Confession, I attempted to read Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, and like many books I found mildly interesting, but not really what I wanted at the time, I put it down and never thought if it again. But I picked up Little Brother and didn't put it down again until I had finished. Quite a feat for someone who usually has several books competing for her attention.
Before I get into Review Mode, I want to say a little something about YA fiction while attempting to avoid the many many things that have already been said (just Google it and you will be treated to a plethora of blog posts). Sometimes the line between what is adult fiction and what is "teen" fiction gets blurred and it's not uncommon for novels to cross that line. Over at Bookshelves of Doom, I gave some reasoning (in the comments) as to why a particular book (the excellent Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Cay) should be considered YA, even though previous discussion had decided not due to the lack of immediacy. Traditional adult novels portray action about one step removed from the narration taking place - this happened...and then I felt this...and then we did this as a result. Traditional teen novels have no division between action and reaction. An excellent example of this is Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer: there is nothing that happens in that book that isn't immediately felt, described, reacted to by the series protagonist, Bella. And in that, the reader becomes Bella, feels what Bella feels, thinks what Bella is thinking. And while Little Brother falls neatly into the YA category because of this immediate action/reaction narration, this novel can, I believe, be equally enjoyed by readers who rarely venture into the teen section of their bookstore.
I have often said (in a complainy sort of tone) that adult writers of adult novels give their young protagonists too much preternatural maturity. Not that there aren't wise, intelligent children in this world, but many would have you believe one existed on every other block of New York City (and one for every small Southern town). Most kids are just kids: they make mistakes, they argue with their parents, they are selfish, they think they're smarter than they are, they're not very good at predicting what the adults around them will do in a given situation, they think about sex, but not all the time. Marcus Yallow is a pretty typical smart kid living in San Francisco in the not-too-distant future. Most of his life is taken up with trying the hack his high school's Big Brother like methods and playing an online game called Harajuku Fun Madness.
One day when Marcus and his friends cut school to find a clue for their game, terrorists bomb the Bay Area Bridge, and in the aftermath, they are picked up as suspected terrorists by the Department of Homeland Security. They are held and questioned for several days and are released into a different world as different people. Paranoia reigns supreme, fear dominates, and civil liberties are stripped away in the name of National safety. Sound familiar? What follows is a fast-paced adventure in the land of hacking, Internet freedoms, cryptography, the Bill of Rights, betrayal, faith, and determination. Marcus is one determined kid, sometimes stubbornly so, but his faith in the ideals set up in The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights remains unshakable even when facing his liberal father's compliance to random searches and constant surveillance. Through Marcus's narration, we feel his frustration when debating with his classmates, his elation at inspiring thousands of young people to mess with the surveillance methods of DHS, and the fear that underlies every move he makes.
You don't have to agree with Marcus to cheer him on, worry about him, or even get frustrated with him when it seems his stubbornness has taken him too far. But underneath it all, you believe in Marcus, even when he doesn't believe in himself anymore. Marcus is a real kid who is in a situation that is just one more attack from becoming our reality. Yes, he's a smart kid: there are many times we are treated to a lesson on Alan Turing, public and private encryption keys, coding, and the Mission District. And like most smart kids, he can be a smart-ass. And like most smart-asses, he can be endearing.
This is a YA novel primarily because our protagonists are teenagers, but I believe it can be read and enjoyed by many adults (not just those of us who read YA). We can all see some of ourselves in Marcus and his friends. It is intelligent enough to hold anyone's interest.
Couple of things I lurved-lurved-lurved about it:
1. Marcus meets a girl who he likes well enough, but doesn't think of as "h4wt," but her intelligence, exuberance, and good humor attract him. Before the end of the book, he thinks she's beautiful. There is something so true in this. I wish more guys and girls would read books wherein it is more than someone's looks that attract a person.
2. Marcus isn't a hero to all. And it's not just adults who disagree with him. He loses friendships over his actions. He also learns that - even though his anti-DHS slogan is "Don't Trust Anyone Over 25" - those he can count on the most are adults.
My biggest gripe was - ready for this? - two typos. But they are pretty big ones that jump off the page and slap you in the face. I'm never surprised to find such things in small press books, but Tor is a major publisher. And I'm not talking about comma splices or missing quotation marks. Anyway.
I loved this book. And you will too. Especially if you are a fan of Scarlett Thomas's PopCo, Scott Westerfeld's So Yesterday, 1984, or anything by William Gibson.
Before I get into Review Mode, I want to say a little something about YA fiction while attempting to avoid the many many things that have already been said (just Google it and you will be treated to a plethora of blog posts). Sometimes the line between what is adult fiction and what is "teen" fiction gets blurred and it's not uncommon for novels to cross that line. Over at Bookshelves of Doom, I gave some reasoning (in the comments) as to why a particular book (the excellent Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Cay) should be considered YA, even though previous discussion had decided not due to the lack of immediacy. Traditional adult novels portray action about one step removed from the narration taking place - this happened...and then I felt this...and then we did this as a result. Traditional teen novels have no division between action and reaction. An excellent example of this is Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer: there is nothing that happens in that book that isn't immediately felt, described, reacted to by the series protagonist, Bella. And in that, the reader becomes Bella, feels what Bella feels, thinks what Bella is thinking. And while Little Brother falls neatly into the YA category because of this immediate action/reaction narration, this novel can, I believe, be equally enjoyed by readers who rarely venture into the teen section of their bookstore.
I have often said (in a complainy sort of tone) that adult writers of adult novels give their young protagonists too much preternatural maturity. Not that there aren't wise, intelligent children in this world, but many would have you believe one existed on every other block of New York City (and one for every small Southern town). Most kids are just kids: they make mistakes, they argue with their parents, they are selfish, they think they're smarter than they are, they're not very good at predicting what the adults around them will do in a given situation, they think about sex, but not all the time. Marcus Yallow is a pretty typical smart kid living in San Francisco in the not-too-distant future. Most of his life is taken up with trying the hack his high school's Big Brother like methods and playing an online game called Harajuku Fun Madness.
One day when Marcus and his friends cut school to find a clue for their game, terrorists bomb the Bay Area Bridge, and in the aftermath, they are picked up as suspected terrorists by the Department of Homeland Security. They are held and questioned for several days and are released into a different world as different people. Paranoia reigns supreme, fear dominates, and civil liberties are stripped away in the name of National safety. Sound familiar? What follows is a fast-paced adventure in the land of hacking, Internet freedoms, cryptography, the Bill of Rights, betrayal, faith, and determination. Marcus is one determined kid, sometimes stubbornly so, but his faith in the ideals set up in The Declaration of Independence and The Bill of Rights remains unshakable even when facing his liberal father's compliance to random searches and constant surveillance. Through Marcus's narration, we feel his frustration when debating with his classmates, his elation at inspiring thousands of young people to mess with the surveillance methods of DHS, and the fear that underlies every move he makes.
You don't have to agree with Marcus to cheer him on, worry about him, or even get frustrated with him when it seems his stubbornness has taken him too far. But underneath it all, you believe in Marcus, even when he doesn't believe in himself anymore. Marcus is a real kid who is in a situation that is just one more attack from becoming our reality. Yes, he's a smart kid: there are many times we are treated to a lesson on Alan Turing, public and private encryption keys, coding, and the Mission District. And like most smart kids, he can be a smart-ass. And like most smart-asses, he can be endearing.
This is a YA novel primarily because our protagonists are teenagers, but I believe it can be read and enjoyed by many adults (not just those of us who read YA). We can all see some of ourselves in Marcus and his friends. It is intelligent enough to hold anyone's interest.
Couple of things I lurved-lurved-lurved about it:
1. Marcus meets a girl who he likes well enough, but doesn't think of as "h4wt," but her intelligence, exuberance, and good humor attract him. Before the end of the book, he thinks she's beautiful. There is something so true in this. I wish more guys and girls would read books wherein it is more than someone's looks that attract a person.
2. Marcus isn't a hero to all. And it's not just adults who disagree with him. He loses friendships over his actions. He also learns that - even though his anti-DHS slogan is "Don't Trust Anyone Over 25" - those he can count on the most are adults.
My biggest gripe was - ready for this? - two typos. But they are pretty big ones that jump off the page and slap you in the face. I'm never surprised to find such things in small press books, but Tor is a major publisher. And I'm not talking about comma splices or missing quotation marks. Anyway.
I loved this book. And you will too. Especially if you are a fan of Scarlett Thomas's PopCo, Scott Westerfeld's So Yesterday, 1984, or anything by William Gibson.
3 comments:
Glad to know it was good. I downloaded it from his website, well see if I can read the whole thing off the screen. Brooks and I stole a shelf in the F/SF section and fill it with Westerfeld, Little Brother, M.T. Anderson's Feed, and so on.
Worse than typos IMHO is wrong usage. I still shiver when I think of reading (more than once) people use the word "slither" when they meant "sliver". (Hey, that rhymes.)
AMC - I don't know how you're going to read this on a screen to be honest. Though it was hella cool for it to be offered that way. Can you get the link to me so I can post it?
Val - Wrong usage is annoying, that's true, and it's just sloppy editing. But these were naming snafus. On one occasion, Marcus's mom had TWO names on a single page. On another, Marcus referred to his date by another female character's name (not in a slip-of-the-tongue way, but in an "I originally wrote the book to have this scene with THIS character and then changed it up and forgot to change the name in this one scene I kept" way).
Also, anyone wanting to play with Marcus's hacks can find instructions here:
http://www.instructables.com/member/w1n5t0n/
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