商品の説明

Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment--and redemption.

商品の詳細

• Amazon.co.jp ランキング: #27 / 本
• 発売日: 2000-05-09
• オリジナル言語: 英語
• 寸法: .38 ポンド
• 版型: ペーパーバック
• 272 ページ

内容説明
Check out the Holes tour with Louis Sachar!
Monday, October 20th, 7:00 p.m. Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville, IL
Tuesday, October 21st, 7:00 p.m., Barnes & Noble, Skokie, IL
Wednesday, October 22nd, 7:00 p.m., Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop, Brookfield, WI
Thursday, October 23rd, 7:00 p.m., Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, MN
Friday, October 24th, 7:00 p.m. Wayzata Community Church, Wayzata, MN
Monday, October 27th, 7:00 p.m., Tattered Cover Bookstore, Highlands Ranch, CO
Tuesday, October 28th, 7:00 p.m., Borders, Aurora, CO


Stanley Yelnats tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment–and redemption.

Amazon.com
"If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!" Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony.

It's a strange story, but strangely compelling and lovely too. Louis Sachar uses poker-faced understatement to create a bizarre but believable landscape--a place where Major Major Major Major of Catch-22 would feel right at home. But while there is humor and absurdity here, there is also a deep understanding of friendship and a searing compassion for society's underdogs. As Stanley unknowingly begins to fulfill his destiny--the dual plots coming together to reveal that fate has big plans in store--we can't help but cheer for the good guys, and all the Yelnats everywhere. (Ages 10 and older) --Brangien Davis

Amazon.com
"If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole every day in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy." Such is the reigning philosophy at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention facility where there is no lake, and there are no happy campers. In place of what used to be "the largest lake in Texas" is now a dry, flat, sunburned wasteland, pocked with countless identical holes dug by boys improving their character. Stanley Yelnats, of palindromic name and ill-fated pedigree, has landed at Camp Green Lake because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity, the Yelnats family has become accustomed to a long history of bad luck, thanks to their "no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather!" Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; learning how to get along with the Lord of the Flies-styled pack of boys in Group D; and fearing the warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But when Stanley realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character--that in fact the warden is seeking something specific--the plot gets as thick as the irony.

It's a strange story, but strangely compelling and lovely too. Louis Sachar uses poker-faced understatement to create a bizarre but believable landscape--a place where Major Major Major Major of Catch-22 would feel right at home. But while there is humor and absurdity here, there is also a deep understanding of friendship and a searing compassion for society's underdogs. As Stanley unknowingly begins to fulfill his destiny--the dual plots coming together to reveal that fate has big plans in store--we can't help but cheer for the good guys, and all the Yelnats everywhere. (Ages 10 and older) --Brangien Davis

カスタマーレビュー

＊朗読CDは早いですが、だんだんと慣れました！＊
　レビューで良い本のようなので買ってみたのですが、、、
紙が茶色っぽいのと字が小さくて老眼には辛いので、、、
朗読CDも買って聞きながら読んでみました！
ネイティブの小中学生が対象なので、ともかく早いです！
CD１枚（約７０分）で６０ページ読みます！
CD４枚で２３３ページを早口で読み切ります！
比較するならハリーポッターの朗読CDよりも早いです！
ですから最初は聞きとれない感じもあったのですが、、、
２枚目には耳が慣れてきて大丈夫になりました！
ですからTOEICなどのリスニングの耳ならしにもなるかも？
お話は良いお話ですが子供の本にしてはシリアスな内容です。

感動のストーリー！
ベストセラーになっているので読んでみた。それぞれの章が短く、英文が読みやすいし、ストーリーが感動的で売れているだけのことはあると思った。人里離れた所にある非行少年の更正施設での話だが、その指導の方法と言うのがなんと炎天下で１日中荒地に穴を掘るという過酷な仕事をさせることであった。主人公の少年は無実の罪でこの施設に送られて来たのだが、苦しみながらも穴を掘る仕事に徐々に慣れてきて成長していく姿や、同じグループ仲間との友情が生き生きと描かれていてとても面白かった。洋書に慣れていない方でも楽しく読める１冊である。

不思議な世界・異常な世界
数々の賞に輝くこの本は、とても不思議な世界を描く。なぜ湖は干上がってしまったのか、なぜ、タマネギなのか、なぜ、穴を掘るのか。過去と現在が交錯する。少しずつ疑問が解けてくるのに、新たな疑問が湧いてきてしまう。しかも、読み終っても疑問が完全に解決されない。つまり、「深い」話なのである。非常にリアルで、人間の欲望が渦巻く、過酷な更生施設のキャンプ。そこに潜むもの、そこに隠されたものとは？読者も穴を掘り進めながら読むことになる。50章に別れていて読みやすい。おそらく、この本を読む人の9割はこの本をいたく気に入るだろうが、1割はこの本の面白さがわからずくだらない本を読んでしまったと思うだろう、そんな本。