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The Dance Sequence #1-2
Breaktime / Dance on my Grave
A classmate's challenge to prove that literature is related to real life spurs Ditto to leave home during spring vacation and chronicle his life-changing adventures.
180 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
21 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Aidan Chambers
103 books302 followersAidan Chambers was a British author of children's and young-adult novels. He won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Printz Award for Postcards from No Man's Land (1999). For his "lasting contribution to children's literature" he won the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 9, 2011
The story is good - not brilliant, but still witty, interesting and exciting. But what was brilliant, was Chambers playing with literature, writing in all different kind of styles, depending what suited Ditto best. And that seemed so true to me, because that is the same what happens in my journal. Sometimes punctuation seems unnecessary and sometimes it's very necessary and sometimes just dialogue works best and sometimes we need description.
Very very good. I'm looking forward to his other books now (I was somewhat afraid that it'd fell flat after the complete brilliancy of "This Is All".
Very very good. I'm looking forward to his other books now (I was somewhat afraid that it'd fell flat after the complete brilliancy of "This Is All".
June 2, 2025
Breaktime: 3.75/5
Dance on my Grave: 4/5
Dance on my Grave: 4/5
May 2, 2021
(Dance on my Grave)
Read this after seeing the French adaptation, "Summer of '85". The book definitely filled in parts of the film and made the characters rounder and fuller.
I would normally advocate reading the original before watching films based on books. However, in this instance, I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much. The writing style has great potential (the use of "bits" is nice) but I couldn't help but feel that it was author's (Chambers') writing rather than Hal's voice coming through.
I may return to "Breaktime" but it's not something I'm desperate to do after reading "Dance".
The story is good and worth a read, especially for the treatment of gay youth.
Read this after seeing the French adaptation, "Summer of '85". The book definitely filled in parts of the film and made the characters rounder and fuller.
I would normally advocate reading the original before watching films based on books. However, in this instance, I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much. The writing style has great potential (the use of "bits" is nice) but I couldn't help but feel that it was author's (Chambers') writing rather than Hal's voice coming through.
I may return to "Breaktime" but it's not something I'm desperate to do after reading "Dance".
The story is good and worth a read, especially for the treatment of gay youth.
October 31, 2021
Am not sure who recommended Chambers and these two early works of his. I am not of the young adult demographic (and nor is he) but both the shorter 'Breaktime" and deeper, darker 'Dance on my Grave' are terrific and swift reads. The writing is as swift, crisp and aligned to the age of the major characters; the emotions realistic; the relationships captured are both intense and diverse. Considering these were written in the 1980s, when the author was at least 40, he has done well to write as a credible and substantive spokesman for a characters consumed with the difficulties of life as a teenagers in very typical regional English towns.
August 11, 2021
I had never read any of the Chambers young adult series but bought the novel in preparation to watch "Summer of 85," the movie upon which "Dance on My Grave" is based. I am so happy I did! These are two poignant coming of age tales, well told and developed. Chambers chooses to deal with sex in a real way, rather than sheltering readers from the truth of what happens to young people as the grow up. He imbues the stories with humor, angst, and the range of emotion sweeping people along toward adulthood. Despite being written in the 1970s, the novels retain their impact today.
August 2, 2024
Short review for this one✨
I did enjoy the book. Both stories are deep and incredible. The writing style is amazing. However, I’ve realised that I wish someone would’ve recommended me this book when I was a teenager.
If you’re between 14 and 17 this book is waiting for you.
I did enjoy the book. Both stories are deep and incredible. The writing style is amazing. However, I’ve realised that I wish someone would’ve recommended me this book when I was a teenager.
If you’re between 14 and 17 this book is waiting for you.
June 6, 2022
(Dance on my grave)
Would've loved it when I was a teen, didn't feel that connected to the story now.
Would've loved it when I was a teen, didn't feel that connected to the story now.
July 16, 2023
I finished the book last night in a 4 hour long airport queue after a flight cancellation, and it genuinely managed to bring me a lot of joy and take my mind off of the awful situation, even if just for a little bit.
I loved this book. Truly, truly, truly, loved this book. I am so glad it was recommended as part of a book group on Fable, and I’m so happy that I decided to take part in the event. Part of the reason why I loved this book so much is just how relatable I felt to Hal, to the point where I was transported back to my first and previous relationships, with the words on the page detailing my mindset and the way I felt better than I was ever able to in my journals. It was to my genuine surprise to find that the author wasn’t/didn’t identify as queer, as I felt that he had done such an incredible job at detailing one aspect of the queer experience, the added layer of difficulties and perceptions onto the fact of the matter - heartbreak.
I had gone to see Été 85 in the cinemas when it came out on a date and it was only a few pages in that I put the two together. I actually couldn’t remember too much of the film, but the book fully made me relive the moment.
Compared to a lot of contemporary YA fiction, what I noticed more than anything else was both the lack of swearing and the way that sex and sexuality is almost implicitly suggested rather than clearly expressed.
I really enjoyed the way the writer used and varied different styles of writing, including excerpts from reports, the characters journals and culminating in a “twist” (so to speak) as to what the purpose of the manuscript you are reading is for.
I loved this book. Truly, truly, truly, loved this book. I am so glad it was recommended as part of a book group on Fable, and I’m so happy that I decided to take part in the event. Part of the reason why I loved this book so much is just how relatable I felt to Hal, to the point where I was transported back to my first and previous relationships, with the words on the page detailing my mindset and the way I felt better than I was ever able to in my journals. It was to my genuine surprise to find that the author wasn’t/didn’t identify as queer, as I felt that he had done such an incredible job at detailing one aspect of the queer experience, the added layer of difficulties and perceptions onto the fact of the matter - heartbreak.
I had gone to see Été 85 in the cinemas when it came out on a date and it was only a few pages in that I put the two together. I actually couldn’t remember too much of the film, but the book fully made me relive the moment.
Compared to a lot of contemporary YA fiction, what I noticed more than anything else was both the lack of swearing and the way that sex and sexuality is almost implicitly suggested rather than clearly expressed.
I really enjoyed the way the writer used and varied different styles of writing, including excerpts from reports, the characters journals and culminating in a “twist” (so to speak) as to what the purpose of the manuscript you are reading is for.
December 13, 2022
Truly loved this novel. I read it after watching the 2020 French film adaptation: Eté 85 (Summer of 85). I expected to enjoy the book, but not this much. It was interesting, captivating, refreshing and completely heartwarming and -breaking at the same time. Chambers proved to be ahead by a century with this one!
November 15, 2021
Não gosto da relação do personagem com o leitor. A linguagem é difícil e sem necessidade, o que não foi meu ponto para não gostar, já que é antigo.
Eu vi o filme e prefiro. É menos confuso.
Os detalhes realmente importantes, são ignorados.
Eu vi o filme e prefiro. É menos confuso.
Os detalhes realmente importantes, são ignorados.
June 11, 2011
After reading CORDELIA KENN, I decided to go back to the beginning, and read Aidan Chambers' YAs from first to last. BREAKTIME was Chambers' first, characteristic of the innovation and experimentation taking place in the genre during the 1970's. A first read for me, not having encountered Chambers as a teen myself.
17-year-old Ditto is challenged by his best friend Morgan to prove that literature can still play a meaningful role in a contemporary world in which film and television have taken over the task of conveying narrative. What follows appears to be an autobiographical account of a weekend during Ditto's school break, during which he considers how his relationship with his father has changed since the latter's illness, goes camping and meets two other men who have troubled relationships with their own fathers, and loses his virginity to a girl whom he had admired but who had moved away before he summoned the courage to do anything about his attraction. Ditto gives his writing to Morgan, but Morgan says the narrative doesn't prove anything about literature, since it is based on truth. But is it, asks Ditto? Perhaps I simply stayed at home and made it all up...
Chambers nods in the direction of Joyce's ULYSSES (the greatest book that people hardly ever read, according to Ditto's English teacher), but the novel is more reminiscent (if one can be excused for using the word when referring to later developments) of postmodern bricolage; Ditto's narrative shifts from first person to third, from comic strips to theater dialogue, whatever form best suits the story and the emotions of the events Ditto wishes to convey. The parallels between Ditto's life and the events of the story within the story are occasionally a bit too pat, which makes sense when you find out that Ditto may have invented the entire thing -- literary symbolism can be a bit heavyhanded to the skilled reader, no?
What I found most appealing is how intelligent these kids are portrayed as being -- no dumbing down, no construction of the teen as inherently selfish and self-involved, as in so many contemporary YA books. Ditto and the other teens he interacts with think, and feel, deeply, intensely, intelligently. A reader has to work hard at times to understand, especially to fill in gaps in the dialogue, but this is part of the pleasure of reading Chambers.
Now on to reread DANCE ON MY GRAVE, one of my favorite YA novels of all time...
17-year-old Ditto is challenged by his best friend Morgan to prove that literature can still play a meaningful role in a contemporary world in which film and television have taken over the task of conveying narrative. What follows appears to be an autobiographical account of a weekend during Ditto's school break, during which he considers how his relationship with his father has changed since the latter's illness, goes camping and meets two other men who have troubled relationships with their own fathers, and loses his virginity to a girl whom he had admired but who had moved away before he summoned the courage to do anything about his attraction. Ditto gives his writing to Morgan, but Morgan says the narrative doesn't prove anything about literature, since it is based on truth. But is it, asks Ditto? Perhaps I simply stayed at home and made it all up...
Chambers nods in the direction of Joyce's ULYSSES (the greatest book that people hardly ever read, according to Ditto's English teacher), but the novel is more reminiscent (if one can be excused for using the word when referring to later developments) of postmodern bricolage; Ditto's narrative shifts from first person to third, from comic strips to theater dialogue, whatever form best suits the story and the emotions of the events Ditto wishes to convey. The parallels between Ditto's life and the events of the story within the story are occasionally a bit too pat, which makes sense when you find out that Ditto may have invented the entire thing -- literary symbolism can be a bit heavyhanded to the skilled reader, no?
What I found most appealing is how intelligent these kids are portrayed as being -- no dumbing down, no construction of the teen as inherently selfish and self-involved, as in so many contemporary YA books. Ditto and the other teens he interacts with think, and feel, deeply, intensely, intelligently. A reader has to work hard at times to understand, especially to fill in gaps in the dialogue, but this is part of the pleasure of reading Chambers.
Now on to reread DANCE ON MY GRAVE, one of my favorite YA novels of all time...
June 22, 2012
Two wonderful novels for young adults. I was much too young when I read Dance on My Grave the first time, twelve or thirteen I think, and a lot of it was over my head. But memories of it have stayed with me for over a quarter of a century, and I'm glad to rediscover it as an adult. I strongly recommend both it and Breaktime, which I've just read for the first time.
July 20, 2011
Pointless...
March 16, 2009
excellent!
March 28, 2017
ONLY ABOUT BREAKTIME
interesting, but not all of it. The different writing styles don't always work. Not my favorite by Aiden Chambers, but it has its strongpoints.
interesting, but not all of it. The different writing styles don't always work. Not my favorite by Aiden Chambers, but it has its strongpoints.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews