Picture of author.

Herman Raucher (1928–2023)

Author of Summer of '42

13 Works 659 Members 20 Reviews

About the Author

Includes the names: Herman Raucher, Hermasn Raucher

Image credit: hermanraucher.com

Works by Herman Raucher

Summer of '42 (1971) 375 copies
Maynard's House (1980) 102 copies
Ode to Billy Joe (1976) 74 copies
Summer of '42 [1971 film] (2002) — Screenwriter — 18 copies
Follow That Dream [1962 film] (1962) — Screenwriter — 17 copies
Ode To Billy Joe [1976 film] (1992) — Screenwriter — 8 copies
Sweet November [1968 film] — Writer — 2 copies

Tagged

1940s (6) American (4) American fiction (3) American literature (6) classics (3) comedy (4) coming of age (22) drama (4) DVD (6) ebook (11) Elvis (3) fantasy (3) favorite (3) favorites (3) fiction (92) film (4) ghosts (5) historical fiction (5) horror (17) humor (5) Kindle (3) literature (4) Maine (5) movie (8) musical (5) New England (3) novel (14) Novela (3) own (6) paperback (5) read (13) romance (11) sexuality (4) teenagers (5) to-read (23) US literature (3) video (3) war (3) WWII (23) YA (3)

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

I loved this thing. Way wacky haunted house psychological horror tale that’s pretty weird and fun along the way. Also a poignant story about how war and combat teach basically normal and good people to become unhinged and paranoid. We identify with the protagonist who has mostly sublimated his war trauma even as we realize from his thoughts and behavior that this has shaped who he
now is, and a creepy house he inherited from ‘Nam buddy Maynard is not going to make things better, or is it?

The house in the Maine wilderness becomes a symbol for what’s going on in Austin’s head and we’re not even sure if the people or animals he encounters are real, in his head, or wraiths. In fact, the entire novel is laden with symbols of death and rebirth.

Nice embodiment of PTSD which didn’t even have a name when this was written.

Raucher is better known for the coming of age novel Summer of ‘42 which was made into a popular and much talked about (at the time) movie. This was another cloaked war story from a different perspective.
… (more)
 
Flagged
Gumbywan | Jun 24, 2022 |
Too gay for me, lol.
½
 
Flagged
robertbruceferguson | 1 other review | Jan 2, 2022 |
"In the summer of '42 they raided the Coast Guard station four times. They saw five movies and had nine days of rain. Benjie broke his watch, Oscy gave up the harmonica, and in a very special way, Hermie was lost forever." This was the summer when 15-year-old Hermie also lost his childhood.

In this semi-autobiographical novel, the adult Herman reminisces about a particular summer that his family rented a house on Packett Island. His friends were Oscy, the one-month older self-proclaimed expert sexual relationships between men and women; and Benjie, the younger and gawkier member of the trio. Hermie is an introspective romantic frequently lost in a daydream. He is the stereotypical testosterone-driven adolescent male who frequently imagines the opposite sex through his x-ray eyes. A recent target of his affection is the older by five or six years young married woman who has moved into one of the seaside cottages.

Having watched the movie when I was not much older than Hermie, I decided to read the book. The movie was fairly close to the book; however, with the film you are not a witness to Hermie's daydream musings. The friends' antics frequently had me laughing aloud but were mellowed with the poignant ending. If you were ever an adolescent boy, you will connect with Hermie and his friends and if you were an adolescent girl, you will understand better what was truly on their mind.
… (more)
 
Flagged
John_Warner | 11 other reviews | Aug 10, 2019 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Statistics

Works
13
Members
659
Popularity
#38,283
Rating
3.8
Reviews
20
ISBNs
61
Languages
5

Charts & Graphs