Challenge Complete (3M)

Finished the challenge today--in the nick of time! If you can call this a "genre", it is one of my favorites. I ended up reading We as an alternate to A Scanner Darkly. Thanks for a wonderful idea for a challenge!

I had chosen:
A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Messenger by Lois Lowry FINISHED
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry FINISHED
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood FINISHED
Never Let Me Go by K. Ishiguro FINISHED

Bonus/Alternates:
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Children of Men by P.D. James
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin FINISHED

Never Let Me Go - 3M's Review

This review will contain spoilers, so don't read on if you want to read this book in the future!

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This book started off very strong for me. I really enjoyed Ishiguro's writing style, but then the story bogged down in the middle, and by the ending, I was really mad. I didn't like how it ended AT ALL. So they do nothing? They just coolly accept their fate? That, to me, proves to me that the "students" were soulless. They never truly loved each other from my perspective, and they couldn't see that they could at least TRY to get out of their situation? I'm wondering what Ishiguro's point here was. Is he saying they had a soul or not? If you've read the book, please give me your take!

(Oh, and another thing. . . is disorientated a word? I always thought it was disoriented. Just another thing that irked me.)

2005, 288 pp.
Rating: 3

We - 3M's Review

I read this a few weeks months?! ago, and I'm not sure why I haven't written the review yet. I want to talk about it intelligently because I really loved it. Unfortunately, intelligent writing has eluded me lately. Had to write the review today, though, as it was one of my Dystopian Challenge books.

This book preceded and heavily influenced both 1984 and Brave New World. People have no names, just letters and numbers. They plan on going on to other planets to compel others to adopt their mathematically-minded happiness. Emotions aren't allowed. They live in glass apartments. Everything 'human' is discouraged. But. . . a rebel faction is present in and outside 'the wall.' Will those inside the wall learn to be truly human?

Side note: A few weeks ago I saw the movie Equilibrium starring Christian Bale, and it surely had to be influenced by this novel. If you're interested in the dystopian genre, it's a must-see. See my review here.

1922, 232 pp.
Rating: 4.5

Gathering Blue & Messenger - 3M's Review

Here are my reviews for Gathering Blue and Messenger by Lois Lowry:

Gathering Blue
by Lois Lowry

2000, 215 pp.

Rating: 4.5




This book is the second in the trilogy which also includes The Giver and Messenger. I read The Giver, a Newbery book, earlier this year and absolutely loved it. This book doesn't really continue where The Giver left off, but Messenger takes place after both stories and with characters from each.

Kira is a girl who has just lost her mother to sickness. She is very distraught as it has been her mother who has protected her from the community. Kira has a bad leg, and everyone in the village with any kind of defect or deformity must leave the protected area and contend with "the beasts" outside of it.

As she goes back to her small house, the women around her make it known that they want her property as a place for their own children and animals. A legal proceeding takes place which decides the matter. Will she have to leave the community and contend with "the beasts", or will an exception be made?

Recommended highly, but make sure you read The Giver before you read Messenger.


Messenger
by Lois Lowry

2004, 167 pp.

Rating: 4




It's very hard to describe Messenger without giving away parts of The Giver and Gathering Blue. This is the third book in that trilogy. So I'm not going to say anything about the book, other than I enjoyed it very much but consider it to be the weakest of the three. It was nice to have a sequel that wrapped up (somewhat) the other two titles.

The Handmaid's Tale - 3M's Review

The Handmaid's Tale
by Margaret Atwood

1986, 311 pages

Rating: 4.5





What a thought-provoking book!

Offred (Of Fred) is a woman who had her child and all her money taken away from her by the government. Her money was taken away just because she was female. Her daughter was taken away because her marriage was declared invalid. Why? Because it was the second marriage for her husband. The government has "religious" motivations for these acts. (Something I was a little uncomfortable with because I am a Christian, yet I realize there are always extremists. I took this as a cautionary tale.)

Spoiler alert! (Don't read if you like to be in suspense during a book.)
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Things only get worse from there. She is forced to become a handmaid, or surrogate mother, for a man of high position in the government. However, the conception is to occur in the normal way--with the wife present! This was a little shocking to me! Somehow Atwood pulls this off without offending my prudish sensibilities. The life of Offred is certainly not enviable.

I found this book to be a jolt to my system. Atwood is a gifted writer, and I definitely plan on reading more of her works.

The original review may be found here.

3M's List

My list for the Dystopian Challenge:

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Messenger by Lois Lowry
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Never Let Me Go by K. Ishiguro

Bonus/Alternates that I probably won't find time for but would like to read are:

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Children of Men by P.D. James
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell