Breaktime / Dance on my Grave
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- Create Date：2021-05-18 09:52:41
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Aidan Chambers
- ISBN：1909531359
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Summary
In Breaktime， Ditto challenges Morgan to prove that literature is crap and triggers off a chain of events to alter his outlook of life forever。 Ditto faces a series of charges from Morgan against literature: that all fiction is Done。 Finished。 Dead; a sham and a pretence。 He undertakes faithfully to record a life in the week of Ditto - with all the chaos of reality thrown in - and his literary creation reveals more about himself than he originally bargained for。
In Dance on My Grave， life in his seaside town is uneventful for Hal Robinson， nothing unusual， exciting or odd ever happens to him - until now that is。 Until the summer of his 16th birthday when he reaches a crossroads of choices in life。 He foolishly takes a friend's boat for a day's sailing， gets into difficulty and is rescued by Barry Gorman。 Their ensuing relationship results in a tumultous summer for Hal as he experiences the intense emotions of his first teenage love。
In Dance on My Grave， life in his seaside town is uneventful for Hal Robinson， nothing unusual， exciting or odd ever happens to him - until now that is。 Until the summer of his 16th birthday when he reaches a crossroads of choices in life。 He foolishly takes a friend's boat for a day's sailing， gets into difficulty and is rescued by Barry Gorman。 Their ensuing relationship results in a tumultous summer for Hal as he experiences the intense emotions of his first teenage love。
Reviews
Nicholas Taylor
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（Dance on my Grave）Read this after seeing the French adaptation， "Summer of '85"。 The book definitely filled in parts of the film and made the characters rounder and fuller。I would normally advocate reading the original before watching films based on books。 However， in this instance， I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much。 The writing style has great potential （the use of "bits" is nice） but I couldn't help but feel that it was author's （Chambers'） writing rather than Hal's voice coming throug （Dance on my Grave）Read this after seeing the French adaptation， "Summer of '85"。 The book definitely filled in parts of the film and made the characters rounder and fuller。I would normally advocate reading the original before watching films based on books。 However， in this instance， I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much。 The writing style has great potential （the use of "bits" is nice） but I couldn't help but feel that it was author's （Chambers'） writing rather than Hal's voice coming through。 I may return to "Breaktime" but it's not something I'm desperate to do after reading "Dance"。 The story is good and worth a read， especially for the treatment of gay youth。 。。。more
Bryndís
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ONLY ABOUT BREAKTIMEinteresting， but not all of it。 The different writing styles don't always work。 Not my favorite by Aiden Chambers， but it has its strongpoints。 ONLY ABOUT BREAKTIMEinteresting， but not all of it。 The different writing styles don't always work。 Not my favorite by Aiden Chambers， but it has its strongpoints。 。。。more
Avril
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Two wonderful novels for young adults。 I was much too young when I read Dance on My Grave the first time， twelve or thirteen I think， and a lot of it was over my head。 But memories of it have stayed with me for over a quarter of a century， and I'm glad to rediscover it as an adult。 I strongly recommend both it and Breaktime， which I've just read for the first time。 Two wonderful novels for young adults。 I was much too young when I read Dance on My Grave the first time， twelve or thirteen I think， and a lot of it was over my head。 But memories of it have stayed with me for over a quarter of a century， and I'm glad to rediscover it as an adult。 I strongly recommend both it and Breaktime， which I've just read for the first time。 。。。more
Chie
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Pointless。。。
Jackie
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After reading CORDELIA KENN， I decided to go back to the beginning， and read Aidan Chambers' YAs from first to last。 BREAKTIME was Chambers' first， characteristic of the innovation and experimentation taking place in the genre during the 1970's。 A first read for me， not having encountered Chambers as a teen myself。17-year-old Ditto is challenged by his best friend Morgan to prove that literature can still play a meaningful role in a contemporary world in which film and television have taken over After reading CORDELIA KENN， I decided to go back to the beginning， and read Aidan Chambers' YAs from first to last。 BREAKTIME was Chambers' first， characteristic of the innovation and experimentation taking place in the genre during the 1970's。 A first read for me， not having encountered Chambers as a teen myself。17-year-old Ditto is challenged by his best friend Morgan to prove that literature can still play a meaningful role in a contemporary world in which film and television have taken over the task of conveying narrative。 What follows appears to be an autobiographical account of a weekend during Ditto's school break， during which he considers how his relationship with his father has changed since the latter's illness， goes camping and meets two other men who have troubled relationships with their own fathers， and loses his virginity to a girl whom he had admired but who had moved away before he summoned the courage to do anything about his attraction。 Ditto gives his writing to Morgan， but Morgan says the narrative doesn't prove anything about literature， since it is based on truth。 But is it， asks Ditto？ Perhaps I simply stayed at home and made it all up。。。Chambers nods in the direction of Joyce's ULYSSES （the greatest book that people hardly ever read， according to Ditto's English teacher）， but the novel is more reminiscent （if one can be excused for using the word when referring to later developments） of postmodern bricolage; Ditto's narrative shifts from first person to third， from comic strips to theater dialogue， whatever form best suits the story and the emotions of the events Ditto wishes to convey。 The parallels between Ditto's life and the events of the story within the story are occasionally a bit too pat， which makes sense when you find out that Ditto may have invented the entire thing -- literary symbolism can be a bit heavyhanded to the skilled reader， no？What I found most appealing is how intelligent these kids are portrayed as being -- no dumbing down， no construction of the teen as inherently selfish and self-involved， as in so many contemporary YA books。 Ditto and the other teens he interacts with think， and feel， deeply， intensely， intelligently。 A reader has to work hard at times to understand， especially to fill in gaps in the dialogue， but this is part of the pleasure of reading Chambers。Now on to reread DANCE ON MY GRAVE， one of my favorite YA novels of all time。。。 。。。more
Ruby
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The story is good - not brilliant， but still witty， interesting and exciting。 But what was brilliant， was Chambers playing with literature， writing in all different kind of styles， depending what suited Ditto best。 And that seemed so true to me， because that is the same what happens in my journal。 Sometimes punctuation seems unnecessary and sometimes it's very necessary and sometimes just dialogue works best and sometimes we need description。 Very very good。 I'm looking forward to his other book The story is good - not brilliant， but still witty， interesting and exciting。 But what was brilliant， was Chambers playing with literature， writing in all different kind of styles， depending what suited Ditto best。 And that seemed so true to me， because that is the same what happens in my journal。 Sometimes punctuation seems unnecessary and sometimes it's very necessary and sometimes just dialogue works best and sometimes we need description。 Very very good。 I'm looking forward to his other books now （I was somewhat afraid that it'd fell flat after the complete brilliancy of "This Is All"。 。。。more
Natalie
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