FUN CAMP by GABE DURHAM
there's this preconceived notion that adolescence and innocence and all of the childlike qualities get left behind after a long summer at sleepaway camp (not to be confused with the 1983 horror classic 'sleepaway camp' which is absolutely nothing like FUN CAMP by gabe durham. this book is not of the horror genre. it's heartbreaking and insightful, but there's nothing horrific about it. do not be mistaken). parents send their kids to camp and their kids come back with periods and pimples and an extra 4 inches added to their height. they come back with questions.
there's something comforting about the stories and memories one can gain from attending summer camp. it's a place you can always have to think back on and remember the lake you used to skip rocks across at dawn or the mess hall you had your first kiss in front of. being so close to nature and trees and the rest of the outdoors can be refreshing, but the most amazing part of it all is that everything around you is growing, just like you. that's what durham makes us realize with his first full-length scrapbook of prose and letters home.
durham presents the chapters in FUN CAMP by using days of the week to separate and illustrate the different monologues, letters, rules and lists that campers and counselors have complied over the wonder-filled summer. though most of these don't last longer than a page, durham successfully created and wrote thoughtful, hysterical, and sometimes jarring pieces to show the development of his characters. by the time you get to sunday morning and the book is nearly over, you get that 'fuck, it's almost monday' feeling except it's not because it's almost monday (or maybe it is), it's because FUN CAMP has ended.
the many voices in FUN CAMP each have their own stories to tell, like billy, who writes short, almost satirical letters to his mom. we get to see billy's development throughout the pages, from an immature boy booming with questions, to william, a completely new person who writes the most formal letters i've ever seen. one of his first letterings to mom is:
Dear Mom,
I've learned four times as many knots in half a week at camp as you taught me in a decade!
Love,
Billy
so, yeah, billy sounds like a little shit, doesn't he? and about halfway through the book, he writes again:
Dear Mom,
Though a tactical failure, the Vietnam War really was waged with admirable intentions. Eager to hear your thoughts.
Billy
the love's start to disappear and billy begins writing out his full name along with his cabin number. this feels disturbing. this is growing up.
before i read FUN CAMP i think i knew how big of an impact summer camp made on those who were lucky enough to attend it, but i could never picture the changes a camper went through, or understand how they felt about the big dipper. whenever i heard people talk about their experiences at summer camp, i couldn't feel excited for them because i couldn't find a relation between their upbringing and mine. but because of durham's words and imagination, i was able to go there for a little while. i didn't need to go anywhere to experience FUN CAMP because the book was camp, except without the warm fuzzies written to me or sending letters home to mother.
Dear Mom,
Let us not fear death. There is too much to do while yet on this earth.
Billy
when it's all over, when everyone is getting picked up by their families and saying goodbye to the friends and relationships they've made throughout the summer, there's nothing left to do besides think about where you'll be in 75 years, wondering what that nerd devon is up to, the one who made tad, the coolest kid at camp, laugh his ass off. you think back, questioning your choices and whether or not the girl you fell for during the first summer remembered your name now.
FUN CAMP is valuing youth before it turns into something unrecognizable. it's a daughter asking her mother the best way to get over a crush because unrequited love lasts longer than one summer. it's questioning how deep the deepest part of the lake is and if there's any buried treasure hidden under the surface. it's waiting for next summer, for the new campers and some of the old ones who haven't gone away to college just yet.
buy FUN CAMP from publishing genious here
find out more about gabe here
review by: beyza ozer