Details Of Books Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1)
| Title | : | Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1) |
| Author | : | Markus Zusak |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 153 pages |
| Published | : | May 1st 1999 by Ravensburger Buchverlag |
| Categories | : | Young Adult. Fiction. Contemporary. Realistic Fiction |
Markus Zusak
Paperback | Pages: 153 pages Rating: 3.37 | 3687 Users | 339 Reviews
Ilustration As Books Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1)
Ordinarily, if someone said “Hey, would you like to spend a few days in the mind of a 15 year old boy?” I’d emphatically say: “No thanks,” or at a stretch, “Maybe, can I take hand sanitiser?”However, if someone said “Hey, would you like to spend a few days in the mind of a 15 year old boy via Markus Zusak?” I’d say: “Yes! Give it to me now!”
No one actually said that, but have acquired all three books in Zusak’s Underdog series, and thus this week I spent some time in the mind of Cameron Wolfe: dirty boy.
Okay, so no, this is not The Book Thief or even I Am The Messenger. This is the existential musing of a working class teenage boy who’s trying to figure who he is and his place in the world. It’s about brotherly backyard punch-ons and girls in the real world versus girls in catalogues. Having a winner for a brother and a mother who’s ashamed of her sons. Stealing traffic signs in the middle of the night. It’s a very subtle book – the plot is slender and it doesn’t exactly follow the traditional path of rising action to a tense climax. But there are hints of Zusak’s later style in the fragmented sentences, the fusing of Cameron’s dreams with his reality, and the flashes of imagery in the writing. And while the story appears to be somewhat insubstantial, I think its depth is implicit in the small moments of interaction between the characters, and Cameron’s struggle to express his thoughts with clarity.
It’s interesting to read Zusak’s debut and see how his style evolved over time. The Underdog isn’t quite the Markus Zusak I’m familiar with, but the teenage male voice is very authentic and makes me curious about how much Zusak drew on his own experiences of growing up. It’s also very slice-of-Australian-life in the late nineties. There are more flannos, “carn”s and “y”s [that’s Australian for “youse”] than you shake a stick at. And loads of tomato sauce.
Cameron Wolfe might a dirty boy, but I already have a bit of a soft spot for him. And Rube.
Bring on the next one.
Itemize Books In Pursuance Of Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1)
| Original Title: | Underdog |
| ISBN: | 3473352349 (ISBN13: 9783473352340) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Wolfe Brothers #1 |
| Characters: | Cameron Wolfe, Ruben Wolfe, Sarah Wolfe, Steven Wolfe, Mr Clifford Wolfe, Mrs Wolfe |
| Setting: | Australia |
Rating Of Books Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1)
Ratings: 3.37 From 3687 Users | 339 ReviewsWrite Up Of Books Underdog (Wolfe Brothers #1)
Zusak in a different vein...I think teen boys would relate best to this book. Many parts dealt with Cameron's dreams...maybe a few too many dreams for me, otherwise I liked the book.Markus Zusak says in the introduction to the American edition that he doesn't like the series that much and would change a lot if he could redo it. And to a point, it isn't really nearly as good as The Book Thief or The Messenger. It lacks the sense of direction and the subtextual deepness that he other books have.That being said, it's still a Zusak novel, so it's still very definitely worth reading. His unique voice definitely still comes out and his stylistic choices are still superior to many
Just howl, Cameron. Howl your heart out.....I do understand this. I've felt this deep inside my heart.I was praying for Cameron all the time. That bloody Rebecca...... kk.... not her fault.I was standing there, waiting for someone to do something, till I realized the person I was waiting for was myself....
Before Zusak gained fame for writing the beloved novel The Book Thief, he wrote a trilogy of books about a young man named Cameron Wolfe: The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, and Getting the Girl. This is his first book and the beginning of that trilogy. It tells the story of the Wolfe brothers from Camerons point-of-view. He and his older brother Reuben live in Australia and spend their time getting in trouble and annoying their family members. The novel feels immature in some ways. The style
Cameron, Ruben and Steve; The Wolfe brothers. Cameron and Ruben share the same idiot thoughts, like stealing but not actually doing it, just planning. Steve is the older brother, he thinks he is better than them. In this book we will get inside Cameron's head, a 15 years old boy. "Read," he told me."Why?"Because you don't learn anything unless you can find the patience to read. TV takes that away from you. It robs you from your mind."
If you've read Zusak's The Book Thief or The Messenger, you'll notice a huge difference in quality between them and this. Granted, The Underdog is his debut novel. It just kind of... doesn't have a plot. It's also 160 pages long - far too short for any decent development, IMO. At least I got to finish it at a snap during deadline/test crunch week.I've already bought the next two books in the series and hopefully they serve as a good follow-up. All I can say now is ehhhhhhhhhhhh. 15-year-old guy
This book is a joke. It has no plot and no point. As with 'The Book Theif', I WANTED to like it because Markus Zusak is not only a young Australian writer of YA fiction but ALSO (I discovered) quite cute. But I couldn't do it. The writing is clearly supposed to be very deep and meaningful and writerly but instead was deeply annoying and pretentious. "Had the years defeated us? Had they worn us down? Had they passed like big white clouds, disintegrating very slowly so that we couldn't notice?"I
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