Gentlehands

Update, 9/24/22: Who is the villain of this story? Hint: It ain't the Nazi. Oh, make no mistake, he's definitely the villain in a different story, parts of which are shared here, but he's not the villain in this one. No, the villains are Buddy's parents along with bigotry, ignorance, hypocritical sno......more

4 stars for thematic elements, 3 for the execution thereof. Can a person be redeemed of past actions by present good deeds? Are there some events or actions that are simply unforgivable? The protagonist and we the readers are left to decide that for ourselves.......more

This novel begins like a typical teenage love story. “Buddy” William Raymond Boyle is a 16 year old boy from a lower middle class family, living in a small village near Montauk, Long Island, NY, where his father is the local policeman. Buddy works part time in a soda shop for a pot-head named Kick R......more

Oh, boy. The thing I find truly useful about this book is its exploration of the heavy themes of the Holocaust without being a "Holocaust book." Written at a time (1978) when one's grandfather could have been a Nazi strongman in a concentration camp, the story doesn't center on the terrible things B......more