A Semester in the Existence of any Garbage Bag by Gordon Korman - Guide Review

Gordon Korman has created composite people who can be determined partly as what many students might have seen themselves at one time or another in their developmental youth. Sean Delancey has everything a junior could just ask for: looks, brains, personality, and a fine, though eccentric, Fenster family -- everything, that is apart from a good grasp of English as a course in grammar, composition, and literature.

Raymond Jardine, the self-proclaimed garbage bag, manipulated his way to the self-confidence of Sean by being practical, a quality which should have experienced him through any difficulties anyone, except Raymond, must have been able to overcome. It absolutely was the levnedsl?b of his existence that he was blessed with the worst luck any being should have experienced the misfortune to put up with.

The heavenly beings who he constantly addressed his facetious humor must have smiled as calamities attached cataclysmically after his tormented self as he pursued to reach the apparently unattainable goal of spending eight weeks on the Ancient greek language Island, Theamelpos, where his mere existence would have designed a reversal of performance. Bursting bathroom pipes fill him; his second beautifully constructed wording partner is more beauty than brains; the california king of his government task gets deposed on the due date for the assignment; his obscure poet person selected for the British project is worse than dead -- he is also inept; and the big dance evolves into a near water-logged riot. The particular disasters continue relentlessly to the last page.

Paralleling the catastrophes of Raymond's odyssey, the thirty-three mil dollar system installed at government expense, SACGEN (Solar/Air Current Generating System) functions as if it were umbilically tied to Raymond's fateful existence. It is Raymond's progressive approaches to each of his problems that helps him approach his goal in the face of imminent failure with the aid of Sean and the most beautiful girl in the world, Ashley, whose gullibility and naivete allowed Sean's grandfather to pull off a most impressive scam that made his normally morose life worth residing. The supporting characters, Cementhead, Q. David Hyatt, Nikki, Danny, and the far-out Leland Fenster, brought neverending humor to what should have been an easy, harmless semester. The cynical look at government at all levels is portrayed with good-natured humor and wonderful hyperbole as the agent colossal projects for energy-saving technological advances are made objects of ridicule as are their irreproachable supporters. The interrelationship of all the students working together in spite of themselves provides for all those garbage bags, who feel as frustrated as both Raymond and Sean, hope that there is something salvageable in any curriculum no matter how great the challenge.

Evaluation: The storyline ran easily and humorously as Sean, Gramps, Raymond, and Ashley come to life as representations of real people doing unreal things that spark the creative and imaginative juices to teem with a zesty flavor of the unusual. Gavin Gunhold arose from the dead as if he were a viable graceful influence and, in the short moment of notoriety, soaked up the limelight in the alter ego identity so that even his nonsense verse became meritorious as literature.

Recommendation: Any students who feel that they are not creative enough or find themselves in an academic rut can take time out and read this for enjoyment. There are enough images to which they can relate at home or in school so that any frustrations they feel will appear minimal when in comparison to the ones from Sean and Raymond. Though they are fictional, they remain a part of the learning experience and turn into as real as the student in the next seat. Gavin's poetry was not that bad. Even unadorned images can have deeper which means without verging on the profound.

Teaching: The story gives itself to investigation of parental influences (as Sean's) and observation of occasions which may be considered unlucky. Set into perspective, all of the events could be examined as dichotomous choices over which we have some control. Furthermore, the story considers that rudimentary poetry is as easy to write as placing honest feelings into simple words. It also allows examination of the significance of technological advances where simplicity is better.