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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
slow-paced
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This is my new favorite book.
Less whimsical than Fforde's Tuesday Next series or Nursery Crimes series, Shades of Grey is still an expertly crafted alternate universe that contains laugh-out-loud moments as it points out truths in our own world.
Social status is determined by which colors one can see, as proven in a test when each citizen is about 20 years old. Those who can see purple are highest in the social strata, and the person in each village who can see the most shades of each primary color, along with the one who can see the most purple, make up the governing body for the village. Those who can see less than 10% of any color are "Greys," destined to be the blue-collar workforce.
This novel is about Eddie, a Red who begins to question the social order as well as the government/religion (which is one and the same) when he travels to an outlying village with his father. Part coming-of-age story, part love story, and part social commentary, this novel is way more fun than any of those genres sound. If you love the offbeat and clever, read Shades of Grey.
Less whimsical than Fforde's Tuesday Next series or Nursery Crimes series, Shades of Grey is still an expertly crafted alternate universe that contains laugh-out-loud moments as it points out truths in our own world.
Social status is determined by which colors one can see, as proven in a test when each citizen is about 20 years old. Those who can see purple are highest in the social strata, and the person in each village who can see the most shades of each primary color, along with the one who can see the most purple, make up the governing body for the village. Those who can see less than 10% of any color are "Greys," destined to be the blue-collar workforce.
This novel is about Eddie, a Red who begins to question the social order as well as the government/religion (which is one and the same) when he travels to an outlying village with his father. Part coming-of-age story, part love story, and part social commentary, this novel is way more fun than any of those genres sound. If you love the offbeat and clever, read Shades of Grey.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
medium-paced
I wanted to like this, I really did. I am a big fan of Jasper Fforde and his clever method of mixing mundane storylines with a hefty dose of the bizarre. It is this formula that has given him success in the 'Thursday Next' and 'Nursery Crime' series. So when I found this novel with its interesting blurb I felt I had to get it.
Here is a world from which all colour has been removed, everything is coloured by artificial means by devices that look like fire hydrants. Furthermore, it seems that people cannot see colour very well and the rigid 'outraged middle England' social heirarchy is organised on the perception of it.
Eddie Russett is a 'Red' who dreams of greater status... until the day he falls in love with a 'Grey' (the lowest class) and persues her only to begin to discover that all is not well in his rigid but seemingly transparent world. I ploughed to the end, admittedly I struggled with this, which is a big difference with the other Fforde books that I flew through.
This is quite a messy book that is difficult to get into and at times lacks any sort of direction. The bizarreness of the world, instead of being amusing, makes it a slog at times and the plot that is seemingly heavily influenced by Gilliam's Brazil left, for me, very little to enjoy. Perhaps this was just a step too far in the weird department when coupled with characters I couldn't care about and a plot that was just too familiar.
See more book reviews at my blog
Here is a world from which all colour has been removed, everything is coloured by artificial means by devices that look like fire hydrants. Furthermore, it seems that people cannot see colour very well and the rigid 'outraged middle England' social heirarchy is organised on the perception of it.
Eddie Russett is a 'Red' who dreams of greater status... until the day he falls in love with a 'Grey' (the lowest class) and persues her only to begin to discover that all is not well in his rigid but seemingly transparent world. I ploughed to the end, admittedly I struggled with this, which is a big difference with the other Fforde books that I flew through.
This is quite a messy book that is difficult to get into and at times lacks any sort of direction. The bizarreness of the world, instead of being amusing, makes it a slog at times and the plot that is seemingly heavily influenced by Gilliam's Brazil left, for me, very little to enjoy. Perhaps this was just a step too far in the weird department when coupled with characters I couldn't care about and a plot that was just too familiar.
See more book reviews at my blog