The Rifle Review
I really very much doubt that his aim was to demean the gun. It was a great story and that's all it was probably meant to be. Contrary to clearly popular belief- the only agenda that most writers have is to write a good story. I like guns a lot and I also like this book a lot because I am not narrow minded. You other commentators should think about your own obvious bias before you start accusing someone else of bias.
The Rifle Overview
A treasured rifle passed down through generations is the cause of a tragic accident in this timely tale. With subtle mastery and precision, this tough, thought-provoking novel challenges the idea that firearms don't become instruments of destruction and murder until they are placed in human hands.
Each book includes a reader's guide.
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Customer Reviews
Too graphic for my boys - Virginia A. Preston - Nicholasville, KY United States
Our boys are 8 and 9. We have read to them or listened to the Tuckett Series and the Brian series and found them excellent for the boys and fascinating for us. However, we began to listen to the Rifle on tape; found the narrative about the making of the gun wonderful.....then came the story of the boy who eventually was shot and killed by the rifle. The graphic description of the trajectory of the missile was horrifying. I did not let the boys finish the book. Luckily, I ran the tape to preview the end. We live on a farm; they understand about things dying--to the extent they can at their age--; and they have respect for guns but cannot handle them. I was not prepared for this level of anti gun material from Mr. Paulsen. We are liberal democrats and though not members of the NRA crowd, we do respect the desire--not the need or right--to possess guns. The age of the reader really needs to be taken into account when recommending this book.
Not worth the time it took to read it. - R - MI
I did like the description of the making of the gun, I thought my son might like this book because of that. Then the propaganda starts.
The people who like the gun or any guns are portrayed as stupid, callous individuals , (obviously never to have checked the gun to see if it held a ball was not to bright.)
Fear mongering (your neighbor could have a gun on his wall that will kill you), This book is aimed at preteens and teens.
I will not be buying it ,(read a library copy), or recommending it to my son or anyone else.
I didn't realize Gary Paulson was into propaganda.
The cryptic ending where the gun is almost human waiting to inflict more harm was pretty annoying.
A Masterful Writer Turned Cheap Propagandist - William F. Wood, Jr. - Oxford, AL. USA
This book was hande me by a good friend (with a smirk) who knew of my hobby of building rifles much like the central "character" of this little tome. Paulsen uses the skills acquired in authoring volumes of young adult fiction to preach the agenda - guns are bad, to be in the presence of one instantly will "taint"' you much like a piece of radioactive material, and no matter how beautiful and superbly crafted, association wih it can only lead to DEATH.... All who are associated with it die, most horribly. About half way through the slim little volume, one begins to catch on - Paulson is instructing the impressionable young audience with a piece of propaganda. He uses all the skilled writer's gifts: Making the owners die in very bad states; like the first owner, a frontiersman who joined the American Continental Army only to be "seduced" by the rifle's evil spell, and ends up a sniper; shooting "unsuspecting" British officers in what Paulson hints subtly in a cowardly manner....and who dies of dysentery (which Paulson describes as vividly as possible as wallowing in his own excrement..Using the EEEUUUU!! factor, eh Mr. P?) and the whole sucession of of successive owners, like the itinerant Gun Show Trader, who Paulson describes like a Junkie; addicted to beer, living in a motor home he uses to travel from one Gun Show arena to the next; living a life of a lonely outcast so he can hug his beloved GUNS. (And, of course, no women or significant others in the picture either. Mr. P hints broadly Gun Nuts repel girls - take note teen guys!!) Then Paulson introduces the ridiculous plot device of the 200+ year-old loaded flintlock set off by a stray fireplace spark (in a NEIGHBOR'S House, no less - how's that for projected guilt?) with the ball striking the well-loved and exceptionally talented young man next door decorating the family Christmas tree killing him instantly with a massive head wound Paulson describes in excruciating detail that would make the most meticulous Senior Medical Examiner's report sound like a hasty jotted note. The cheap plot device that insulted me was the description of how the first owner (Remember the dying excrement wallower?) had "arefully packed the flintlock's touch hole with "bear grease" so it would be "waterproof". Well. Mr. Paulson only finished part of his homework - if the touchhole was packed with grease, the deceased owner wouldn't have been able to dig it out inside of a week. Not the way you waterproof a flinter. (BTW - you smear TALLOW around the outside of the pan after loading and priming. The 17th century shooters did exactly the same thing) No matter how well it was protected, the powder in an antique flint firearm will ALWAYS be "dead" and will not burn. How do I know? In 35+ years of running a gun shop, I've dug original heavily oxidised balls out of more than one 100+ year old muzzleloader. And, I was curious about it, so I tried it. Several times..Sorry, myth debunked.... But my sorrow about this book is that a piece of subtily and seductively crafted anti-firearm propaganda that has succeeded in landing itself on middle school library shelves. And our side usually cannot get our message of responsibile and law-abiding safe legal use on the school grounds. What a waste by talented man that I understand does really love the outdoors - but not OUR outdoors. No, I didn't buy it - and my friend didn't either. But it made a fine fire in his trash barrel. ....where it belonged.
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