Sleepers

rating this book feels like i'm rating or judging his trauma and that feels particularly icky in this case. this is a story of awful, horrendous physical and sexual abuse and of revenge and (some would say) redemption. the count of monte cristo is referenced over and over again because it's a favorite book among the boys in the story, but also because of my problem with that book - its focus on revenge and retribution for wrongs done, which the boys to some degree emulate. this doesn't feel at all like redemption to me. it's horrible and sad and no one deserves the kind of trauma these boys had to endure, but that doesn't excuse 2 of them from literally becoming cold-blooded killers, hit men who terrorized other people. but anyway, i show more don't rate books based on how much i like the characters in fiction or the people in memoir.

the parts of this that focus on the trauma - the time in the boy's home - and on the trial were well written and felt real. probably because they very much were. the rest of the book felt over-dramaticized and like the author was trying too hard. it would have been enough to set the scene, but over and over he had to write in ways that bad fiction works to try to keep the reader engaged. (Not the best example, but: "In his mind, ...[it]... was more than the right thing to do. It was more than a courageous thing to do. It was the only thing to do.") I wish he'd believed more in his story of friendship, to know that the reader wasn't reading for the stories of abuse, and that he didn't have to work so hard in these parts of the book. because it really is a wonderful story of bonding between 4 boys who didn't find connection with many other people in their lives. both this and the abuse they suffered is a story very much worth telling, as hard as parts of it are to hear/read.

i'm more than a little disconcerted that we're supposed to be rooting for not just the abusers to be brought to justice, but for 2 of the boys, who have killed many people, not to be held to account for that. i understand about trauma, and i'm not comfortable giving them a free pass to murder (and cut up bodies and do really awful things) because they survived a truly terrible ordeal. when they do get acquitted for a murder that the reader can maybe get behind, and they're free to go on and kill many more times in a way that most readers wouldn't get behind, and the author calls that "the sound of justice," well, i have a problem calling it that. show less

I have mixed feelings about this book after seeing the reviews about it.

I read this book as a teenager, one of my parents had been reading the book and it looked good to me so I picked it up after they were done with it, and enjoyed it. Back then, I would have given it at least 4 stars. It's been a while so I will admit I am foggy on many of the details.

Just this morning I was watching Law and Order on TV and in the credits was a writer named Lorenzo Calcaterra. I immediately recognized the name and remembered the book. So I asked myself if I had reviewed this book, because it is my life's mission (or more accurately, one of my life's missions) to review everything I have ever read. It can be hard for me to remember every single book I show more read as a child or teenager, as I didn't open my GR account til I had passed my 20-year mark.

So this led me to reading the GR reviews. As a teenager, reading Sleepers, I did not question the veracity of the material, so I was surprised to see all these reviews complaining about said veracity, and now I feel torn. I get changing names and certain other details might be neccessary to protect the innocent in an autobiography, but reading the negative reviews, and several articles, about this, leaves me feeling conflicted.

Did I enjoy the story? Hell yes. I was horrified at what these boys went through - regardless of the incident that caused them to be incarcerated, they did not deserve to be treated that way - and cheered them on for their revenge.

Do I feel cheesed off at the very real possibility that this was all made up? Hell yes.

So ultimately, my verdict is 3 stars, would be higher if I was not questioning the truth of these events. show less

My second time reading this. It's very fast paced and easy to follow. If you enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo, pick this up - it's not just filled with references, but is also a thematic parallel, but head the trigger warnings - serious abuse happens in this book.

Whether or not the events in the book are fabricated, exaggerated, or real, it's still a great story and one I will be reading again in a few years.

A well written account of four young boys who experience sustained physical and sexual abuse when incarcerated in a remand home for juveniles. The novel explores the adverse effects of these experiences on the boys as adults and how, when a murder is committed which implicates two of the boys, the others seek to utilise this as an opportunity for revenge on their torturers. It explores the themes of friendship, loyalty and resilience and while an uncomfortable read at times, it is also very gripping

Hey, I really like the movie, so I felt I should read the "true story" it is based on. Heck, this doesn't read like any true crime I know of? Where are the nuances, the grays, the inexplicable mysteries and followed leads that prove unrelated? This reads like a "tale", like a novel, like fiction - which apparently many people feel it is.

I feel Carcaterra would have been more forthright with a disclaimer like that on the Phil Spector 2013 TV movie: 'This is a work of fiction. It's not "based on a true story." It is a drama inspired by actual persons....'

The book is very well written and graphic in its portrayal of violence and sex, but I had a sneaking suspicion it may be mostly fiction even while I was reading it years ago. A quick search on the net now convinces me that there is a huge controversy regarding the veracity of the story.

If it's a true story, it rates five stars.

If it's fiction paraded as truth, it rates only one star.

Since there is no way of establishing the truth, I plumb for three stars.

A great story and movie. Personally I think the movie was great, definitely a classic, but the book was better. This is not a true story. Much of this was elaborated on, people in it are real but have never heard of the author, his friends, or the guards in question. The boy's home is not a real place although there's definitely been places like it. And there was controversy back when it originally came out. Like most people probably, I tried looking this up, and that was my finding. Still makes for a great story though!