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The Cave
Five boys become friends of sorts over a summer vacation. They discover a cave and decide to explore it, and in the process they become trapped and must try to find a way out. Each boy shows the kind of person he really is: in how he responds to stress, how he helps with or worsens the situation.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
About the author
Richard Church
115 books8 followersRichard Thomas Church CBE (26 March 1893 – 4 March 1972) was an English writer, poet and critic; he also wrote novels and verse plays, and three volumes of autobiography.
He had a great love for the Kent countryside and this is reflected in much of his writing. He published an anthology of works on Kent.
He lived at The Priest's House at Sissinghurst Castle in Cranbrook.
He had a great love for the Kent countryside and this is reflected in much of his writing. He published an anthology of works on Kent.
He lived at The Priest's House at Sissinghurst Castle in Cranbrook.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 23, 2020
(Update 7/23/20: I don't think this works as well as a read aloud.)
One of the books I remember reading most vividly as a child, I finally tracked this down as an adult. WORTH IT. Pro-tip: the American version is Five Boys in a Cave and VERY expensive to purchase. The British version is The Cave, and it is easier to find reasonably priced copies online.
A great adventure story with great characters. Modern readers will note the 1950s-era use of some racial terms for descriptions; not meant negatively, but we would use different phrasings today. This is only occasionally (less than 5 occurrences).
One of the books I remember reading most vividly as a child, I finally tracked this down as an adult. WORTH IT. Pro-tip: the American version is Five Boys in a Cave and VERY expensive to purchase. The British version is The Cave, and it is easier to find reasonably priced copies online.
A great adventure story with great characters. Modern readers will note the 1950s-era use of some racial terms for descriptions; not meant negatively, but we would use different phrasings today. This is only occasionally (less than 5 occurrences).
March 30, 2020
Little known, this is a perfect book for children of 7-10.
Five years ago, I had a vague memory of a boy sitting by a rowan tree amidst a field of bracken, but couldn't remember much else, not the name of the book nor the author. Gradually - and it's a marvel how memories so deep come seeping through like drops of water down a stalactite, accreting to form a stalagmite in the cave below - the title came to me, then the name of the author, not in linear succession, but like a formation in the depths of my mind, an accretion. Of course, this was one of the associated memory tendrils of the story itself, and then I found the book on goodreads, and soon after the actual book on the web.
Church's story has something about it of the quality of early childhood summer holiday adventures in country settings that probably belong to most of us in different forms. Mine was of venturing across endless fields of meadow and wheat, in glorious eons of sunshine and freedom, scouring the countryside for birds and mice and secret hides, or climbing trees, taking turns on rope swings, and building houses out of haystacks. That period, between 7 and 10, were the halcyon days of my childhood, where I was old enough to be let go across the countryside, and old enough to remember the sheer bliss of those games and adventures.
This mood is captured in the five boys' hazardous venture down a tunnel of rock under the hillside near their childhood homes. But they are well-equipped and have taken precautions should they not return in the evening, which is just as well, for despite their endeavours, they encounter dangers which make me shiver. This is the first book I read of underground exploration, the fear of the vast darkness, and the traversing of spaces seemingly impossible to squeeze through. The other was when the two children and the dwarves get stuck in the Earldelving of the old mines of Alderley Edge, in Garner's The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen - one of the best books of adventure I've ever read. Church's realist tale contains none of that magic, but within its own confines, is nonetheless a ripping read straight from the school story tradition, and stayed with me deep in the underground depths of my own memory, even if in cinder form, barely a glimmer, like some faded brown dwarf, all these decades.
Well worth a revisit.
Five years ago, I had a vague memory of a boy sitting by a rowan tree amidst a field of bracken, but couldn't remember much else, not the name of the book nor the author. Gradually - and it's a marvel how memories so deep come seeping through like drops of water down a stalactite, accreting to form a stalagmite in the cave below - the title came to me, then the name of the author, not in linear succession, but like a formation in the depths of my mind, an accretion. Of course, this was one of the associated memory tendrils of the story itself, and then I found the book on goodreads, and soon after the actual book on the web.
Church's story has something about it of the quality of early childhood summer holiday adventures in country settings that probably belong to most of us in different forms. Mine was of venturing across endless fields of meadow and wheat, in glorious eons of sunshine and freedom, scouring the countryside for birds and mice and secret hides, or climbing trees, taking turns on rope swings, and building houses out of haystacks. That period, between 7 and 10, were the halcyon days of my childhood, where I was old enough to be let go across the countryside, and old enough to remember the sheer bliss of those games and adventures.
This mood is captured in the five boys' hazardous venture down a tunnel of rock under the hillside near their childhood homes. But they are well-equipped and have taken precautions should they not return in the evening, which is just as well, for despite their endeavours, they encounter dangers which make me shiver. This is the first book I read of underground exploration, the fear of the vast darkness, and the traversing of spaces seemingly impossible to squeeze through. The other was when the two children and the dwarves get stuck in the Earldelving of the old mines of Alderley Edge, in Garner's The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen - one of the best books of adventure I've ever read. Church's realist tale contains none of that magic, but within its own confines, is nonetheless a ripping read straight from the school story tradition, and stayed with me deep in the underground depths of my own memory, even if in cinder form, barely a glimmer, like some faded brown dwarf, all these decades.
Well worth a revisit.
July 7, 2014
This was a great book I had read when I was young, and have been trying to find for quite a long time. I recall going back to the library I had originally checked it out from, and scouring the shelves looking for the book. I remembered that it had a green cover and had cave in the title, but that was all. Years past, and I find BookSleuth, a website devoted to book searches. I did a search on the website, and found the title! I quickly put in a request for the book at the library, and lo and behold, it is the book, green cover and all! I enjoyed this book again, maybe not as much as when I was a kid, but still a very enjoyable read.
May 13, 2010
A lost classic
February 23, 2015
I remember this being one of my favorite books growing up. Adventure, drama, science sprinkled about. What more could a young boy ask for?
July 27, 2021
A young lad, staying with his doctor uncle and ex-nurse aunt during his summer holidays, discovers the entrance to a system of caves and, with four friends, decides to explore them. It must have been written in a time when such breath-taking foolhardiness was tolerated, even the uncle merely gives advice. But the character of each of the lads is tested to the full as they get into difficulties.
This is a boys' adventure story which is very strong on describing the cave system and very good at showing the interactions of five young lads and pretty good at talking about some very fundamental human emotions.
An interesting historical note: In Chapter 16 John talks about the Piltdown skull and clearly considers it authentic. It was exposed as a forgery in 1953 but this book was published in 1950
This is a boys' adventure story which is very strong on describing the cave system and very good at showing the interactions of five young lads and pretty good at talking about some very fundamental human emotions.
An interesting historical note: In Chapter 16 John talks about the Piltdown skull and clearly considers it authentic. It was exposed as a forgery in 1953 but this book was published in 1950
September 21, 2020
I read this fifty years ago, and remembered almost none of the detail. But the fact that it stuck in my head at all made me hunt it down on eBay last week. On the face of it, it's an adventure story about five youngish boys exploring a cave complex, but really, I think, it's about how their five quite different personalities respond to the challenges they meet.
It's been out of print for a long time, probably in part due to its period feel, though a couple of metaphors that would now be racially inappropriate wouldn't have helped. The reference to Piltdown Man could go too.
There is an inexplicable continuity error where the two groups of boys meet up again: the order of events around the making of the hole is different for the two groups.
It's been out of print for a long time, probably in part due to its period feel, though a couple of metaphors that would now be racially inappropriate wouldn't have helped. The reference to Piltdown Man could go too.
There is an inexplicable continuity error where the two groups of boys meet up again: the order of events around the making of the hole is different for the two groups.
April 2, 2021
I read this as a child and enjoyed it immensely. Recently reread it and it still holds up as a (reasonable!) adventure tale!
Read
January 17, 2023I read this book when I was a scrawny, clausterphobic, acrophobic seventh grader with health issues in Carlsbad, NM.
I remember very little about it, other than it was suspensful and held my interest throughout. It must have made an impression on me, because I am now pushing 70 and have spent more than half a century working with many of the foremost cave explorers, cave researchers and cave resuers from around the world.
It has been an exciting career, all because a work of fiction piqued my imagination in a world long, long ago.
I note that the father of another reviewer also read the book when he lived in Carlsbad. I wonder if it was the same copy?
I remember very little about it, other than it was suspensful and held my interest throughout. It must have made an impression on me, because I am now pushing 70 and have spent more than half a century working with many of the foremost cave explorers, cave researchers and cave resuers from around the world.
It has been an exciting career, all because a work of fiction piqued my imagination in a world long, long ago.
I note that the father of another reviewer also read the book when he lived in Carlsbad. I wonder if it was the same copy?
November 8, 2023
I found this book to be rather enjoyable probably because I really like exploring and going on adventures. The boys have a lot of toxic masculinity between them but they are young and it was written in the 50s. A lot of things go wrong for them and that obscene desire to not be seen as weak causes it to get worse and worse. A few of the characters grow and improve from it though and it's quite a practical and well written piece. Ends rather like there could possibly be a sequel but I doubt it.
March 28, 2023
A proper story
September 13, 2018
I read this book because as far as I know it's the only book my father read voluntarily before his 30th birthday. He moved around a lot as a child but ended up spending the bulk of his formative years (most of the 1960s) in Carlsbad, New Mexico, where there are a lot of caves. The first time he had to do a book report in grade school, he read "Five Boys in a Cave." He wanted to explore like the boys in the book but unfortunately his friends all wanted to play football. My dad ran backwards to make an amazing catch and fell ass-first into a cactus. "That never would have happened in a cave," he lamented to me once.
The second time my dad had to do a book report, he read "Five Boys in a Cave" again because nothing else looked interesting. He did this the next year too, and the next year. Finally, in junior high, he branched out. He had decided to read a book called "Mean as Hell: the Life of a New Mexico Lawman" by Dee Harkey. I'm not sure if this was because of his interest in criminal justice or because the word "hell" was in the title. But the day came that book reports were assigned and my father's English teacher told the class they could read any book they wanted. Any book, she said, except "Mean as Hell." So my dad read "Five Boys in a Cave" for a fifth time and by all accounts didn't read for pleasure again until at least the end of the first Bush administration.
I found a copy of this book on eBay probably 15 years ago and got it for my dad for Christmas. I don't know if he read it at that time but I did.
None of that has anything much to do with the book itself - I'm pretty hazy on specific details of the plot and I can't remember the names of any of the characters. But I gave it 4 stars anyway because my dad died in 2008 and this was his book, and because I can't find a copy of "Mean as Hell" to read and rate too.
The second time my dad had to do a book report, he read "Five Boys in a Cave" again because nothing else looked interesting. He did this the next year too, and the next year. Finally, in junior high, he branched out. He had decided to read a book called "Mean as Hell: the Life of a New Mexico Lawman" by Dee Harkey. I'm not sure if this was because of his interest in criminal justice or because the word "hell" was in the title. But the day came that book reports were assigned and my father's English teacher told the class they could read any book they wanted. Any book, she said, except "Mean as Hell." So my dad read "Five Boys in a Cave" for a fifth time and by all accounts didn't read for pleasure again until at least the end of the first Bush administration.
I found a copy of this book on eBay probably 15 years ago and got it for my dad for Christmas. I don't know if he read it at that time but I did.
None of that has anything much to do with the book itself - I'm pretty hazy on specific details of the plot and I can't remember the names of any of the characters. But I gave it 4 stars anyway because my dad died in 2008 and this was his book, and because I can't find a copy of "Mean as Hell" to read and rate too.
January 6, 2022
I first read this book when I was in fifth grade in the early 1960s. I’m so grateful for my town library’s Interlibrary Loan system, enabling me to borrow this out-of-print book from another library across the country. For free.
The cave exploration is every bit as exciting as I remember. The five boys each reveal who they truly are when faced with difficulty and danger.
The writing is descriptive. The vocabulary is of a higher level than I would expect for a children’s book, which makes me wonder if our society has dumbed down over the years.
A few passages raised my eyebrows because they are definitely racist, accepted in the time this book was written but thankfully would not be now. One boy clearly lives in an abusive home and I wished for someone to report this, but again, being tremblingly afraid of one’s own father was more accepted then.
As a whole, this is a wonderful read for anyone who enjoys children’s adventure stories. I’m glad I got my hands on it again.
The cave exploration is every bit as exciting as I remember. The five boys each reveal who they truly are when faced with difficulty and danger.
The writing is descriptive. The vocabulary is of a higher level than I would expect for a children’s book, which makes me wonder if our society has dumbed down over the years.
A few passages raised my eyebrows because they are definitely racist, accepted in the time this book was written but thankfully would not be now. One boy clearly lives in an abusive home and I wished for someone to report this, but again, being tremblingly afraid of one’s own father was more accepted then.
As a whole, this is a wonderful read for anyone who enjoys children’s adventure stories. I’m glad I got my hands on it again.
July 29, 2024
was hoping for goonies or stand by me vibes. was left with just a constant stream of consciousness with little emotion. the body by stephen king is a great example of how good a story like this can be.
January 1, 2009
All boys should read this adventure story!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews