"Wising I could drop everything and read this."
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"Is this about boys in today's society? A young warrior doesn't know who he is because he is medicated?"
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by Martha Finley
Found it at google books. Prefer Buffy as a role model. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading
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This seemed way too evil and disturbing for younger readers. But it was an amazing read once you got past the fact that the protagonist was making horrific decisions at such a young age. Of course, perhaps that is believable. It is just hard to imagine a modern teen being so calculating in the face of such trials.
Collins portrays a future in which the rulers of North America (from a capital in the Rockies) control all the other sections of the country, exploiting most of them so that they are left with severe poverty. They run an annual arena which the populace is required to watch on TV. A male and female teen from each sector are drafted and required to participate if no one volunteers to take the victims place. They are forced to fight until only one survivor is left. However, because this is a TV show, the "gamemasters" have ways of making sure the conflict does not slow down. Furthermore, the audience can help out their favorites so that one is constantly working them as well as fighting. Violence and lies are the only hope for life.
I won't give this away except to say that Collins manages to give the reader a glimmer of triumph over tyranny while, at the same time, entangling to the protagonist in enough moral compromise to make the victory questionable.
There is a sequel but my fear is that Collins is more interested in a realistic portrayal of human life in unbearable circumstances than a fictional portrayal of regime change. Not sure if I will read it. ]]>
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Mark wrote: "Deleted earlier update because I overstated page count. " |
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Mark wrote: "This is an excellent book about maintaining moral character in a variety of settings. I knowledge o...more " |
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bookshelves: acquire, to-read
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Mark
read and liked
Doug Jones's
review of Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America, Updated edition:
"I started with this Peter Dale Scott book to get a sense of his tone and handling of a subject before trying his more controversial works. This book turned out to be very careful and fair, almost too fair. Here Scott largely sticks to the Kerry repor...more "
"I started with this Peter Dale Scott book to get a sense of his tone and handling of a subject before trying his more controversial works. This book turned out to be very careful and fair, almost too fair. Here Scott largely sticks to the Kerry repor...more "