Recent Read: Scythe

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Imagine a world with no hunger, no disease, no misery, no death. Because no death exists naturally, Scythes are designated to “glean” (permanently kill) people, ostensibly to prevent overpopulation.

This is the world in which teens, Citra and Rowan, live. Chosen as apprentice scythes by the ascetic Scythe Faraday, they reluctantly begin to learn the art and craft of death. Scythe Faraday instills in them a reverence and respect for human life and the work of scythes. But not all scythes subscribe to the same philosophy. Elsewhere in the Scythedom, a movement is forming to embrace the violence and death of their work, placing themselves as superior to the unappointed citizenry. Citra and Rowan find themselves caught in the middle of this battle, and must figure out how to come out of it all alive. (Kind of vague I know, but sometimes knowing less gives you more enjoyment in the reading.)

Now, the idea that the entire world would agree that the best way to control the population was to designate a small group of people who are above the law to kill people by whatever method they prefer seems a bit ludicrous. Just the idea that gleaning someone by flame-thrower or bowie knife would be acceptable rather than some universally accepted humane method is hard to believe. And those aren’t the only qualms I have. But if you can buy into the world-building, this is a compelling, thought-provoking read.

The existence of such a truly utopian world prompts all sorts of questions about the nature and purpose of life and death. Is pain required to feel joy? What does life become when there may be no end? But it’s not just philosophical, the story is good. There are unpredictable twists around every corner. It’s filled with action and suspense. The characters are each so distinct, and their arcs drive the story as much as the plot. I couldn't put it down, and I loved the way it made me think.

Just as a note, this is a violent book...and yet, not explicitly so. In his straightforward, unadorned style, Shusterman describes horrifying events, but there is no gore. It's not graphic. If you're worried, compare it to The Hunger Games.

Recent Read: Feed

"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck," says Titus. But that's before he meets Violet, and it's before some weirdo infects their feeds with a virus that causes them to malfunction. A feed is a device implanted directly into the brain which then connects its owner to an internet-like network (like having a smartphone implanted in your brain). Both Titus and Violet end up in the hospital while their feeds are fixed. Titus learns that Violet is unlike any girl he's ever met: she's smart, she likes to trick and play with the feed, she doesn't like to follow trends, and she thinks for herself. Will Titus see through the feed, with Violet at his side?

M. T. Anderson's Feed was pretty excellent. It's a bit creepy how much more like the world of Feed society is today than when Anderson wrote this in 2002/3. I almost quit a couple of chapters in because the language was annoying the crap out of me. Of course, it's supposed to do that because it's partly a satire of the degeneration of language. Once I got a few chapters into Part 2, I was fine. And then I came to appreciate the humor of it. This is more than a commentary about commercialism, consumerism, language, etc (though it is definitely that, too). It's a story about people. It's a story about Titus and Violet. Titus is definitely a flawed protagonist, and that's why I loved his character. His behavior struck me as so authentically human--especially at the end. His and Violet's relationship is very real in both happy and sad ways. I felt like the book was chock-full of ideas and themes prime for analysis (there's so much more than the advertising internet-in-your-head part) without being didactic or condescending (unlike other books I've read). He tells a story, and lets it speak for itself. It seems like there are things happening somewhat peripherally (b/c that's how Titus would experience them) that aren't fully explained, but I don't think the story is about the technicalities of the world-building so it didn't matter to me. This book is funny, dark, frustrating, heart-breaking, interesting, and illuminating.