3 posts tagged “dystopia”
What can be said about this book that hasn't been already?
Chilling. The most disturbing thing to me personally was the idea that the way to kill humanity is to attack the structure and vocabulary of language.
Orwell's novel is the most complete vision of dystopia that I've ever read. It's a masterpiece.
Everyone should read it...preferably after high school.
Chilling. The most disturbing thing to me personally was the idea that the way to kill humanity is to attack the structure and vocabulary of language.
Orwell's novel is the most complete vision of dystopia that I've ever read. It's a masterpiece.
Everyone should read it...preferably after high school.
Never Let Me Go is not on my official book list for the year, but I've been curious about it for a while. I wondered why there is so little information about the plot available. After reading it I understand why. The whole plot is suspended from the idea that a group of private school children are "very special." I think I was about half way through the book before I understood where it was going.
The rest of this will be vague as I don't want to give too much away, and while it's not a topic I'm really interested in, this book found a way to explore the topic that was very fresh--even frightening realistic. I'm as liberal as the next person, but this book gave me pause.
The real beauty and power of this work is in the author's ability to tell the story without comment on the subject matter or even having the character's comment on it.
And finishing this book in Las Vegas somehow made it seem all the more plausible.
The rest of this will be vague as I don't want to give too much away, and while it's not a topic I'm really interested in, this book found a way to explore the topic that was very fresh--even frightening realistic. I'm as liberal as the next person, but this book gave me pause.
The real beauty and power of this work is in the author's ability to tell the story without comment on the subject matter or even having the character's comment on it.
And finishing this book in Las Vegas somehow made it seem all the more plausible.
In college I was taking a philosophy class and happened to watch the movie Trigger Effect. It's not a memorable movie but it stunned me because I was absorbed in trying to understand Hobbes's State of Nature. Suddenly it all made sense. I wonder if some student out there is having the same experience with this book. (The Road is vastly superior to Trigger Effect in case you're wondering.)
But the fact that society is based on two things: people and trust--that's the same message in all three. Of course, that led to all kinds of thoughts about how I live in a place with three main rules: never admit you're wrong, take as much as you can from everyone in every situation, and patience is a vice. And I wondered just how close Connecticut is to full on cannibalism.
OK, my personal nightmares aside, I did find this book haunting. I have been thinking about things--birds and food and aspirin and the general point of life--for days now in a new light.
But the ending...I don't think this book could have an adequate end. There's no point if the characters die, right? And if everything works out in the end it's just a cheesy cliche. I think the author did the best he could in light of this horrible corner he painted himself into, but the ending just didn't quite work for me.
But the fact that society is based on two things: people and trust--that's the same message in all three. Of course, that led to all kinds of thoughts about how I live in a place with three main rules: never admit you're wrong, take as much as you can from everyone in every situation, and patience is a vice. And I wondered just how close Connecticut is to full on cannibalism.
OK, my personal nightmares aside, I did find this book haunting. I have been thinking about things--birds and food and aspirin and the general point of life--for days now in a new light.
But the ending...I don't think this book could have an adequate end. There's no point if the characters die, right? And if everything works out in the end it's just a cheesy cliche. I think the author did the best he could in light of this horrible corner he painted himself into, but the ending just didn't quite work for me.
