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A review by sjstuart
Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
3.0
The writers who gave this book the Nebula award in 1968, and the many reviewers who mention the lasting impression it has made on them, must all have gotten more out it than I did. I can appreciate the resemblance to [a:Heinlein|6468454|Robert Heinlein|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s juvenile novels, and the similarity in tone and content to [b:To Kill a Mockingbird|2657|To Kill a Mockingbird|Harper Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327879116s/2657.jpg|3275794], both of which I admire in different ways. But this book comes up short in the comparison.
Overall, everything about the book is just a little too easy. The writing relies too much on simple, declarative sentences. The plot is entertaining, but merely hops along from one set piece to another. The moral themes are worked into the story fairly well, but it's fairly obvious when you're being lectured to. Overall, it reads a lot like a young adult novel, although I don't think it was written to be one.
It's impossible to read the book without being reminded of its age, as well. The characters read as if they were drawn from the 1950's, using words like "swell" and "Gee!". This seems especially anachronistic coming from the mouths of spaceship-dwelling elites at the dawn of the twenty-third century, who look down their noses at the backward planet-dwellers, who happen to speak a modified form on English. It's not that I expect a writer from 1968 to be able to sound futuristic nearly a half century in the future, but I think this book have sounded a bit conservative even when it was written -- at least as far as its language is concerned. Other aspects, such as the female protagonist and the sex scene between young adolescents, would have been more noteworthy in the 60's, but don't raise eyebrows now.
It's not that the book was bad, by any means. It was enjoyable enough, and the deeper themes underlying the story make it more than just a pulp novel. But in the end I didn't get enough out of it to see the reason for its status as a classic.
Overall, everything about the book is just a little too easy. The writing relies too much on simple, declarative sentences. The plot is entertaining, but merely hops along from one set piece to another. The moral themes are worked into the story fairly well, but it's fairly obvious when you're being lectured to. Overall, it reads a lot like a young adult novel, although I don't think it was written to be one.
It's impossible to read the book without being reminded of its age, as well. The characters read as if they were drawn from the 1950's, using words like "swell" and "Gee!". This seems especially anachronistic coming from the mouths of spaceship-dwelling elites at the dawn of the twenty-third century, who look down their noses at the backward planet-dwellers, who happen to speak a modified form on English. It's not that I expect a writer from 1968 to be able to sound futuristic nearly a half century in the future, but I think this book have sounded a bit conservative even when it was written -- at least as far as its language is concerned. Other aspects, such as the female protagonist and the sex scene between young adolescents, would have been more noteworthy in the 60's, but don't raise eyebrows now.
It's not that the book was bad, by any means. It was enjoyable enough, and the deeper themes underlying the story make it more than just a pulp novel. But in the end I didn't get enough out of it to see the reason for its status as a classic.