Okay, I haven't been tagged by someone and forced to reveal ten things about myself that no one else knows, but here are two things you should know in order to understand this post.
1. I love, love, love post-apocalyptic fiction.
2. I hate, hate, hate sloppy writing and certain grammatical errors. So, although I took home Scott Westerfeld's Uglies with great anticipation, because it portrays a world in which everyone gets an extreme makeover on their sixteenth birthday and goes to live in a special, super-groovy place, my hopes were soon dashed.
My first 'uh-oh' occurred when I read this little inscription: "This novel was shaped by a series of e-mail exchanges between myself and Ted So-and-So ..." AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH! First of all, you never come first, the other person does. Second, it's 'me', not 'myself'. That usage has become almost ubiquitous, but it's wrong. The sentence should read: "This novel was shaped by a series of e-mail exchanges between Ted and me..."
Go ahead, call me petty. Or point out that I used 'their' to modify 'everyone' instead of 'his or her'. And then tell me you couldn't do better than New Pretty Town, the name of the super-groovy place the newly-pretty sixteen-year-olds go to. I managed to get through a few chapters before exercising my option to put down any book that just plain annoys me.
I know this series is hot, hot, hot. Good on ya, Scott Westerfeld. I'll keep buying your books as my students ask for them. But as for me (not myself), I'd rather read The Boxcar Children.
Reading Rants Redux!
2 months ago
