I’ve been
doing a lot of reading over the summer. It was a nice change of pace since
during the school year I’m doing so much heavy reading all the time, and I have
to worry about remembering and understanding as much of it as I possibly can.
Devouring book after book for no other reason than escapism was just what the
doctor prescribed. All this reading turned me on to a few books that were
interesting enough for me to want to critique. I’m thinking this will be the
first in a few series of posts. Brace yourselves, because even I wasn’t
anticipating how much I would have to say once I sat down to dissect why I
liked or didn’t like certain books.
My dad
turned me on to this new book, around which there seems to be a fair amount of
hype. It’s called the Bone Season by a breakout author named Samantha Shannon,
a 21-year-old Oxford graduate.
Here is the article he sent me:
She’s been signed to Bloomsbury Press, the same publishing
company that brought us Harry Potter and they're already hailing her and her
book as the next big thing. It’s already been compared to Harry Potter and
Hunger Games. I’ll let the article fill you in on the rest of the details.
Needless to say that after reading this, I was more than a little curious. This
book caught my attention for two reasons: 1) J.K. Rowling was one of my heroes
when I first decided I wanted to write. I even went so far as to tell my grade
8 teacher that one day I would be more famous (imagine my chagrin 8 years
later), and 2) Samantha Shannon is basically in the same circumstances as me.
She is the first big author on the book scene with which I actually have
something in common.
So, when her
book came out on August 20th, I made a point of stopping by the
bookstore to pick it up on my way home from work. The next night I was finished
the book. What did I think? Did the book live up to everything that has been
said about it? Truth is, I had a mixed reaction from start to finish, and here
is why. (For those of you who still plan to read it, I give fair warning - SPOILER ALERT).
The story
falls under a category I call, for lack of a better term, a faux original.
Strictly speaking, it’s true that no one has ever produced a story quite like
this before. It takes a unique spin on clairvoyance. She has divided and categorized
clairvoyants into a very well defined hierarchy of abilities, which outlines
how powerful they are and exactly how they can affect other people and the
world in general. She has also made them into a persecuted minority in her
world. Regardless, all the other elements that come into play in the book, I
have definitely seen before. The setting is in a future London in the year
2059, and it is in the grips of yet another totalitarian government interested
above all in self-promoting propaganda. The writing style is eerily reminiscent
of the Hunger Games, which would usually be high praise coming from me but in
this case, I don’t mean it as a compliment. A friend once told me that she had a
hard time reading the Hunger Games because the short sentences drove her mad.
While I didn’t have the same experience reading Collins’ style, I finally
understood what she meant when I stared reading the Bone Season. The sentences
are too abrupt and they favour action over description or introspection a
little too much. In my opinion, Collins’ managed a good balance between artful
storytelling and fast paced action. Shannon, well, didn’t. To illustrate my
point a little better, take these two passages:
“I can’t stop looking at Rue, smaller than ever, a baby animal
curled up in a nest of netting. I
can’t bring myself to leave her like this. Past harm, but seemingly utterly
defenceless. To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so vulnerable in
death, seems inadequate. It’s the Capitol I hate, for doing this to all of
us….I want to do something right here, right now, to shame them, to make them
accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there
is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than just a piece
in their Games. And so am I.” (Hunger Games 236-37)
***********
“I went up to the upper floor and dressed in my new uniform:
yellow tunic, yellow anchor on the gilet. A bright, sunshine yellow visible
from a mile off. 40 the coward. 40 the quitter. In a way I liked it. It showed
I’d gone against Nashira’s orders. I’d never wanted to be red.
I
went back to his chambers – slowly, thinking. I still didn’t know if I wanted
to organize a prison break, but I did want to leave. I would need supplies for
the journey home. Food, water. Weapons. Hadn’t he said the red flower could
hurt them?...There must be guards stationed outside during the day, but I could
slip past them. I had my ways. And no matter how Nashira Sargas had classified
me, I was no yellow-jacket. I was the Pale Dreamer.
It
was time to show her.” (The Bone Season 330).
I don’t know
about anyone else, but reading the second passage for the first time, I
immediately saw the parallels. There is the oppressive force trying to break
and use the voyants (short for clairvoyants) for their own purposes in a
similar way the Capitol treats the tributes. There is the classification of
voyants and tributes according to their abilities. Major themes in both are,
first, the concern with appearances and, second, a preoccupation with spectacle.
The biggest parallel, however, and the reason I chose these two passages to
compare, is that both these scenes depict a certain moment in time where both
protagonists harden their resolve and choose to make a stand against the forces
that are exploiting, oppressing and manipulating them. This is when they decide
to assert their individuality and autonomy. However, despite that similarity,
the two passages read very differently, at least to me. Collins' passage is
focused, precise, and right to the point. It conveys Katniss' anger,
desperation and, above all, the cruelty of the circumstances into which she has
been forced. Shannon's passage, in comparison, reads as much more disorganized and
far less resolute. Paige is still undecided despite having faced similar
atrocities as Katniss and, presumably, being pushed to the same kind of
breaking point. Shannon gives Paige a world, a situation, and a history that
gives her the potential to be every bit the relentless female lead that Katniss
is, but - in my opinion - Paige falls short of that every single time.
I have very
specific reasons for why Paige does not come close to being the same compelling
heroine I find Katniss to be, but in the spirit of avoiding a novel sized post
(of which I am not only entirely capable of doing, but also more than willing
to do), I'm going to leave it here for today. Stay tuned for an upcoming
explanation of why I chose to compare The Bone Season to Hunger Games in
particular, and also an depth analysis of what the HG passages achieves and the
BS passage does not - in true English nerd style, of course.
To Be
Continued...
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