I
seem to have jumped into the dystopian stream with both feet lately. I am already formulating a post discussing
the current trend in post-apocalyptic literature, but I want to read some more
first. It's very popular among YA
readers these days. THG opened the floodgates, and
now all dystopian novels, before Katniss and after, are prominent in
libraries. Personally I enjoy a good journey
into the "what-if," so I don't mind reading what my students are
reading. (But no vampire books. I draw the line at vampires.)
Today's
book, Matched, is definitely in the same vein as THG and Divergent, but it has its own
refreshing take on the questions of the post-WWIII world. Instead of being focused on guns, violence,
and brute force, it takes a softer, more philosophical approach. The Society in which Cassia Reyes and her
family live is very ordered, very neat, very bright and very clean. Everything appears to run smoothly. You almost start to think that this world
really wouldn't be so bad after all.
After all, there's no poverty, no violence, everyone gets along and has
what they need - really, what is so bad about all that? What if we had a society where everyone just
did what they were supposed to and got along fine without possessions and
money? But just about the time you start
to get as comfortable as Cassia is in her cocoon of a world, the underbelly of
such a culture starts to be exposed, and as Cassia does, you start to question
whether or not things are what they seem, and whether or not any of this is a
good idea. About a third of the way
through the novel, an important person in Cassia's life tells her "it's ok
to wonder." From that moment on,
Cassia does wonder, about many things she has always accepted without question,
and the reader begins to wonder as well.
One
of the things I enjoyed most about this novel is its examination of the
importance of creativity. In the ordered
world of the Society, all literature has been boiled down to the Hundreds - the
Hundred Songs, the Hundred Poems, the Hundred Stories, etc. The powers the be decided that their culture
was just too cluttered, so they decided what were the most important pieces of
art, and they eliminated the rest.
What's more, no one is allowed to add to them. No one writes songs, or poetry, or
books. In fact, no one knows how to
write at all. Oh, they can type on a
touch screen, but no one knows how to pick up a pen and write something
longhand.* It opens up the question of
how important such things are. Is it
important to keep imagining? To keep
creating? What happens to a society when
no one creates anything new any longer?
How does that cut off the life of a people? The storyline about the act of writing
intrigued me, because I have had this discussion with other educators. More and more handwriting is being discarded
as a part of the curriculum in favor of typing and technological ways of
communication. Does that matter? Should people be able to form letters with
their hands? What importance does that
have to a person? To a group? To a society?
Interwoven
with these themes of wonder and creativity is a lovely little love story that
turns Cassia's ordered world upside down. There is no "team this" or
"team that." You realize
fairly early on just who Cassia needs to be with and what that is going to mean
for her life and the life of her family.
It's an intense (but clean!) love affair that helps Cassia sees more of
who she is and who she could be. It's a
beautiful storyline that promises to carry us into the second and third books.
Overall,
Matched is a nice addition to
the dystopian world. It asks different
questions than have been asked before and takes the reader to important places
in their minds. I'm excited to read its
sequels and bring more reviews on the series, just as I hope to bring about Insurgent and Allegiant as soon as I track
down copies of those and get them read.
In the meantime, I definitely recommend Matched to anyone looking around for a good read and who enjoys this line
of fiction.
*OR
DO THEY?
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Reading
now: A Higher Call by Adam Makos2. Multiply by Francis Chan
3. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff
4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
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