For [I am the Cheese] Robert Cormier has returned to the theme which dominated his outstanding earlier book, The Chocolate War: that of innocence and morality destroyed by the ruthless ambition of the masters of a corrupt society. In The Chocolate War, this society was a private school, and the victim a boy who alone stood out against corruption. Now, in I am the Cheese, Robert Cormier has extended this dark theme. The hero is an unwilling, uncomprehending and truly innocent victim of a greater, more hideous conspiracy; the corrupt society is our own, and the innocent victim must be completely destroyed in order to sustain it.
At first sight, the narrative construction of the novel seems difficult and pretentious…. As the novel nears its end, the point and meaning of the book's construction become plain, and the narrative strands combine in a climax of depressing violence and a conclusion of almost intolerable despair…. I am the Cheese is, first and foremost, a novel of suspense through which the reader is lured by the excitement and tension of the story. But the book is more than just a good thriller: Robert Cormier has written a chilling study of a mind on the verge of disintegration, and presented us with a view of our society that is too dire to contemplate. Robert Cormier does not hesitate to challenge and disturb his readers and although I am the Cheese is no book for the emotionally squeamish, it deserves to be widely read. Beside it, most books for the young seem as insubstantial as candyfloss. (p. 1415)
Lance Salway, in The Times Literary Supplement (© Times Newspapers Ltd. (London) 1977; reproduced from The Times Literary Supplement by permission), December 2, 1977.
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