The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume One: The Pox Party (The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation)
by M. T. Anderson
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Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com
Even the title gives the reader a glimpse of the ostentatious nature of this incredible book. THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION is presented as a young adult title, which should in no way limit it only to the teen audience. Indeed, this book will be a challenge for many high school students -- a challenge well worth the effort.
M.T. Anderson immediately immerses his reader in the flowery, pretentious language sp...more
Even the title gives the reader a glimpse of the ostentatious nature of this incredible book. THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION is presented as a young adult title, which should in no way limit it only to the teen audience. Indeed, this book will be a challenge for many high school students -- a challenge well worth the effort.
M.T. Anderson immediately immerses his reader in the flowery, pretentious language sp...more
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
adult and teen readers
Fantastic literature; one of my top books of all time,
I am blown away by the brilliant, lush style and more brilliant ideas and intellect of this coming-of-age and bildungsroman novel. I was delighted by the mystery of it and the growing horror, how the limited point of view of the little hero worked as he gradually makes his discoveries about the realities of his world. It reminded me of The "Handmaid's Tale: A Novel", which I have used as a textbook when teaching teenagers. I...more
I am blown away by the brilliant, lush style and more brilliant ideas and intellect of this coming-of-age and bildungsroman novel. I was delighted by the mystery of it and the growing horror, how the limited point of view of the little hero worked as he gradually makes his discoveries about the realities of his world. It reminded me of The "Handmaid's Tale: A Novel", which I have used as a textbook when teaching teenagers. I...more
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Read in April, 2007
sweet jesus, i have never been so anxious for a book to be done as i was with this one. i listened to the audiobook and it just seemed interminable! ugh! the language is very…. gothic and high and oh, i just hated it! here’s the thing i’ve decided about m.t. anderson. he has really great premises to his books (like in “feed” where it’s in the future and everyone’s brains are jacked into the internet, or “game of sunken places” where two boys have to play a “game” to save th...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone
Octavian Nothing is a slave boy owned by a group of rationalist philosophers living in Revolutionary War-era Boston. Slowly, we learn that Octavian's upbringing, characterized by a rigorous classical education and musical training (in which he excels) regular measurment of such bodily functions as his bowel movemements, are all part of a disturbing experiment to determine whether or not people of African descent are inferior to whites. Octavian comes to realize this as well, and in the course of...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
no one. No, wait--someone bedridden for 6 months who therefore won't miss the lost time.
I admit right off the bat, this one-star rating isn't completely fair. My sister has this thing about books. If she starts it, she mustmustmust finish it, no matter how horrid she finds it to be. That, say I, is a stupid rule.
Why waste my valuable time reading something boring or awful or just plain yucky, when I could be reading something wonderful that makes me laugh or makes me think or is just downright entertaining?
I wanted to like Octavian Nothing. I listened to about an hour and a...more
Why waste my valuable time reading something boring or awful or just plain yucky, when I could be reading something wonderful that makes me laugh or makes me think or is just downright entertaining?
I wanted to like Octavian Nothing. I listened to about an hour and a...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommended to LeAnn by:
Donald Maass Web siterecommends it for: Older YA, adult, historical fiction readers
First of all, this isn't an easy book to read in many ways so I caution against introducing it too soon. It really is a book aimed at older teens and adults. The diction is old-fashioned, the vocabulary is complex, the storytelling is dramatic, but not movie-like, and the subject matter is disturbing and intense. In some places, the reader needs to be mature and patient enough to allow Octavian's story to be told while another character provides insight into the mindset and beliefs of those who ...more
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Read in January, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in November, 2007
I don’t really know what to say about this book. I kind of hated it. It went on and on and on and on. I was intrigued and disgusted and infuriated all at the same time. I appreciated the teeny bit of good that happened at the end on Octavian’s behalf, but there was so much vile filth that was done to him and his mother that made me want to retch. Do I care enough to read Vol. 2 if/when it comes out? I don’t know. I guess it depends on if I’m ever in the mood to read it if/when I happen t...more
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Read in March, 2008
I was completely intrigued by the idea of this book--a young black boy who grows up during the American Revolution with a classical education believing he and his mother are royalty discovers that he is the subject of an experiment to prove that Africans are of lesser intellect than whites. Yet when I first started reading this book, the language was so reminiscent of 18th century writing I had to read in college that I wondered how horrible it would be to read this entire book. However, I soo...more
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Read in December, 2007
The only reason I read (or listened) to this book was because it won the freakin' National Book Award for children's literature. The only reason I finished it is because it's only seven CDs. It started out incredibly slow and boring, crescendoed into flat-out dull, before ending with a surprise twist that gave me newfound respect for the author and the story. The passages that really set me back were the long stretches of story told through letters by Revolutionary War soldiers.
I just so hap...more
I just so hap...more
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Read in May, 2007
This is a magnificent and disturbing work, and it's clear to me why it won the National Book Award and was a runner-up for the Printz. It starts out so strangely that it almost feels like a gothic fantasy, but as it progresses the context becomes clear, and it's revealed to be an historical novel set during the time of the American Revolution.
Octavian has been raised by his mother (reputed to be an African princess) and a strange household of scientists. He is himself a scientific experiment...more
Octavian has been raised by his mother (reputed to be an African princess) and a strange household of scientists. He is himself a scientific experiment...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
american "history" buffs, everyone else
Although this book is marketed to young adults, it is definitely sophisticated enough both in form and content to satisfy adult tastes. The novel focuses on the experiences of a black youth named Octavian and his mother, a former African princess. Set just before the Revolutionary War, the story revolves around Octavian's journey towards self-discovery. As a young boy, Octavian and his mother are kept isolated from the outside world by the College of Lucidity, a group of philosophers, scientists...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone with high reading skills
This book is a perfect and superb example of the highest writing skill. Even if you read and do not like this book, it is impossible to deny M.T. Andersons incredible writing talents. The genre of this book is historical fiction, set in the time before the Revolutionary War when Parliament in England began to terrorize the colonies of America with taxes and tariffs. The book begins almost mysteriously, with vague references to the narrator and the life going on around him. The story plot exp...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
fans of historical fiction and philosopher societies
In the name of science, men do ridiculous and emotionally-removed things in order to pursue a point. In the name of politics, men do horrible things and overlook their hypocrisy.
This was the first fictional slave narrative that I've really enjoyed in quite some time. Most historical fictions pre-dating the Emancipation Proclomation tend to go over the same old ground and are really just an excuse for a publisher to update their catalog with a new product. This book: totally and completely di...more
This was the first fictional slave narrative that I've really enjoyed in quite some time. Most historical fictions pre-dating the Emancipation Proclomation tend to go over the same old ground and are really just an excuse for a publisher to update their catalog with a new product. This book: totally and completely di...more
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Read in April, 2008
Friends, it would be difficult to overstate my vexation upon the finishing of this allegedly excellent tome. In an effort to emulate Mr. Sharp, I shall essay to enumerate the difficulties the beset me during those long days in which I did traverse the pages of the manuscript. A) My head ached in a most alarming fashion. B) A strange desire to hurl myself off a bridge, or some such other edifice of sufficient moment, possessed me.
I cannot in good conscience recommend this title, unless th...more
I cannot in good conscience recommend this title, unless th...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
Ben, Michelle
Disturbing, sad, thoughtful, and quite surprising when you got into as I did... without any prior knowledge or synopsis. I hadn't read so much as the back summary.
One of those books you feel weird saying you "loved", because who loves anything about slavery? But it was good. Only point that sort of drudged on for me was the third section, which was composed of letters from various men who had become acquainted with Octavian. While I can understand why it was done in that way (Octav...more
One of those books you feel weird saying you "loved", because who loves anything about slavery? But it was good. Only point that sort of drudged on for me was the third section, which was composed of letters from various men who had become acquainted with Octavian. While I can understand why it was done in that way (Octav...more
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Read in December, 2007
I wish I could give this 2.5 stars. Like Octavian, I feel a tad betrayed by the director of my story. The book started off slowly but after a few chapters I was hooked. The ending, however, was a tad drawn out, and the built-up suspense of ominous reminiscing at the beginning of the novel ("if I knew then..." etc) never seemed to reach a full climax. No other historical fiction of the revolutionary war has ever dealt with the irony of the patriots and their slaves, so this receives...more
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Read in May, 2007
Enlightenment philosophy, race, medicine, history of the American revolution...MTA pulls it all into this strange and engaging (strengaging?)YA novel crammed with darkness, lightness, an unforgettable narrator. I wouldn't call the plot "realistic," although MTA draws upon documented historical events, characters, places. But what the book does portray quite vividly is the scent of the real, of the past moment in its present-tense form (one of the most compelling aspects of archival wor...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Long Review
Octavian is a black boy living before and in the Revolutionary War era. He and his mother , who was a princess in Africa, live in the Novanglican College of Lucidity, a place home to a group of philosophers, scientists, and artists who teach them both everything they know. He is treated very well by the gentlemen at the College but there is a room they always tell him never to enter or he will be severely punished. When he finaly gets the courage to sneak in he finds out the roll he plays in ...more
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Read in January, 2008
Octavian lives in a large, sumptuous house and is educated in the classics by scholars in Greek and Latin. Rarely does he go out and about in the town, but is rather encouraged to remain isolated, playing his violin. However, the background to his sonatas is the disquiet of revolution; the colonies of America have begun to rebel against the crown. At a time when Octavian is focused on learning rational philosophy, and measuring his own bodily waste in the name of science, he does not know what t...more
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