out, dazzling and brilliant: an omen of good fortune. I swung out into the street and a car howled its horn at me for straying too far into the roadway - and I wavered on the bicycle, the front wheel wobbling. I thought, This is ridiculous, this trip to Rutterburg. I almost turned back. But I didn't. I thought of my father and I started pedaling away, and I gained momentum and knew I would go, nothing would stop me, nothing.
And now I am leaving Monument and crossing the town line into Aswell. A sign by the side of the road says that the Aswell Rotary Club meets every Monday at noon. I have only gone four or five miles and my legs don't feel strong anymore. My legs are weary and my back sings with pain because I am out of condition. Frankly, I have never been in condition, which is a source of delight to Amy Hertz, who dislikes all kinds of physical exercise.
I keep pedaling despite the weariness and the pain. I am determined to go to Rutterburg. I suck in the cold air and it caresses my lungs. My forehead is damp with sweat and I pull the cap down over my ears. I have all those miles to go.
"Take it easy," I tell myself. "Take it easy. One mile at a time."
And suddenly there's a long hill slanting down before me and the bike picks up speed and my legs are whirling madly, without effort, the bike carried by the momentum, and I let myself join the wind, soaring over the road as I coast beautifully down into Aswell.
In Robert Cormier's unforgettable novels, an individual often stands alone, fighting for what is right—or just to survive—against powerful, sinister, and sometimes evil people. His twisty, gripping stories explore some of the darker corners of the human psyche but always with a moral focus and a probing intelligence that compels readers to examine their own feelings and ethical beliefs. The questions that follow are intended to spur discussion and to provoke thoughtful readers to contemplate some of the issues of identity, character, emotion, and morality that make Cormier's books so compelling.
1. Adam is pedaling on the bike at the beginning and the end of the novel. What do you think this endless cycling refers to? Does the book have a sense of motion? Is there a destination?
2. Discuss the meaning of the title. Is it significant that it comes from a nursery song sung by Adam at the end of the book?
3. Adam is struggling to understand his identity. What composes his identity? What composes your identity? What defines you?
4. Do you think this novel is a tragedy? What types of injustice are done to Adam? How does the government view him? Does it value him? In what way(s)?
5. Adam is being manipulated by the doctors/ government. How is Cormier manipulating you as the reader and why?
2. Discuss the meaning of the title. Is it significant that it comes from a nursery song sung by Adam at the end of the book?
3. Adam is struggling to understand his identity. What composes his identity? What composes your identity? What defines you?
4. Do you think this novel is a tragedy? What types of injustice are done to Adam? How does the government view him? Does it value him? In what way(s)?
5. Adam is being manipulated by the doctors/ government. How is Cormier manipulating you as the reader and why?
Anonymous
Posted September 25, 2008
This is the only assigned book that i read thoroughly cover to cover my freshman year and i'm so glad i did. i loved it so much. its a beautifully written mental journal of the protaganist struggling to find himself. its the same journey we all take at that age but he has a wrench thrown in. it's written in a mix of prose and transcripts. the prose cuts between first and third person. it seemed confusing to me but when i started it was completely clear. this is a beautiful story. i was sobbing at the end.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 22, 2008
The book ¿I Am the Cheese¿ I a great book. Is if full of suspenseful events that will lead you to keep on reading. The book has two plots to it. Some of it is Adam Farmers Journey to ¿find his father¿. And some of it is the interrogation between the ¿psychologist¿ and Adam Farmer when he is at the insane asylum. Throughout the book you know that there is something wrong with Adam but it is hard to tell just what it is. As the story goes on you start to see more of a connection between the two plots in the story. As more time passes more of Adams past is revealed and even more of a connection is seen. At the end you learn that Adam suffers from amnesia and were never on a trip to find his father. You also learn that his family was in hiding and has a secret past. ¿The cheese stands alone¿ Adam says he is the cheese, and he will always be. He thinks he will always stand alone.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 30, 2008
do not be frustrated when you first start this book. I am fourteen and extremely impatient, but I was determined to read this book... That was a great decision. This novel is a bit slow in the beginning, but get past the first fifteen pages or so and you'll be hooked. We are the audience for Adam's mental journal. He brings us on the long awaited journey to find his father, and while doing so, we also witness his conversation with the 'doctor' he must have sessions with every day. You'll be rooting for Adam every step of the way. Be prepared though, to cry for him at the end. 'enjoy!'
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 8, 2008
while reading the book most things made sense and seemed interesting but the end i was so confused and had so many questions. I was disapointed because i thought it would be a great book.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 29, 2006
While reading this book, going along on Adam's journey i felt if not confused, empty like the book genuinely depressed me. I really wouldn't reccomend this book to an individual. Maybe to a class to see how other people felt about it but not leisurly.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 23, 2000
My 13-year-old daughter was assigned this book in an 8th-grade English class, but I think both its format and subject matter are perhaps too confusing for such unsophisticated readers. I would recommend that it be saved until late in high school, even though the protagonist is a young teenager. My daughter got so confused by this novel, that she got way behind in her assigned reading. And so she asked me to read it aloud to her. This proved quite helpful for her, since we were able to stop and puzzle over certain incidents together, rather than her trying to figure things our for herself. (She couldn't, most of the time, and so she often gave up.) This novel, though brilliantly written and quite compelling to read as an adult, is extremely dark and complex. I really feel that we are asking too much of our middle-schoolers, developmentally, to grasp this at home on their own. If teachers insist on assigning it in middle school, I would suggest that they read it IN CLASS together with their students. There are too many frightening aspects of mind-control and inuendo that could send an adolescent with the least bit of self-esteem problems into a deep, downward spiral of depressing thoughts. A teacher explaining and watching for untoward reactions from his/her students could help to move these thoughts into a more positive realm. We should try at this age to re-affirm our children's values of self-worth instead of scaring them to death! If teachers would take the time to read this in class with their students, I believe I AM THE CHEESE is definitely worth the effort. Cormier does a masterful job of weaving various motifs throughout his narrative -- the chills, the bicycle, even the color gray, as well as several others. As a former college instructor, I would think this novel could provide the basis for some excellent, thought-provoking compositions by juniors or seniors in high school. But, as I said to begin with: Kids, read this out loud with an adult!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 20, 2013
Do ever wonder what it would be like to keep a big secret? It would be confusing and stressful. In the book I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, Adam Farmer grew up with a lot of loneliness and secrets.
Adam Farmer was a boy that was almost always riding his bike around the neighborhood. Adam sometimes hung out with Amy Hertz. Amy was one of Adams best friends. Adam's most important thing in life was his bike.
I liked the story because it’s a good story to read. I like how the author has Adam tell the story and uses a tape recorder. I like how the characters act in the book. I didn’t like it when one of the characters was asking too many questions about the stuff he didn’t need to know about.
Most of the time Adam feels scared and nervous because he’s trying to look for his father. Adam started to loose his fears when he rode his bike. Adam feels good about himself because he’s doing what he wants to do. When Adam had to face challenges he gets worried. Adam gets along with others because he wants to meet new people in the world. Adam has Amy as a friend because he been in love with her since he met her. Adam was in a hospital when they found out he needed help from someone. Brint is someone who helps Adam to get information about his father.
I recommend the book I Am the Cheese to everyone because I think they would love the book and they will enjoy it. Before reading this book readers must prepare themselves to read three different kinds of stories mixed together. Readers should know that they must pay close attention to these stories to completely understand what is happening to Adam. This complex book makes for an interesting read that I highly recommend.
Anonymous
Posted May 20, 2013
Can you imagine how life would be like if your family kept secrets from you? Well that’s what I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier is about.
I Am the Cheese is a story about Adam Farmer riding his bike to Vermont to find his dad. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way, and at the end it is nothing like what you thought it would be.
Robert Cormier’s way of mystery was really great. I liked how when I thought something was happening, it suddenly would twist and become something different. The author did a great job picking the characters. Even though he didn’t specifically explain how the characters look, he explains the way they act. Some of my dislikes are the confusion this book gives me. I didn’t like how throughout the novel I wasn’t ever truly sure what was happening. Another thing I didn’t like was the slowness of the book. The beginning is really slow, but it starts getting more intense towards the end.
The main character in the book is Adam Farmer. Adam Farmer is a really important character because he is the one telling the story. He feels lied to and he starts finding out the truth bit by bit. He feels confused about why he’s being lied to. He feels like after finding out the truth he gets closer to his mom and dad.
I would recommend I Am the Cheese to anyone that likes mystery books. The type of reader that would love this book is someone that likes fast and short books. I think readers need to expect the unexpected in this book because once you are reading it, you never know what is going to happen next. You won’t regret buying I Am the Cheese by Robert Cormier, so do this today.
Anonymous
Posted February 13, 2013
Jan 9th 2013
Review of “I am the Cheese”
Justin Shepherd
I am the Cheese
Robert Cormier
224 pages, Laurel Leaf, $8.99
This book targets the people that like mystery and solving problems and for someone that likes very boring books. The theme of this book is very boring and is not really a theme at all I couldn’t find out what it is. The genre of this book is more of a fictional action. The younger people are the main target for this book because it is about a young boy talking about his life. Other younger boys can relate because they are around the same age.
This is about a young boy about the age 15 that is watching a tape and is talking about how he remembers his family. The main conflict in this book it about a boy that is trying to find his father and the boy is riding his bike that was just like his fathers to find him. The boy uses the same clothes and the same bike and helmet as his father would have worn as a young boy. So when he left to go on his journey he was wearing the same thing as his father to make him keep moving forward.
The setting of the book is a boring pain room with nothing on the walls and nothing on the room just a tape player. The style is like a memory that he is talking about and seeing on a tape he took as a boy. He is just talking about his past memories of his family and him when they were all together. He can only remember the bad things about his family though and he barley has any good memories of his father and mother but he just try’s to remember a good time they had all together.
The theme is more like a reminding type something that has been reminding you of the past to keep moving forward. He thinks back at his memories he has had and he uses them to motivate him or to keep him moving forward to find his long lost father. Whenever he ran into a problem he would remember what he is doing it for, to find his father, and he keeps pushing forward. He shows a lot of bravery and courage to move across the country just to find his father and uses the memories to motivate him the whole time.
I really didn’t like the book just because it is more of a slow and very emotional book and I don’t like that. I am more of an action type person and this does not have any action in it so it isn’t my favorite. The author did a good job making the book an emotional and motivational book but that’s just not my style. I give the author an eight out of ten because he did well on the book but it’s not my type of book but it has a lot of emotional parts in it.
swagboi
Posted May 14, 2012
The first person perspective that I am the cheese by Robert Cormier gave me, was the feeling of a masterpiece being fabricated in my imagination. The constant questioning of the next event was astonishing to me. Also the idea that there is only one character that the story follows was a whole new route explored by me when I read the book. Also the idea that no relationships are involved, was irregular to me in relation to other books that have many. I found that the adventure and mischief that happened in the book related to a childhood fantasy of running away. I really felt like the book was a description of some of the events I went through during middle school. I would strongly recommend I am the cheese to young adults, and anyone who wants a good read.
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Posted March 22, 2012
If I would have only read this book once I would have given it a 1 but because I read it twice I give it a five. It's a great book with lost of twist and turns. It's a good thing it's short so I had plenty of time to read it again because then it really opened up as an amazing book to me.
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Posted January 9, 2011
I Am The Cheese sounded extremely promising and the Summary on the back sounded like it would be a cool mysterious book with some action, but what you get is a repetitive mess that doesn't make sense. To me, it felt like such a waste of time and I thought to myself, "What was the point of making this book?". This book is about a boy named Adam Farmer who takes a bike and package to his father. It continuously says that he is riding to Rutterburg, Virginia over and over and over again! Occasionally something happens like some kids pushing him into a ditch. This happens for his view, but there are also tapes that come on every other chapter or so that are between him and a doctor. They too say the same thing over again about trying to remember. The worst part of it all was the ending. not only does it have a cliffhanger ending that doesn't tell you anything about what happened to his family and him, it also tells you that includes someone being insane and it might be you from reading this book. Overall, i thought this book was okay in the beginning, but it continuously drags on like Adam Farmer's dragging bike trip.
Thank You.
Aznboy
Posted December 12, 2010
This book is crazy good. It twist reality. You will not know what is real or fake. The book takes a nice childhood nursery rhyme and makes it into it own sick theme. You will feel the pain of the main character as you go on a journey with him. Get ready for the ride of your life. Your mind will be blown and twisted into a pretzel. I highly recommend this book if you like to eat cheese.
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Posted September 14, 2010
This book is difficult to read because the author keeps going from the main character's 'reality' (Adam Farmer) and his psychiatrist's taped sessions. Adam has had a very difficult life and I think he is at the brink of insanity. His family was relocated by the government because his father was a witness in a crime and the relocation did not go well. The 'bad guys' keep trying to get more information from Adam because they think his father told him more than he did. The ending is very depressing. I won't spoil it for you, but I found it confusing and difficult to follow at times. In the beginning of the book I was very confused about the tapes because it doesn't explain them anywhere in the front of the book so I had to look it up on the internet and that helped a lot! I wouldn't really recommend this book to young readers because it is a sad book and hard to read/follow.
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Posted September 8, 2010
Robert Cormier entertains us yet again with his novel I am the cheese. The book has two different stories within and each share the same character. One of the stories is about a teenage boy named Adam and his journey to Rutterburg, Vermont to deliver a package to his father. Along the way he is encountered with a few problems like mischievous kids and someone stealing his bike. During his journey he keeps talking about the matter that he should have taken his pills and that his pills would have helped him stay focused but the book never revealed the importance of the pills. The other story is about the same character, Adam, being interrogated by the government about his past. As the psychiatrist asks questions, Adam once again mentions he needs the pills to make him focus and each meeting is cut short because he is tired or can't think. In the end, they recover Adams past and find that his real name is Paul Delmonte and that his family has been hiding from killers for years. In the end of each of the stories, they reveal how they relate to each other almost as if its one big story in the end. That was the part that confused me because it was as if the story of Adam going to Vermont was just a dream. I made two conclusions, either one he was dreaming or two, he was dead because he saw everyone from his journey in the end at one big place and that's what left me wondering. Other than the ending I thought this book was very intriguing and left me wanting to turn the page until the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and action. If I had to rate this book I'd give it a 4 out of 5 because for the most part it was interesting or had action but some parts were dull and I had to force myself to keep going on. If you are looking for a good book to read in the final weeks of summer, then I suggest I am the cheese by Robert Cormier.
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Posted September 1, 2010
I am the cheese is a great book. But this book may have some twists and turns from a young kid riding his bike to his dads and a mental older boy being questioned by a doctor.In am the cheese takes place in monument, Massachusetts and Rutterburg, Vermont. While the young boy is going to see his dad in Rutterburg, Vermont he runs into some misfits with his bike and some dogs. While the older kid is in the mental hospital the doctor ask him some questions and tells him to get stuff off his mind.I am the cheese is a great book and I recommend this book for any school. If you like to hear about people getting worried you too would love this book. If you like some action and some scary parts this is the right book for you.At the end of the ride the younger kid learns that dogs are meaner then he tought.if I had to read any author I would choose Robert cormier because he is a good writer and he has the best books ever
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Posted January 3, 2010
This book was by far the most interesting book I have ever read. The way Robert Cormier wrote this book was like nothing I've ever read before. It jumps from a perspective of "Adam" when he's traveling through three states, (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont) and when he's in a hospital with a psychiatrist we know only as Brint. Adam needs to find his dad at the hospital, and thus starts a journey where he nearly gets ran over, he revisits some places, and has to carry a package that only he knows about. In the hospital, a doctor known to us as Brint asks Adam, (or is it someone else?...) multiple questions of his past. Adam knows what there is, but he doesn't feel like telling Brint all of it. At the end, the story all catches up with itself, and the end might be the most confusing part, but if you understand it, than you can agree it's a very different book.
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Posted November 20, 2009
I Also Recommend:
"I am the Cheese" is a psychological thriller by Robert Cormier. I found this book interesting because it would go from Adam telling the story to a recording of him in therapy. I love psychology so it was very interesting to see how the therapist (Brint) got information out of Adam. However, Adam fights with him every once and a while. He would get aggravated with the therapist and make them suspend from their session. I think it would've been cool if all or most of the book was written as the therapy sessions.
In the beginning, Adam is riding his bike to Rutterburg, Vermont, from Monument, Massachusetts to deliver a package to his father. Suspenseful, this package is, because they don't tell you what it is. It seems like it probably takes place in the 1950's. He loves this girl, Amy Hertz, and he insists on being more than friends. She is full of mischief and always enjoys a thriller.
Adam is having a hard time getting to Rutterburg because of many miscellaneous things-a dog blocks his way, trouble makers push him into a ditch; Poor Adam! And he's in therapy for what seems to be amnesia. When Adam is pushed into the ditch, he is unconscious for about 2 hours. AN old couple finds him and helps him. When he sees the dog (which came before the ditch), he is struck with fear. He picks up his pace and speeds by, yet the dog refuses to let him go so easily. It barks, growls, and snaps at the tires.
Most of the time the author uses the first person perspective. The language use is somewhat modern, but a little old. He uses phrases like "I have to go to the john."
I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks that they have it hard or that their parents keep secrets from them. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!
Grant_29
Posted November 20, 2009
I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier is a realistic fiction book. I am the Cheese is a very confusing book, as it flips between two main characters: a boy riding his bike and an older boy being questioned by a doctor. The book takes place in the towns and streets including and between Monument, Massachusetts and Rutterburg, Vermont when the younger boy is the main character and a small room when the older boy is the main character.
The two boys have very different conflicts. The boy has to fight against nature and himself to ride across three states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont) to see his father. The older boy is in a mental fight with the doctor, because while the boy is willing to cooperate to a certain level, the doctor keeps trying to get more and more out of him, which the boy resents and does not want to give out all this information. The older boy unconvincingly lies to the doctor in regard to his memory, and tells bits and pieces of the truth. The young boy frequently stops to rest and ask for directions to Rutterburg, meeting many new people.
Robert Cormier uses a very depressing and descriptive tone. Most of the book is told in the first person, except for the OZK tapes, which are told in third person limited. Even in the tapes, the older boy still uses the first person in his memories. I would suggest this book to a depressed person, because the book shows that their life is probably pretty good compared to Adam's life.
Anonymous
Posted September 16, 2009
Adam has decided to ride his bike from Monument, Massachusetts, to Rutterburg, Vermont. Throughout the book, the narratives switch from Adam telling the story in present tense, to him being interviewed, and as he is answering the questions, the narrative goes to a third- person limited point of view. Adam has another past, but it can't be remembered if Adam is to live. At the beginning of the book, Adam sets out to find his way to Vermont to see his father, but later in the book, Adam is being interrogated for the third time to make sure he remembers nothing of his past life. "I Am the Cheese" is a good book with an interesting plot, but it is very confusing. Robert Cormier could have written it better and not jumped around from narrative to narrative. The end was a bit complex and hard to understand and follow. I like how this book has a big twist at the end.
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Overview
A young boy desperately tries to unlock his past yet knows he must hide those memories if he is to remain alive.