A few weeks ago, I finished Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World. I decided to start reading another one of his books this week. It is very different from his previous novel- almost exactly opposite, in fact. In this novel called Island, the main character, John, is given a third option beside being exiled or participating in an "experiment" after he is caught by the government. In the novel, he is able to go to a utopian island where everything about society seems perfect. I know what you're probably thinking. This "perfect society" never seems to quite work out, does it? But somehow, this book seems different. There's nothing, at least on the outside, that would indicate that anything unusual is going on. In Huxley's original novel, society has progressed- and yet they seem to have taken a step backward. People in that society lived short lives, filled with a fake sense of happiness. They took drugs to escape the real world, and shortened their lives as a result. And they didn't have to think on their own, save for the seven world controllers.The constant indoctrination and violent drug use in the "Brave New World" is replaced with knowledge and learning in this island.
"World controller" seems like a big title, but in reality, even they have to follow the rules of the society they have set up. Mustapha Mond, the Resident World Controller for Europe, is one of the few people who actually knows what's going on. And he refuses to do anything about it. Mustapha Mond is actually very similar to Captain Beatty from Fahrenheit 451. Mond is well versed in literature from Cicero to Shakespeare and knows much about art and science. Himself a scientist, he knows that the world could be a place of freedom. He makes the argument, however, that such a world is not the best possible outcome. Instead, he is part of a massive organization that forces everyone to lose their individuality for a greater, utilitarian, ideal.
There are a few places in this fictitious world that have not yet been colonized by the World State, and this remote island is one of them. They live life completely separate from the rest of the modern world, and limit the use of technology. At first glance, the whole concept seems a bit simplistic, but by looking at the book under greater scrutiny, it is clear that Huxley put a lot of thought into his ideas. (If only he could have put the same degree of thought into his writing as well...)
I have not progressed very far through this book yet, but I suspect that there is something more sinister going on here in this seemingly utopian society. If everything is perfect throughout the book, there would be no way for a plot to exist. Unless, of course, the author just got lazy and didn't include much plot at all. I doubt that Huxley would do that, judging from his other famous novel. I think I'll have to read on to find out more about the story.
The great thing about mathematics is that if you use the same equation, you'll get out the same answer every time. It doesn't matter how many times it's used, or who is trying to use it. Well, from my recent literary exploits, I can confidently say that this is definitely not true in writing. Wait, I think I'm getting ahead of myself here. This week, I started reading Anthony Horowitz's new novel called Russian Roulette. It, for the most part, is the (fictional) autobiography of a man named Yassen Gregorovich, one who grew up with a miserable childhood and went on to become one of the most infamous criminals in the world. Seeing as the folks at Goodreads have already written a summary, I'll save you the trouble of reading another one here. When you first meet Yassen, he seems like an innocent little boy from a tiny village who has no idea how mean the world can be (His name is actually Yasha. It's a long story). When the existence of a covert biological weapons factory in the secluded Russian village of Estrov is leaked, the authorities are adamant that there should be no survivors. According to the official story, the village never existed. It was completely uninhabited. And there was no factory of any kind. Luckily, Horowitz saves you from the technical details and gives you a stunning first person narrative of the only known living survivor.
"Never tell anyone you came from Estrov. Never use that word again" (Horowitz 48).
Out of all the reviews you can read on the internet, the Guardian puts it the best. Their anonymous reviewer suggests that "Russian Roulette is a mystery, just like it's protagonist". This line essentially sums up everything that one can conclude when first picking up the book. Yassen is a person of so many contradictions that it is hard to decide who he truly is. Oh, but I forgot... I was going to tell you why the same ingredients can make very different characters. If you've ever read the original series of novels, you might recognize that their protagonist, Alex Rider, is remarkably similar to the elusive, yet haunting antagonist, Yassen Gregorovich. Both of them see their parents killed before they turn 15. Both of them have family members who are part of secret government schemes. Both witness the deaths of their family members, and both of them come to realize the terrible nature of the world after a horrible incident occurs. How did one of them become a hero and the other become the only antagonist to live for every book in the series? If you haven't read any of the books, you can think of it like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. They came from very similar situations, yet managed to receive their circumstances completely differently. After Yassen's best friend, Leo, dies of the biological weapons plant's disease after coming to Moscow he recounts that "In a way, I think I am writing this to Leo. I have decided to keep a record of my life because I suspect my life will be short...But I sometimes think of him and I would like him to understand what it was that made me what I am. After all, living as a boy of fourteen in a Russian village, it had never been my intention to become a contract killer" (Horowitz 70). The first thing that struck me about these lines was how humane he seems. After all, he makes money killing people! In these rare moments of insight, we are able to learn more about Yassen's character.
The train station where Yassen first arrives in Moscow
At the point I'm at in the book, Yassen is like a little time bomb waiting to explode. He has seen every thing taken away from him, and now he wants to get even with the society that has left him nothing. When he is captured by the authorities, he writes, "I made my first escape attempt that same day. I knew I couldn't stay here. I wasn't going to play any more of their sadistic games and I certainly wasn't going the swallow their food..." (Horowitz 165).
Afraid. Confused. Miserable.
Yassen has found himself in a world that cares little about the victims of the destruction of his village. In fact, it's nowhere to be found on any map. There is nobody who cares about his existence (save for the thieves that take his money). In fact, within a few short months, Yassen is robbed penniless and starved to weakness and kidnapped by a malevolent and corrupt business tycoon. I know you might be tempted to roll your eyes and dismiss this as another sad tale that ends badly- but this isn't that kind of story. You actually know from the start that the protagonist (or shall we call him the antagonist?) will live until the end of the book. And he will have changed. For the worse. Much worse.
That is where the uniqueness of this book comes in. We've all read books where bad characters reform themselves and the good ones die of sad deaths- but how many times do you see the very person you're rooting for throughout the story turn rotten on you? What a horrible trick, Mr. Horowitz. We've all seen our share of books and even more books that tell you not to read them. But this ingenious narrative certainly takes the cake.
The book trailer (first chapter only) is above.
This trailer is in no way representative of the book,
I don't particularly like the section on the blogging packet where you have to write the one book that you are reading. It makes the assumption that you are going to pick up one book, read it all the way through, and then start another one. And I tend to read about four books at the same time.
While I was reading Brave New World, I also started a drastically different book by Anthony Horowitz. Many of you might know Horowitz for his Alex Rider series- but his new novel, "Russian Roulette" is written for an older (high school) audience. This new prequel in the series diverges from the typical plot structure; it is mostly written in the first person, and rather than focusing on the child espionage agent himself, it details the life of Yassen Gregorovich.
Yassen is an interesting individual. He is a ruthless contract killer who was a primary and secondary antagonist for much of the original series. Yet, he comes off as strangely humane. The story begins as Gregorovich opens his laptop the day before the first book in the series, Stormbreaker. He inserts a flash drive- with multi-layer encryption of course- and begins to read his personal diary. It already sounds so strange that the most elite assassin in the world would keep a diary. But it keeps getting stranger. Yassen's personal tale begins with his life in a small Russian village where he witnesses his father, mother, and best friend getting killed by an outbreak at a biological weapons factory. Determined to keep the incident out of the news, the Soviet authorities attempt to destroy the village and all of its inhabitants. Yassen manages to escape with his friend Leo, who death is detailed by a dreadfully grim description.
Eventually, Yassen has to find his way in the city of Moscow. He is quickly robbed and tricked by a gang of local thieves, and feels that he has no hope left in the world.
I'm only about half way through the book, but I can easily understand why Horowitz took so long to write this novel compared to the original books. It's much deeper emotionally and plot-wise, along with its much higher level diction and syntax. In fact, the first person narration is so much better than his usual utilitarian style that I wonder why he didn't write all of his books this way. You can see the contrast within the first two chapters. The first is written in his traditional style with fast paced sentences, mounting suspense, and more allusions than you could possibly imagine. The second chapter is from the mind of Yassen Gregorovich, which gives it a sentimental and nostalgic tone. Here are two excerpts:
Chapter 1: "[The Guard] was quite a bit older than Yassen, probably an ex-convict recruited from a local prison. And he was scared. He tried to make light of it. 'I won't do that again!' he said. 'No,' Yassen replied. 'You won't'. The Beretta was already in his hand. He shot the man in the chest, propelling him backward into the darkness and the sea below. It had been necessary to set an example. There would be no further clumsiness that night." (Horowitz 11)
Chapter 2: "The real nightmare was behind me. It was almost impossible to think of my village and the people who had lived there. Mr. Vladimov smoking his cigarettes until the stubs turned his fingers black. Mrs. Bek, who ran the village shop and put up with everyone's complaints when there was nothing on the shelves. The twins, Irina and Olga, so alike that we could never tell them apart but was always arguing at each others throats. My grandmother. My parents. My friends. They had all gone as if they had never existed, and nothing would remain of them, not even their names. Never tell anyone you came from Estrov. Never use that word again." (Horowitz 48).
I'm not sure how the rest of the book will turn out, seeing as this is the first time Horowitz is trying out this new style. But so far, it's looking like it will be pretty interesting.
When I wrote my last blog post, it looked like I would finish my book this week. In my defense, I did make an attempt to read, but there were too many other things to do each day. Maybe I should give you some background first, since you probably have no idea what I am talking about. For the last four days, I have been at a national science competition in Washington D.C., presenting a paper alongside three other representatives from Ohio. I thought I could probably get most of my homework done on the first day, but we seem to have something to do every spare moment; government speakers (all of whom are described as "very special"), team building activities (at the end I don't think I even knew everyone's names), science festivals, paper sessions... you get the idea.
It's surprising how many people have this idea that we have invented everything worth inventing. They somehow buy into this concept that we basically know everything about everything and it isn't worth knowing anything more. Well, this competition really opened my eves toward how little we actually understand about the universe, and how much work still has to be done to help some of the poorest people in the world. In my book, Brave New World, the modernized world has completely ignored this part of the population, leaving them to live like the year is 1000 B.C., themselves living in a fake life in which they constantly give themselves a false sense of pleasure. You probably didn't see that connection coming.
Luckily, not everyone in the book is completely satisfied with this seemingly perfect life. Bernard Marx, one of the main characters, suddenly decides he wants to visit the "savage reservation" to see how they live. In this village, people become old, they get hurt, and have true feelings. They have children who are not part of a grand science experiment, and have no need for drugs to keep them afloat. When he sees this situation, he remarks that "I agree in the Savage in finding civilized humanity too easy, or as he put it, not expensive enough" (Huxley 159).
Unfortunately for Bernard, the government is taking notice. And knowing these kinds of books, I predict that by the end of the book, he will either be dead, brainwashed, or in a forced labor camp.
So far, this book has turned out to be interesting, but the characters just seem too underdeveloped. It's hard to really say who the main characters are until about half the book is over, and even these characters lack anything that makes you feel a connection towards them.
It's time to get on my plane back home, so I guess that's it for today.
There are a significant number of people who completely dismiss dystopian literature because it "wouldn't really happen". Well of course it wouldn't really happen. That's the point. Just because there may not be laws against the ownership of books, it doesn't stop Fahrenheit 451 from being relevant to censorship in our own society. And although there are no omnipresent telescreens watching our every move, 1984 is still relevant in our current condition of government surveillance. In the same way, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley plays upon a single theme to create an interesting story of a society that wants to be controlled by their government. Each character individually may not have the same depth as realistic novels, but put together, they are a small version of the society itself.
Fortunately, it doesn't take a detective to figure out the theme in Brave New World. It's omnipresent, right from the first page. In their pursuit for a perfect society, this fictional government has made indoctrination through propaganda their way of staying in power. Huxley wants us to be aware that we should think for ourselves and reason even when an authority says otherwise. He wants us to be able to filter the information that we are fed to make a world that is better for everyone.
Just think about all of the mass advertising in the media that you encounter on a daily basis. When people are told something enough times, they start to believe there might just be some truth to that statement. We constantly consume media that spoon feeds us with the messages that will be beneficial to certain companies or political groups. You may wonder why nobody says a word against the government in Brave New World. After all, wouldn't someone have some sense within this society of chaos? Well, it's for the same reason that nobody says a word when we are being fed consumerist messages on a daily basis. It seems like everything is already perfect. Why disturb the order of society when everyone is happy with their situation?
This kind of fake happiness has engulfed the people of Brave New World. They love their easy life in which they do what they are told to artificially make themselves seem happy.
We tend to complain a lot about everything we have to do. But if everything was decided for us, life would be much, much worse.
Fahrenheit 451 presented a dystopian society in which books were banned. Compared to the society in the new book I am reading, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Fahrenheit 451 seems like a utopia. To put it into perspective, this novel was published in 1932- that's years before other dystopian literature such as 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. Huxley's world is startlingly similar to the place that our society is headed toward. It is a society where the universal government keeps its people slaves- but not through violence, intimidation, or laws. Instead, they condition children from birth to think in certain ways. They physiologically manipulate people in the factories where children are produced. Children are sorted into groups- from the smartest Alphas to the lowest Epsilons. These messages include consumerist propaganda, and ideas about each person's place in society. In fact, this future world worships Henry Ford and encourages activities that would be considered horrific in our own world. As the Director of Hatcheries states in the novel, "...at last the child's mind is these suggestions and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. The adult's mind too- all his life long" (Huxley 29).
I believe that this book is supposed to serve as a warning for what society could become if we do not stop greedy governments and corporations from controlling us and taking away are individuality. Huxley did not actually believe any of the things in the book would come true, but wanted us to know what could happen if taken to the extreme. I'm still just at the beginning of this book, but it is already intriguing and entertaining.
I am now completing the Scorch Trials, by James Dashner, and it has turned out to be a much better book than I had expected. The best thing about it is how the author creates suspense- at one moment you think you have everything figured out, and then suddenly that turns out to be a part of something much larger. Many authors often tell you everything you need to know about the characters and the world they live in right away. The Scorch Trials, however, diverges from this formula. Little to nothing is known about WICKED, the organization that is putting the two groups of children into a series of trials to test survival. The few times they are mentioned, people who claim to work for the organization explain that despite the evil sounding acronym, the organization has good motives and is the World in Catastrophe, Kill zone Experiment Department. Upon being "rescued" from the Maze trial, readers are provided with clues as to why the organization exists. They have something to do with a sun flare disease that slowly degrades people until they are no different from any other animals.
This seems strange though, and the sun flare theory might just be a cover-up for something more dangerous going on. There are several holes in the idea that sun flares can somehow give people a disease. First of all, the sun is more than 90 million miles from the earth and has no life at all. What if the WICKED organization truly is what its title describes it as? And what if they are trying to conquer the world by infecting its population? But how does that account for the experiments that are being performed?
Every new possibility in the Maze Runner series opens a new set of questions. I guess I just have to read on to figure out the answers.
In both the real world, and in most good fiction books, characters are shaped by the society they live in. This is a central theme in the Scorch Trials, by James Dashner. Although the book starts off with only 20 known characters who are going through a set of dangerous "trials", the group of children is able to come together and organize themselves to survive the ordeals. From the 50 characters who were placed in the Maze from the last book in the series, only 20 were able to survive. They were then removed from this and after one day of rest were placed in a second test of survival, an enormous flat dessert that gives the book its title.
Readers only get to know three main characters well; Thomas, Newt, and Minho. These three make most of the decisions and are respected by the rest of the boys. In the Maze, despite their young ages, the boys immediately form an organized society when placed in difficult situations. Each person has a job and a set of laws is made. This social structure withers away as soon as they are rescued and given their next task: to cross a 100 mile long scorching hot dessert.
The author, James Dashner, provides readers with several clues as to why this happens. First of all, the characters now know that they are part of a huge experiment, and have started to believe that their fate is pre-determined by the organization that designed the trials. As they are told at the start of the trials, "There are no rules. There are no guidelines... go one hundred miles north and make it to the safe haven" (Dashner, 60). Unlike in the maze, the objective has now been clearly spelled out. By doing this, the determination that the characters used to have has gone away, replaced with the feeling that they are going to perish anyway so they might as well not try to escape.
At the end of the book, I predict that at least some of the characters will manage to get out alive- how else would the author write the third book in the series?
Anyone who's read the Maze Runner knows plot is one of James Dashner's strong points. There are so many twists, turns, and complications that what you think you know one moment could be turned completely upside down the next. But with all of this story line planning it seems that some of the characters may have been forgotten behind. Indeed, many of the characters in the Scorch Trials lack the kind of depth experienced readers may expect, but they do each have distinct personalities. Rather than simply live, the function of each of the characters is to propel the story forward, and to do so the cast of characters one encounters while reading the Maze Runner series tends to be pretty large.
All together, a reader encounters the existence of more than 200 characters, but how many do we really get to know? Somewhere around 5 or 10. It becomes clear pretty quickly that each of these main characters are built around a specific idea, and they tend to stick to it. Only the main character, Thomas, is the lucky individual who is allowed to go through serious change.
Picking up right after the end of the Maze Runner (here is the Wikipedia version in case you've never read the book), we find ourselves among the few boys who survived the ordeals of the Maze. James Dashner quite literally stamps a description on each of their backs so that new readers won't be completely lost- each of the boys finds an identification number and descriptor that explains their role in WICKED's great experiment. That doesn't mean these descriptions are completely accurate though; they are just what the government members believed they saw in each one of the boys.
Immediately, things clear up when it comes to decide what to do. The survivors from the Maze find themselves starving in a room with people on the other side who have contracted a dangerous disease that virtually turns them into monsters. Each of the three main characters who are still alive, Thomas, Minho, and Newt, each want to turn to a very different course of action. The book explains that Thomas thought, "Maybe that door was locked for a reason... something felt wrong with this," (Dashner, 30) Thomas is the voice of reason in difficult times and wants to calmly think of the proper course of action. Minho on the other hand likes to act first and think later. As stated in Chapter 3, Minho wants to quickly find out what lies behind the room: "...they had to go out there and find some answers... 'I'll go first Minho said', and without waiting for a response he walked through the open door, his body vanishing in the gloom almost instantly," (Dashner, 31). Finally, Newt is a natural leader and takes command when encountering difficult situations. When the group finds that a new boy has mysteriously replaced a fellow Glader named Teresa, he is the first one to investigate what happened. Over all, the majority of the characters so far are round but fairly static.
As a final (off topic) note, this is the first time I am reading an e-book, which feels very different than having a physical copy in your hands. What do you prefer to read?
I recently started a new book, the Scorch Trials (sequel to the Maze Runner). I didn't really think that it would be the greatest book ever but I felt obligated to know more about the series than the online summary after reading the first book. Let's see if James Dashner has managed to make the Scorch Trials innovative with plot twists and character revelations that will make it unpredictable. It seems that every science fiction novel, save a few good ones, seems to follow a similar dystopian plot that drag readers into a similar formula.
((cliche flawed characters whose entire story can be described by one adjective) + (future that consists of an all powerful government) + (decomposed version of the US) - (any technological advancement) + (author who is writing a book for the first time))/(revolution and restructuring of society at the end of the book/series)) = 90% of science fiction novels published in the last five years
In fact, I still doubt that the Scorch Trials will divert from this at all. But why am I still reading it? It's like watching half a movie and then stopping and moving to do something else. (actually, as I recall, that did happen today). You only know part of the plot and you're just getting to know the characters- and then suddenly you are pulled out of the fictional universe and back into the real world. Reading the sequel to the Maze Runner will also let me know whether James Dashner had grand story arc planned for his entire narrative or did not know he would write a sequel until the Maze Runner became popular. I think it's going to be the second one.
As I just start the story, I know what to expect which is not very much- but hopefully my expectations will be exceeded. Anyway, the beginning is not all that promising. The "gladers" find themselves back in the actual world, next to a group of people who have just saved them and are now very sick. The Maze is a thing of the past... and now comes a massive desert. Honestly, could the author have been any less original? As far as I can see at the moment is like "The Maze Runner: level 2". (remarkably similar to the second hunger games book which for some reason is very well liked) According to an Amazon reviewer, "There are unexpected twists and turns in every chapter." I'm now on chapter 5 and I have yet to stumble upon a single turn I did not expect. The plot so far seems more like a ride on a train than a roller coaster. Maybe you shouldn't trust the Amazon reviews; probably a good number of them didn't even read the book. Switching out a few characters and changing the setting but keeping the plot the same does not seem very original to me.
Honors English 1b has arrived- which means new blog posts. I have not yet started on a new book, so in this post I will share some information about one of my favorite books from first trimester. This was Volume 1 in the Octavian Nothing series; the Pox Party. The author, M.T. Anderson diverges from his usual science fiction writing in this book and instead turns to historical fiction. Set in the revolutionary war era Boston, Octavian Nothing is a masterpiece in terms of historical accuracy. Grammar and writing conventions seem believable but not so much so that they are unreadable. It is the story of Octavian, a 15 year old African American , boy who is the unknowing centerpiece of a massive social experiment. He grows up in a mansion with dozens of scientists and philosophers funded by an old man named Mr. Gitney. Octavian is taught latin and can play the violin. He learns classical philosophy and is treated like a king. At the same time, he does not know the reality of his position. He is a slave of Mr. Gitney, who is attempting to prove that with education, Octavian can be as intelligent as any European child. As funding runs out, Mr. Gitney has to scramble for money- but can only find it in a curious man named Dr. Sharpe. Sharpe's motives undermine Octavian's good life and force him to do brutal work and ban his education. Eventually Octavian escapes, at which point the entire narrative unfolds. You can read more about the plot here.
As I explained above, one of the best parts of this book is how real everything seems. Part of the story has been "compiled" from Octavian's own accounts, while letters from other main characters make up an entire section of the book. As Octavian finds out his true fate, he is overwhelmed with emotion and torn pages and scratched out words help create the mood. Finally, advertisements and war posters create an atmosphere that makes the story seem right in place with its setting. Some in fact were revealed to be actual posters from the 1700s. Unlike many recent books, the reader is not bored with one single plot that seems to surround a single character. There are several important characters whose own stories are explored within the longer plot, and hints about previous mysteries in the book keep the reader interested. Although not all loose ends were tied up in the end, a sequel gives readers another chance to meet new characters while remaining under the same basic premise. As M.T. Anderson explains in his note at the end of the book, in a perfect world there would be a third book where all the characters come together and live happily ever after- but we do not live in the perfect world, and some of the best characters end up in bad situations at the end of the book. The Pox Party ends on a sad note- but leaves hope for the future.
