We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier

Author: Robert Cormier
Genre: Crime, Issue
Rating: 7

I was first introduced to this book by a professor in college. She read the first few pages of the book--the scene of the trashing--to discuss an element of writing that we could share with our students. I have wanted to read the book since, and purchased it for my classroom at the beginning of the year. I think that overall, the first few pages are some of the best throughout the whole novel, but the book definitely does has some good scenes.

I think that I had built up this book a lot in my head. I had pictured what the rest of the book would be like--and because I am a fan of criminal shows and mysteries I imagined the worst, and that's not what it ended up being. But maybe that was the point of the book. You read the first scene and you try to imagine who would do such a thing- who is so broken inside that they would destroy someone else's  home. And the answer is almost scarier than if the person was a deranged psychopath. It was just a handful of bored kids. (And this is not a spoiler, you learn this shockingly soon after the scene from the house.)

The book has an overall tone of sadness, and on Goodreads that was the most common sentiment from the book--its sadness. I didn't find it particularly sad when I was reading it, but now as I reflect on the whole of the book it is incredibly sad. It's a quiet sad, the type that does not wail or draw attention to itself but is not whole all the same.

I think that the book was good, although it may be a bit dated. The book makes you think a lot, about how people are when you're not around them and the secrets that they hold, but overall I think it will leave you with a quiet sadness.