By Veronica Roth
4/5
Oh my goodness, I could not put this book down. I read it in less than twenty-four hours and it's a thick book. (Actually, I have to say it's the perfect size. Nice and plump and yet not so thick that it would smash your face in if you dropped it while holding it over your head. Of course, it might give you a bruise but as long as the danger is not life threatening, allowances must be made for plump books. Besides, it would technically be our fault dropping books on our heads. Obviously I don't trust myself when it comes to anvil like books in close proximity to my head.)
Divergent is a dystopian novel (I've read a couple of these the past couple weeks and Divergent has been my favorite so far. That is, if we're not counting Fahrenheit 451. It's an interesting genre.) In this book society has been split into five different factions, each dedicated to upholding one particular virtue: Selflessness, Intelligence, Courage, Peace, or Honesty. On their sixtieth birthday the children of this society must choose which fraction (and virtue) they wish to dedicate their lives to. They may either choose to stay with their parents in the faction they've grown up in, or choose a different faction and separate themselves entirely from their previous lives. A person who is "divergent" shows equal strength in more than one virtue (basically a normal human being, right?) and thus considered dangerous.
What I found fascinating about this book was the idea of dedicating your life to one virtue. It's really thought provoking. Right at the beginning I found myself wondering alongside Tris which faction I would choose if given the choice. I started comparing the value of each virtue; comparing the lifestyles. Which really proves the point doesn't it? The people of this story weren't being forced into submission by an all powerful government (something you see in dystopian novels) they were choosing this life for themselves. (Of course, if they hadn't chosen something bad would most likely have happened, but that aside, THEY WERE CHOOSING) The problem is that all virtues are tied together; out of selflessness comes courage etc. and when we eliminate the other virtues we have an incomplete virtue. The whole point is off. Instead of valuing intelligence as something to be used for the benefit of others, it is used to gain power and riches. Besides which human beings are by nature complicated, their decisions and the conclusions they come to are created by a massive amount of different factors. When we look at a people focused on one thing and one thing only, we are looking at a very disturbing image.
It's a good example at why extremism is so bad. There needs to be some middle ground, a place where people from both sides can come to a compromise. I was doing some research recently for an essay I had to write on political gridlock, and this reminds me of that. Even if something might be good to begin with, when it is blown out of proportion and taken to extremes it loses the original object.
In the end, I started thinking about how beautiful humanity is. God gave us the ability to feel more than one emotion at a time, to think more than one thought. We were given free will and intellect, the ability to be compassionate as well as honest with one another, courageous as well as selfless. People are complicated, and that's what makes them so beautiful. We have the ability to go above and beyond any calculated expectation.
I probably would have given this book 5/5 except for the amount of violence. Too much. There were a couple bits that would make me hesitate to recommend it to everyone. Also. Can I just take a moment to say how much I dislike first person present tense? Ugh. Why is this writing style so popular right now? Present tense is pretty and poetic when used in small doses. VERY small doses. Please, dear young adult authors, no more first person present tense. I'm begging you. It's not poetic. It's robotic. Thank you.
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
I'm thinking...
I really want to start blogging on a regular basis again. Not just journaling pages, but real blog posts. Especially book reviews. I frequently say I'm going to start posting book reviews- but then I read so many books that I get overwhelmed and don't know what to say. This time I'm really going to start writing them. I am. I love reading other peoples book reviews and they always make me want to post some myself. They will be book reviews with plenty of spoilers however, so be warned. (I shall put a spoiler warning at the top of each post). My favorite book blog is Sarah's and I really like her method of rating books (See: http://thearomaofbooks.wordpress.com/about/ratings-method-of-fictional-work/)
I also made a new GoodReads account: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12739408-emily so if you have one do do find me because it's much funner if you know plenty of people.
Outside my window...
Looking outside today makes me long for summer. Of course, I don't exactly want to skip spring, but I'm so looking forward to long sunny days, curled up in a patch of sunlight reading. Yes, this is the way I think about summer. I think about reading in a warm patch of sunlight.
One of my favorite things...
This video is pretty much my favorite thing on the Internet right now. Yep. Pretty much.
I'm reading...
Divergent by Veronica Roth. *emits inhuman squealing noises* I don't know how else to put it but keyboard smashing AIUGHDGKHAGKH. (The Internet has taken it's toll on yours truly.)
I'm wearing...
Jeans and a grey dress over top. Undignified, yes. Comfy, also yes. Besides this dress is too short to wear without pants, but it's too comfy to throw away. I wear it only at home days. Now you know my secrets. Guard them well.
A few plans for the rest of the week...
I shall write my first book review this week. There it is, written in black and white. No backing down now. Not even if procrastination and laziness swallow my soul and I whither up beneath their evil claws. Wow, that sentence went melodramatic, and I'm not even going to backspace. What is the world coming to?
Also, schoolwork.
Also, reading.
Also, writing. I'M A NOVEL WRITER (...I cry pathetically as unwritten words wrap around me and crush me to the floor) I SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED.
Obviously, I'm in a melodramatic mood.
A Quote I'm sharing...
My birthday is coming up this week, and that made me think of this quote. I remember stumbling on it a little while ago and loving it. I've never read the story it's from, but I like the quote so much that I am definitely planning on it. I believe it's from a short story called Eleven by Sandra Cisneros. Beyond that I really don't know much about the story, but it's a lovely quote. Bear with me since it's a little longer than quotes I would normally post. It's the perfect quote for the week of a birthday.
"What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t. You open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday, only it’s today. And you don’t feel eleven at all. You feel like you’re still ten. And you are — underneath the year that makes you eleven.
Like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama’s lap because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five. And maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay. That’s what I tell Mama when she’s sad and needs to cry. Maybe she’s feeling three.
Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That’s how being eleven years old is."
I really want to start blogging on a regular basis again. Not just journaling pages, but real blog posts. Especially book reviews. I frequently say I'm going to start posting book reviews- but then I read so many books that I get overwhelmed and don't know what to say. This time I'm really going to start writing them. I am. I love reading other peoples book reviews and they always make me want to post some myself. They will be book reviews with plenty of spoilers however, so be warned. (I shall put a spoiler warning at the top of each post). My favorite book blog is Sarah's and I really like her method of rating books (See: http://thearomaofbooks.wordpress.com/about/ratings-method-of-fictional-work/)
I also made a new GoodReads account: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/12739408-emily so if you have one do do find me because it's much funner if you know plenty of people.
Outside my window...
Looking outside today makes me long for summer. Of course, I don't exactly want to skip spring, but I'm so looking forward to long sunny days, curled up in a patch of sunlight reading. Yes, this is the way I think about summer. I think about reading in a warm patch of sunlight.
One of my favorite things...
This video is pretty much my favorite thing on the Internet right now. Yep. Pretty much.
I'm reading...
Divergent by Veronica Roth. *emits inhuman squealing noises* I don't know how else to put it but keyboard smashing AIUGHDGKHAGKH. (The Internet has taken it's toll on yours truly.)
I'm wearing...
Jeans and a grey dress over top. Undignified, yes. Comfy, also yes. Besides this dress is too short to wear without pants, but it's too comfy to throw away. I wear it only at home days. Now you know my secrets. Guard them well.
A few plans for the rest of the week...
I shall write my first book review this week. There it is, written in black and white. No backing down now. Not even if procrastination and laziness swallow my soul and I whither up beneath their evil claws. Wow, that sentence went melodramatic, and I'm not even going to backspace. What is the world coming to?
Also, schoolwork.
Also, reading.
Also, writing. I'M A NOVEL WRITER (...I cry pathetically as unwritten words wrap around me and crush me to the floor) I SHALL NOT BE DEFEATED.
Obviously, I'm in a melodramatic mood.
A Quote I'm sharing...
My birthday is coming up this week, and that made me think of this quote. I remember stumbling on it a little while ago and loving it. I've never read the story it's from, but I like the quote so much that I am definitely planning on it. I believe it's from a short story called Eleven by Sandra Cisneros. Beyond that I really don't know much about the story, but it's a lovely quote. Bear with me since it's a little longer than quotes I would normally post. It's the perfect quote for the week of a birthday.
"What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t. You open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday, only it’s today. And you don’t feel eleven at all. You feel like you’re still ten. And you are — underneath the year that makes you eleven.
Like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama’s lap because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five. And maybe one day when you’re all grown up maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay. That’s what I tell Mama when she’s sad and needs to cry. Maybe she’s feeling three.
Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one. That’s how being eleven years old is."
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