Divergent, by Veronica Roth (Kindle sample - first two chapters)
Divergent
, by Veronica Roth, is an extremely high-concept YA with yet another absurdly orderly society. In this one, everyone is divided by virtue: Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Candor, and Erudite. Though the groups (and the unfortunate, oppressed factionless) live together, every single thing each individual does expresses their chosen virtue and only that chosen virtue. This leads to some moments of (probably) unintentional comedy, such as when the Dauntless kids all leap off a moving train. (“If all your friends jumped off a bridge…”) They fear nothing but peer pressure!
Beatrice, born into Abnegation, takes the aptitude tests which suggest which faction she should choose. (The selection method is weirdly cumbersome: first you get tested, then you select a faction (even if it doesn’t match the test results), then the faction puts you through more extensive testing.) After going through some very basic virtual reality scenarios testing courage, honesty, self-sacrifice, intelligence, and niceness, she is told that she is one of the very, very, very rare Divergents: people with multiple aptitudes. Shock! Horror! She must tell no one!!!
Even apart from the inherently implausible premise, I find it very difficult to believe that most people would not possess more than one quality, especially very common ones like intelligence and niceness. Maybe later there will be the shocking reveal that pretty much everyone has multiple traits but is told to tell no one.
Though ridiculous, the concept of social division by personality traits has enormous appeal, and I expect the book to sell quite well. It’s a novel-length version of an online personality quiz, and who doesn’t love online personality quizzes?
Well - I love them, but not enough to buy the book. It was too simple and implausible to grab me. And in a story where the fun is the personality-trait testing, the entrance tests were way too unimaginative and unrevealing to make me want to read more of them. In total, they consisted of picking a piece of cheese or a knife, being confronted by a hostile dog which then attacks a little girl, and being challenged by a creepy guy on a bus. They seemed especially flat when compared to more evocative, psychologically revealing, or fun fictional tests, like the humanity test in Blade Runner, the Giant’s Drink in Ender’s Game, the entrance to Roke in A Wizard of Earthsea, or Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat.
See comments to the SEX-teen book post: I will eventually do a review-for-charity poll to determine which of these I will read and review in full.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/924581.html. Comment here or there.
, by Veronica Roth, is an extremely high-concept YA with yet another absurdly orderly society. In this one, everyone is divided by virtue: Abnegation, Amity, Dauntless, Candor, and Erudite. Though the groups (and the unfortunate, oppressed factionless) live together, every single thing each individual does expresses their chosen virtue and only that chosen virtue. This leads to some moments of (probably) unintentional comedy, such as when the Dauntless kids all leap off a moving train. (“If all your friends jumped off a bridge…”) They fear nothing but peer pressure!
Beatrice, born into Abnegation, takes the aptitude tests which suggest which faction she should choose. (The selection method is weirdly cumbersome: first you get tested, then you select a faction (even if it doesn’t match the test results), then the faction puts you through more extensive testing.) After going through some very basic virtual reality scenarios testing courage, honesty, self-sacrifice, intelligence, and niceness, she is told that she is one of the very, very, very rare Divergents: people with multiple aptitudes. Shock! Horror! She must tell no one!!!
Even apart from the inherently implausible premise, I find it very difficult to believe that most people would not possess more than one quality, especially very common ones like intelligence and niceness. Maybe later there will be the shocking reveal that pretty much everyone has multiple traits but is told to tell no one.
Though ridiculous, the concept of social division by personality traits has enormous appeal, and I expect the book to sell quite well. It’s a novel-length version of an online personality quiz, and who doesn’t love online personality quizzes?
Well - I love them, but not enough to buy the book. It was too simple and implausible to grab me. And in a story where the fun is the personality-trait testing, the entrance tests were way too unimaginative and unrevealing to make me want to read more of them. In total, they consisted of picking a piece of cheese or a knife, being confronted by a hostile dog which then attacks a little girl, and being challenged by a creepy guy on a bus. They seemed especially flat when compared to more evocative, psychologically revealing, or fun fictional tests, like the humanity test in Blade Runner, the Giant’s Drink in Ender’s Game, the entrance to Roke in A Wizard of Earthsea, or Harry Potter’s Sorting Hat.
See comments to the SEX-teen book post: I will eventually do a review-for-charity poll to determine which of these I will read and review in full.
Crossposted to http://rachelmanija.dreamwidth.org/924581.html. Comment here or there.