Too Much of a Good Thing

An enthusiastic reviewer led me to Divergent, Veronica Roth’s young adult novel of a girl coming of age in a tightly controlled society.  I loved the premise—at age 16, youth must choose their future culture or caste (overtones here of declaring a major, finding one's niche or lifestyle).  In Divergent, the cultures are called factions, and they resemble personal orientations we recognize:  Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, Amity, and Dauntless.  Beatrice is born into Abnegation, but her tests show aptitude for three factions instead of one.  She’s “divergent,” a dangerous quality she must not reveal.  At her choosing ceremony, she leaves her family and joins “Dauntless,” the reckless faction.  You can see where this is going.

I was bothered throughout by the fact that the faction names aren’t all noun forms.  But I can live with that.  More serious, about halfway the story changes its focus from the girl’s progress in her new society to her tentative romantic explorations.  For me, this emphasis was TOO MUCH.

Like the best science fiction, Divergent offers a view of contemporary society, and until it turns into a teen-age romance, the novel comes close to the effectiveness of The Hunger Games.  No doubt the repeated scenes of touching and feeling work for thousands of genre readers (maybe hundreds of thousands), but I think it causes the novel to lose appeal for a crossover audience.  A little bit would have been fine.

The second example of TOO MUCH in this story is the fighting.  Once the story shifts from training to actual conflict, the fight sequences seem repetitive and boring--blow by blow, like directions for the movie actors.  I started skimming.  Yeah, I skimmed the entire last half, so I allow that my judgment may be unfair. 

My point is emphasis and balance.  I doubt that any writer knows when enough is enough--we need astute editors and critics.  Critiquers have said to me, “You can cut this.  We get it.”  I’ve given the same critique when I think a sequence goes on too long, when I’m bored by silliness or banter or exposition or gratuitous anything. 

I suspect Divergent is a good seller.  I think it missed an opportunity to be a better novel.

ebook honeymoon

What I love so far about reading ebooks:

Sample chapters: much better than browsing shelves and reading first paragraphs.

 

Review sites:  I bought my first ebook (and a Kindle) based on a review by Marion Sipe on GoodBookAlert (http://goodbookalert.blogspot.com/ ). After reading her review and sampling the book, I realized I was missing out on good writing if I didn't immediately buy an ebook reader.  (Marion, you should get a cut from Kindle). The book, a bargain at 99 cents, was Ice Blue, a cleverly written mystery by Emma Jameson.  My second ebook purchase was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a young adult novel featured by Mooderino in a blog post analyzing the first chapter.  (http://moodywriting.blogspot.com/).  Thanks, Mood—I not only liked the book, I learned a lot.  Third was The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarity.  I can't remember where I found this one, maybe Kindleboards.  Price--one cent.  Can you believe that even at one cent, I downloaded the sample before purchasing?  Loved the book.  A few days later I saw its price had risen to something like $5.35.  If the one-cent price was a marketing scheme to raise the book quickly in the Amazon rankings, it worked.

The ebook reader itself:  easy on the eyes, wonderful for one who gets eyestrain from too many hours staring at a computer screen.  Like the words to that old song…"lovely to look at, delightful to hold, and heaven to [substitute "read"].  Thanks, Diane, for the red leather cover.

Ebook hunting:  I might be able to pay more but I love to pay less.  I love the fact that many authors are independently publishing at prices that are good for them as well as for buyers.  (Authors get a small cut of traditionally published books.)  Unless it's a book I think I must have, I'm bypassing ebooks over $5, especially if I can buy a cheaper used copy in excellent condition.  Of course, no money goes to author or publisher that way...publishers, pay attention!

Textbooks:  Much as I love glossy, gorgeous textbooks, I look forward to the day when learners from primary school to college will not have to lug around pounds and pounds of books.  This will not be good for textbook printers, but hopefully the prices will be good for everyone.

Magazines and newspapers:  I'm not there yet, but I think the honeymoon will last.