Read September 19, 2013
Juv/YA post-apocalyptic England.
12
year-old Tom lives in an Urb, secure in the knowlege that he and all
other children are the most important people in the world. Malcontents
and "bad people" were exiled from the Inside in his grandparents' days,
and everyone here is happy, well-adjusted, and safe in their highly
regulated lives. His information is incomplete, as he'll discover when
his grandfather makes a run for the Outside instead of passively
relocating to a "Memory Theme Park" for old people. Gandy has lost his
wits due to age, Tom's sure. Despite this, Tom still loves him, and he
follows the old man of 65 into the frightening woods of Outside, to save
him from the dragons and wild men that lurk there.
Very similar in themes and world concept to
Shyamalan's The Village, and Haddix's first book Running out of Time.
Similar likewise in that too much deep thought after the book ends will
bring headaches and irritation, despite an innocuous and forgettable
plotline involving the messy nature of family, the balance of
convenience and safety against freedom, and who the true movers and
shakers of policy are, both In and Outside. I know I read too much, and
am often too demanding of the genre, especially for books aimed at
younger readers, but I really do wish writers would apply behavioral
science or simple economics to their dystopias and alternate histories.
For one example: Inside, a draconian one-child law
is such the absolute reality that the very words "sibling" or
"brother/sister" are considered foul language. So how does that mesh
with a child from Outside "visiting" the interior for the summer break,
with the gloss from the book that "The Trusties don't run checks on
children during the school holidays." Right.
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