Phew! Thanks for that paola. I thought I was going to be the only person commenting.
And thanks for this...
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Originally Posted by paola
For instance, a couple of years back I saw a short interview to a former guard in a North Korean camp, explaining how he had been brainwashed to the point that when he assisted with the execution of a family (mom, dad, young child) by gas, he marvelled at the horribly futile effort of the parents to pump their own breath into their child, as he could not assume such enemies of the state could have feelings too. Truly horrifying - but once you have that, the final chapter (which I won't spoil for those who haven't got that far yet) cannot punch you hard enough.
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First of all - horrifying.
Secondly, are you saying in terms of dated that you think that the harshness of this dystopian society doesn't measure up to reality? That it somehow whitewashes just how terrible such a society can be with the above as an example?
I thought the Operation was pretty horrific myself. And what was scariest was that people were opting to take it. And I guess that's the "un-datedness" I see in the book because we read about measures that convince people to enslave themselves. There are quite a few parallels I see in society today. Less the boot and more the slogan.
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again I don't want to spoil it for those who have not read it yet, but let us say that things happen to D which should have immediate consequence (at least in the logic of the United State) that are simply not there...
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Yes. I was a bit confused by this myself. There were a few parts of the book where I felt I wasn't connecting the dots well enough and this was one of them. I was thinking that he was being set up - a la
1984, but I don't quite see how that actualised. That is of course, unless for a reason completely unexplained, that the United State wanted D- reformed rather than destroyed.
I actually think as far as a cohesive plot goes, it wasn't quite there. I liked it more for intent than for story if you know what I mean.