سبیل

by Robert Cormier (Writer), حمید ذقاقی (Translator)

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Young Adult, Read For School

22 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Robert Edmund Cormier (January 17, 1925–November 2, 2000) was an American author, columnist and reporter, known for his deeply pessimistic, downbeat literature. His most popular works include I Am the Cheese, After the First Death, We All Fall Down and The Chocolate War, all of which have won awards. The Chocolate War was challenged in multiple libraries. His books often are concerned with themes such as abuse, mental illness, violence, revenge, betrayal and conspiracy. In most of his novels, the protagonists do not win.

Reviews

[Saman · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستان کوتاه سبیل از رابرت کورمیر در واقع موقعیتی ناخواسته رو برای نوجوان داستان(مایک) طراحی می‌کنه که او در این سن کم با یک مساله اخلاقی ویژه مواجه میشه. مایک تصمیم می‌گیره سبیل بذاره و با این سبیل به دیدن مادربزرگش بره که در خانه سالمندان بستری شده.مادربزرگ دچار زوال عقل شده و وقتی مایک رو می‌بینه به خاطر شباهتش به همسرش، فکر میکنه شوهر مرحومش، به دیدارش اومده. مادربزرگ پرده از غمی برمیداره که در دلش سنگینی می‌کنه و میخواد بعد از سالها از شوهرش حلالیت بطلبه! و حالا مایک داستان ما با چنین موقعیتی مواجه شده و باید تصمیم بگیره که با مادربزرگ چه رفتاری داشته باشه.

به نظرم داستان کوتاه چند لایه ای بود.هم میخواست از سختی دوران بزرگسالی حرف بزنه که مایک با یک سبیل گذاشتن ناخواسته واردش شد و حس کرد چه دوران سختی است. و هم با طراحی این موقعیت ویژه این سوال رو از مخاطب خودش می‌پرسه که آیا همیشه حقیقت رو گفتن کار درستی است یا خیر؟ پاسخ به این پرسش احتمالا یکی از چیزهایی است که از این داستان کوتاه و این موقعیت همراه مخاطب باقی می‌مونه. مساله بعدی استفاده از زمان طلایی است.یک سری حرف‌ها باید در زمان خودش زده بشه و اگر اون زمان از دست بره دیگه ارزشش از دست رفته. مایک بعد از دیدار از مادربزرگ قصد داشت سوالاتی از مادرش بپرسه ولی نپرسید.این نپرسیدن ها، و این سوال ها اندوخته ایست برای مایک تا بتونه خودش رو با چالش های بزرگسالی مواجه کنه و حتما سوژه ای برای او به منظور تفکر خواهد بود. به نسبت کوتاه بودن،داستان جالب و پرباری بود...

[sAmAnE · Rating 4 out of 5]

داستانی کوتاه اما پرمغز است که با روایتی ساده، مفاهیم عمیقی را بیان می‌کند. محور داستان جوانی است که برای تغییر ظاهر و بزرگ‌تر به نظر رسیدن، سبیل گذاشته است. همین تغییر ظاهری، بهانه‌ای می‌شود تا در موقعیتی احساسی و چالش‌برانگیز قرار گیرد. به درخواست مادر، او به دیدار مادربزرگش در خانه‌ی سالمندان می‌رود؛ مادربزرگی که سال‌هاست درگیر زوال حافظه است....
دیدار آن‌ها با لحظه‌ای غیرمنتظره همراه می‌شود: مادربزرگ او را به‌جای شخص دیگری می‌شناسد. این اشتباه هویتی، دریچه‌ای به جهان خاطرات و احساسات مادربزرگ می‌گشاید و مایک، شخصیت اصلی داستان، ناخواسته وارد بازی ظریف همدلی و همراهی می‌شود.
نویسنده با مهارتی خاص، در فضایی کوتاه مفاهیمی همچون هویت، شکنندگی حافظه، حرمت سالمندان و ضرورت درک متقابل را برجسته می‌کند. لحظه‌ی دیدار، بیش از آنکه صرفاً یک اتفاق خانوادگی باشد، تبدیل به تجربه‌ای آستانه‌ای برای جوان می‌شود؛ تجربه‌ای که او را از مرزهای نوجوانی عبور داده و به آستانه‌ی جهان پیچیده‌ی بزرگسالی می‌رساند .... جهانی که در آن صداقت، مهربانی، و انتخاب‌های احساسی گاه در تضاد قرار می‌گیرند.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

حتی وقتی رندومم کتاب باز کردم بخونم باز در ارتباط با آلزایمر توش داشت.
Coincidence? I think NOT!
۲.۱۴۰۴

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually tragic wth.

[Hillari Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Due to being quite behind on my reviews for the texts that I have finished, I am only offering star ratings for the handful of short stories that I have most recently read. I know, it hurts me too.

[Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a 17 year old boy and his moustache that his mom doesn’t like. Mike is then sent to go and visit his grandma in a nursing home. His grandma thinks that Mike is her husband because he has a moustache like his grandpa. His grandma started to apologize to Mike about things, thinking that it was her husband. And Mike just went along, because he didn’t want to make her mad. So then after that, he went home and shaved off his moustache.

It first starts off at Mike’s house in the 1960’s, and Mike is talking to his mom. And she wants him to go see his grandma in the nursing home. Mike’s mom wants him to shave off his moustache, but he doesn’t want to. So then Mike leaves, and goes to see his grandma in her nursing home. This nursing home is called LawnRest, nursing home.

Mike is a seventeen year old boy, who has the moustache. Everyone wants him to shave it off, but he doesn’t want to. Mike has a big sister named Annie. Mike visits his grandma in the nursing home, and she doesn’t recognize him, she thinks it’s her husband.

I would give this book four stars, because it’s interesting, but it’s not my kind of story. The theme of this story is maybe that some people might not recognize you just by changing one small thing. I would recommend this to someone who likes short stories or books by Robert Cormier. Just the way he tells you what is happening and what the main character is thinking about grabs your attention.

[Erinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I teach this to my eighth grade students and they really can relate to it. Ahh, the struggle for independence, to look older, to feel mature. But there is a downside to everything.

[Nick Loehrke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal response- The Moustache , by Robert Cormier, was in my opinion a relatable story for most teenagers. I don't include myself in 'most teenagers' because my grandma didn't kiss me because of my moustache. I found the short story to be short but not a good story.

Plot Summary- The story starts out with a 17 year old being scolded by his mother. His mother didn't approve of his experimental mustache. Mike thought his moustache made him seem more mature and older. His mother went on about how the mustache was costing him money and how it didn't belong on a 17 year old. Finally his mother sighed and told Mike that he needed to visit his grandmother in the nursing home. Mike didn't like nursing homes because they are to similar to hospitals. He gave in to going because he likes to go 85 on the turnpike on the way to the home. When he got to the nursing home, he found his grandmother's room and walked in. When his grandmother said hi, Mike was relieved. His mother warned him that she has her good days and her bad. She started to think that Mike was her husband, because Mike, the 17 year old, was named after his grandfather. MIke' grandmother then gave him a kiss and Mike went straight home to shave his mustache off.

Recommendation- I would recommend this story to anyone trying to seem older than they really are. I think this story would be relatable to many teanagers. This story wasn't very difficult so younger people could also read it.

[Jay DeMoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deelpy sad story of Alzheimer's. Read it with my 7th grade students today for End of Module prep

[Emi · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Comp II)

I like this a lot!

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story “The Moustache” is a very interesting story, how the title is tied into the story. It starts off with a seventeen year old boy, named Mike and his moustache that his mom wants him to shave off. Mike is then sent to visit his grandma in a nursing home. The moustache confuses his grandma thinks that Mike is actually her husband, and talks to him like he is because of his moustache. His moustache makes him look like his grandpa. Mike, who was told by his mom to just go along with it, just sat there and did what she wanted.

Mike is the main character and fits it well. The way that he acts about the moustache situation. He basically keeps stringing his mom along, telling her that it he is thinking about shaving it off. His grandma is a secondary character, but closely plays a part in being a main character. Mike’s sister, Anne, and his mom are minor characters and play a small part in the main story.

The setting takes place mostly in a nursing home, called Lawnrest, around the 1960’s. It is the nursing home that Mike’s Grandma lives in. It could be a lot of different places, but the nursing home fits the best because it is a place for the elderly to go when they are too old to take care of themselves. I could take place in a hospital, but a hospital is more of a temporary place for people to go when they are really sick. They also cost a lot more.

I recommend the story to anyone who is looking for something short to read that might someday have this experience later in life. It shows how some people may not even recognize you as you and think that you are someone else that they knew previously in life.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the short story “The Moustache” by Robert Cormier. I thought that the story was alright I wasn't the biggest fan of it. It had a good meaning behind it but it a little too unhappy for for my liking. Mike goes with his mom to visit his grandmother in the nursing home but when he gets there he learns a lot about his grandmother. His grandma thinks he is her husband that had died years before.

Mike is the main character of the story and is mistaken for his grandpa by by his grandma because of the moustache he has growing in on his face. Grandma is the one in the nursing home that they go to visit and she ends up losing her mind while trying to talk to Mike thinking that he is her husband.

You can tell the story takes place in the past just by the way that the kids and the old folks are treated. The nursing home is creepy and smells funny.

I would rate this book only about three stars out of five. I wouldn’t recommend this book to any younger readers just due to the fact its not that exciting and I'm sure most younger readers would lose interest in the story. Most would be too young to completely understand the moral of the story myself included.

[Trevor Schmoldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Moustache” by Robert Cormier is a short story about a seventeen year old boy who grew a mustache to prove to everyone he could. This was a good short story and I enjoyed reading it. It covered a couple different topics, causing the reader to not get bored.


This is a very good short story. He ends up shaving his moustache at the end because when he went and saw grandma she thought he was her ex husband. This short story is one of the few I like. I’m not a big reader by any means,but it's good. The characters were Mike, his mother, his girlfriend and Mike’s grandmother.


The story took place in the afternoon. First Mike's sister was sick. Second Mike mother bugged him to go visit grandma. After mother bugged him Mike finally caved in. Mid afternoon Mike had left to go visit his grandmother at Launrest Nursing Home. Mike ended up back at his house early in the night or late afternoon. It only took place at Mike's house and the Lawnrest Nursing Home.

This was a very good short story. I’m really not a big reader, but I liked this story. I would recommend this story to anyone who likes to read short stories and not an actual book. The vocabulary is pretty easy in this story.I rated it four stars, because it was a good story and easy to follow.

[Allison Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this short story with my students each year, and it's always a mixed bag. I personally like the conversational tone and style of Cormier's writing, and think it really does sound as if a 17 year old is telling you the account of what happened to him while he visits his grandmother in a nursing home. I think it's a beautiful account, and really preaches to the power of how we hold onto guilt and sadness for so long. It's a very sad story, though touching, and is something that people seem to really relate to when they read it (plus, it's only four pages!).

[♥-ℜachel -♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this short story for english class. It held my interest, but i wasn't attatched to the story. I liked how the auther used some nice poetic paragraphs during some of the grandmothers speech. the story however was really short and, in my opinion, did not have a climax, and not much of a story. however it was an okay read. =]

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 2 out of 5]

About relationships and forgiveness, a boy is mistaken by his grandmother for her long-dead husband.

[Sasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I visited my Grandma Gloria in 2012, I did not know it would be the last time. I did not know that her dementia would cause her to believe I was my mother, still in college, still married to my Dad. I did not know how to correct her without upsetting her, so I didn't. This story quite accurately bullseyes the closures aspect of that final interaction. Beautiful and damning.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

...but I liked I Am the Cheese better.

[G S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it for school so…

[Kaiden Galvan · Rating 4 out of 5]

love situation

[Kristian Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a really good, short story for people who understand or know someone with dementia. Which in my case the only reason I didn't like it as much because I was confused. This is not for me.

[Dream.M · Rating 2 out of 5]

داستان کوتاه غم‌انگیزی بود. درباره آلزایمر کوفتی ولی می‌تونست د دراماتیک تر باشه.
توی فیدیپلاس بود خوندم.

[Mohaaaamin]

سبیلی که چنگ می‌اندازد به رشته‌های حافظه‌ای فراموشی‌گرفته و چیزی از یادرفته را از آن اعماق بیرون می‌کشد. و صاحبِ سبیلی که مبهوت به تماشای آن تک‌گویی‌هاست.

[Aaron Danke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Moustache is a short story by Robert Cormier. The main character is a 17 year old named Mike. Mike has a mustache that he is very proud of, but his mother wants him to shave it off. She also wants him to go see his grandmother in the nursing home. He arrives at the nursing home on a nice summer day. Mike would rather go to the beach with his girlfriend on a day like this. When he enters his grandmothers room it is obvious that his grandmother isn’t doing so well mentally. She is very happy to see Mike, and tells him about the memories that they had. Mike puts the pieces together and realizes that she is talking about her deceased husband who is also named Mike. Grandpa Mike died years ago, but she is convinced that it is him because of Mikes mustache. She asks for forgiveness for wrongly accusing him of cheating on her many years ago. Mike tries to tell her the truth, but she doesn’t let him speak. Mike ends up telling her that he forgives her. He then goes home and shaves his mustache off.

Mike is a typical teenager who really likes his mustache. He has an older sister who would have gone with him to the nursing home but she has the flu. I think the reason he has his mustache is because he feels like an adult. His mustache is something new that he likes about himself, even though his girlfriend Cindy and his mom want him to shave it off.

This story takes place in Lawnrest Nursing home, and is told in Mikes point of view. The time is not specific but I’m assuming that it’s during the sixties because of the type of vehicle that Mike drives.

The main theme in this story is about Mike wanting to grow up fast. After visiting his Grandma, Mike realized that there is more to being an adult than he realized. I think that Mike shaved his mustache because he wasn’t ready to be an adult yet. He recognized the responsibilities and hardships that his Grandma was having, and realized that there is no hurry to grow up.

This was a good read. I feel like I got the main message even though It was a very short story. I would highly recommend this story to anyone in their late teens, or early adulthood because of the messages about becoming an adult. I think that everyone should visit their loved ones more often.

[Zorba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Kevin and his growth of maturity through an experience with his grandma. Kevin wanted to gain independence to do whatever he pleased without properly understanding the responsibilities that will follow. He is your average 17 year old boy, until he visits a nursing home with his mom to see his grandma.
Due to the old age and her arterial disease, grandma was afflicted by a memory loss, but seeing Kevin with his mustache sparked long buried recollections of a conflict she had with her late husband. She had accused him of infidelity and was too proud to apologize. When he passed away, grandma had to live with this weight of guilt complex. When Kevin tells grandma that she's forgiven, Kevin finally grasps what love truly is.
Through this, Kevin better understands the world and reality, and contemplates that maybe it's not too bad to enjoy his childhood just a tad bit longer.
It was a short and fun read. I think the fact that I might someday experience this helped me to be absorbed in the story.

[Emma Gravel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book/Short story I had to read for school