Please help me identify this book which traumatized me as a child (teen?)!

March 18, 2008 2:50 PM

Please help me identify this book which traumatized me as a child (teen?)!

This seems to be a popular pastime around here, and people seem to be remarkably good at answering this type of question given very little to go on, so I’m incredibly hopeful you can identify this book based on my weak memory.

I recall reading a book when I was in middle school (in the early 1990’s in WI) that clearly traumatized me enough to stick with me for the past several years. I have quizzed all remaining friends I have, and although all remember the book, no one has been able to come up with a title. There are some possible spoilers ahead, but since I have no idea what book it is, I can’t really warn you not to read on:

*The main character as far as I can remember was an overweight teenage boy.
*Someone in the book collected Nazi memorabilia. I recall this being a “shocking revelation” at the time, but clearly I have no idea who it was. I’m leaning towards the main character, but I’m thinking there may have been a second character who was an elderly gentleman? Who used to be… a Nazi? Or…had been in an internment camp? My recollection is that the Nazi memorabilia was stored in some sort of “fort”, which is what leads me to think it belonged to the boy.
*The story itself centered around the tensions between the outcast main character and some of his peers. Possibly a group of boys? The story may actually have been told from the point of view of one of these other kids.
*This is the part that I think traumatized me, and that I’m hoping makes the story identifiable: near the end of the book, the main character dies by falling through a bridge? There is some debate between my friends as to whether it was a railroad bridge or a wooden footbridge, but the kid falls through it and is essentially hung by his neck and dies. You can see why this would scar a kid for life, right?? This scene may have happened after some sort of footchase, but that’s all I’ve got.

I know the details are sketchy, but any leads you have would be invaluable! And result in me purchasing at least 5 copies of the book ASAP.

posted by StrangeCharmed to media & arts (13 comments total)

I'm thinking it's Stephen King's novella Apt Pupil, which appears in the anthology Different Seasons, and was made into a movie.
posted by box at 2:53 PM on March 18, 2008

Huh. It almost sounds like you're mixing up parts of different stories from Stephen King's novella collection "Different Seasons". Specifically parts of "Apt Pupil" and "The Body".
posted by madmethods at 2:55 PM on March 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

You guys are so fast! It is entirely, entirely possible I am conflating two different stories. The part about the old man coming from "Apt Pupil" sounds like it is probably 100% correct. The ending of the kid falling through/being hung from a bridge is still pretty vivid, although I'm not ruling out the "railroad bridge" reference coming from "The Body" (or "Stand by Me"). Does that ending sound familiar to anyone?
posted by StrangeCharmed at 3:01 PM on March 18, 2008

It reminds me of Stephen Crane's 'An Occurrence at Owl-Creek Bridge', which is a pretty famous story, but probably not the one you're thinking of.
posted by box at 3:08 PM on March 18, 2008

Your description shares a lot in common with the John Irving book, A Prayer for Owen Meany. Also made into a rubbish movie called Simon Birch.
posted by tdogboy at 4:55 PM on March 18, 2008

This is bringing up a vague memory of a book I read at that age. Was the overweight boy a stamp collector?
posted by Laura_J at 5:09 PM on March 18, 2008

FYI, box, "Owl-Creek Bridge" is Ambrose Bierce.
posted by liketitanic at 5:13 PM on March 18, 2008

Dang, yeah it is, and not the first time I've confused the two. Thanks, lt.
posted by box at 5:17 PM on March 18, 2008

Could the hanging part have come from Bridge to Terabithia? There wasn't a hanging in it, but there was a bridge + a rope over a creek.
posted by Addlepated at 5:36 PM on March 18, 2008

You guys are doing great based on the little-to-no info I gave you! I don't remember any stamp collecting, but that doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen. I also don't think I was thinking of Bridge to Terabithia (I've actually read and vaguely remember that one, for different traumatic reasons!) or An Occurrence at Owl-Creek Bridge. I'm fairly certain that the hanging wasn't via rope but via...bridge...parts? I'm sure there's a technical name for them, but it escapes me now!
posted by StrangeCharmed at 6:25 PM on March 18, 2008

I'm going to go with previous posters and say it's possibly one or more of the Stephen King's stories - partly because of the plot points, but mostly because I can remember reading some King stories at a young age and the really vivid mental images that were hammered into my skull became the product of many nightmares. So I'd go to the library and start checking those King books just to see if anything else in them sparks any memories.
posted by batgrlHG at 9:53 PM on March 18, 2008

Wait, was the death on a type of suspension bridge? This does sound familiar...
posted by batgrlHG at 9:56 PM on March 18, 2008

Ooh, suspension bridge. I can sort of picture that-- it makes sense physically (like maybe one of the slats breaks and he fell through that and was hung between the remaining slats somehow??). I will indeed attempt to pursue the Stephen King angle, but this book was definitely assigned reading in school-- would Stephen King have been on that sort of a list? Because you're right-- his stuff IS nightmare inducing, especially for middle schoolers!
posted by StrangeCharmed at 7:51 AM on March 19, 2008