Voyage Into the Mind of Adam Farmer
By Jonathan Strong
“I am riding the bicycle and I am on Route 31 in Monument, Massachusetts, on my way to Ruttenenburg, Vermont, and I’m pedaling furiously…” Thus begins Adam Farmer’s trek on page 1 of I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier. While this bike trip is rather interesting, throw in therapy sessions with a psychiatrist as every alternating chapter and we now have quite a unique novel.
As a reader of I am the Cheese, one is catapulted into a compelling journey into the mind of Adam Farmer. Cormier leaves the intent of Adam’s bicycle ride unknown as well as the mysterious structure of the novel; one chapter the reader travels through the roads of New England on a bicycle trip the next encountering the memories of this same person on the tape of a psychiatrist.
Throughout the novel, the character of Adam Farmer becomes more and more apparent, as does the brilliance of Cormier’s work. I am the Cheese offers serious commentary on human nature, while a highly readable book. Perhaps what makes this book so interesting is it’s complete originality and uniqueness. Quickly observed is the lack of normalcy in Adam Farmer’s life. The present tense of the bike trip intertwine with the recalling of memories in an unraveling of Adam Farmer’s being.
Most of the commentary on human nature is contained in Adam’s encounters while on his bike trip, which include a savage, attacking dog and a group of mischief seekers who try to knock Adam off of the side of the road with their car.
Although I originally picked up I am the cheese because I found the title humorous, it turned out to be an insightful, interesting novel. Similar to A Catcher in the Rye, it is a very pertinent work to teenagers. Go read it today.
