Coffee Stained Pages

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I figured The Giver by Lois Lowry was a great book to start with for the DystopYA Reading Challenge since it seems to be one of the most famous books in the genre, has been highly recommended by a number of my internet book buddies and I have always meant to read it.

As the story begins the protagonist Jonas’ community seems almost perfect; its citizens are polite to a tee, are required to talk openly about their feelings to promote emotional wellbeing and seem to be without a care in the world. Gradually more disturbing aspects of the society become apparent; citizens have very little choice over the direction their lives will take; at twelve they are assigned careers and later in life spouses. They do not give birth to their own children, but take medication to suppress their urges and apply to The Committee to be allocated children, who are born by women given the role of Birthmothers. The children never meet their true mothers or know which other children have the same Birthmother as them and each live with a sibling also not related to them by blood in their assigned family unit. Once children move out of their family homes the “parents” go and live with the Childless Adults and after that they live in The House of the Old, where the elderly are looked after, but also physically disciplined when naughty.

Despite all of this people are very content – the only complaint ever made is how hard it is to change any of the society’s rules. The source of this widespread happiness becomes clear when Jonas is chosen as the community’s new Receiver of Memory when he turns twelve and is allocated a career. The Receiver of Memory’s job is to hold all the memories of the past, spanning back prior to the establishment of the community, on the behalf of its citizens, bearing the burdensome pain of wisdom and knowledge of both the good and painful events of the past. The Receiver has this role so that when the community is faced by a problem The Committee can turn to him for advice in light of his knowledge of the past. The current Receiver, an elderly man, becomes The Giver when he begins to train Jonas in preparation for his lonely task and transmits memories to him.

Lowry’s writing is simplistic and direct perfect for younger readers. But while using a stark style Lowry manages not to lose any of the story’s appeal to adults, it almost makes the dark themes more disturbing somehow to have them presented so simply. I’ve read that its suitable for readers aged 8-years-old and up, I’m not too sure about that, as while its easy to read some of it would be a bit too disturbing for readers that age. I think I’d place it as suitable for about 12 and up. I just loved The Giver, I was loath to put it down every time life got in the way; I would have devoured it in one sitting if it has been possible.

Next on the list for the challenge, depending which book I’ve reserved becomes available first:

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

[Cross posted on http://coffeestainedpages.wordpress.com]

Lisa See contrasts sprawling filth, decadence, poverty and glamour against each other in the early chapters of Shanghai Girls, creating an often-shocking picture of Shanghai in the late 30s. “The Paris of Asia” is home to two sisters; May and Pearl, and as the book opens they are living a high life of modelling, boozing, boys, clothes and freedom. See perfectly captures both their complete acceptance of the poverty around them, and the essence of life in Shanghai during this time period, when she describes them as they depart from their rickshaw dressed in handmade, silk cheongsams, pay their shoeless, shirtless rickshaw driver and step around a dead baby on the street as they make their way to sit for a painting.

But their luck turns; soon their father sells them off into arranged marriages to pay off his gambling debts, and later the Japanese attack. The sisters journey from Shanghai, to Hong Kong, to and immigration detention centre called Angel Island, before finally meeting their husbands in America, though not unscathed.

Shanghai Girls is a gripping historical novel that spans so many interesting aspects of World history, from Japan’s attack on China, to the evolving place of Chinese in American society, rise of communism in China, the Korean War and the Red Scare in America. According to See’s afterward, while none of the novel’s main characters are real, some may recognise certain plot points as many events in the books were based on interviews with people living in Shanghai or America during the book’s time frame.

Through See’s books I have learnt about what life has been like for Chinese women in society throughout history; from the 19^th century in The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, back to the 17^th century in Peony in Love and now the mid 20^th century in Shanghai Girls. The novel is yet another engrossing addition to See’s works of historical fiction. Towards the end of Shanghai Girls I felt her writing became a little repetitive, but for the most part it is taut and highly engaging.

Links:

Michelle’s review of Peony in Love by Lisa See

Emily’s review of Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Those who know my reading habits are probably aware I have a great love for dystopic fiction. So I am really going to try to take part in the DystopYA Reading Challenge, which I just stumbled across at Books on the Nightstand. In true totalitarian style there are a whole bunch of rules about participating in the challenge but basically I will have to read "three works of dystopic fiction that were written or published primarily for young adults" before December 31 2009 and blog about each of them. I actually haven't read any YA dystopic fiction before and three is a pretty achievable number so it sounds great to me! Although I also said I would participate in the Everything Austen Challenge and I have yet to read anything for that... I'd better get cracking!

Edit: I just found out there's another dystopic YA reading challenge at Bart's Bookshelf. Both bloggers say its ok to double up and do both so I think I will.

Speaking of dystopias, I saw The Surrogates at the movies today. It has a really interesting concept; basically humans live out their lives through robots. They spend their lives lying on a table, strapped to electronic devices that allow them to see and feel what their robots are doing, giving them the ability to control their appearances through modifying the robot and to remain safely at home at all times. Everyone in mainstream society is reliant on these surrogates, while humans against the practice live on small reservations. It's by no means a perfect film; some parts of the storyline are a bit clunky, but it's definitely worth a look.