In a society where advertising is all prevalent in everything from individual new bulletin stories to particular classes in school, Barrett, a boy from a small separate society that has shunned this new world, is sent to live with his cousin Taylor, whose parents are heavily involved in advertising. Taylor’s parents see an opportunity to find out the effects of advertising on an untouched mind, and Barrett and Taylor find themselves embroiled in the darker side of this advertising world.The concepts and ideas of the book were more interesting than the story. Being a young adult book, one cannot hold it to the standard of a deep literary novel, yet the story was frustratingly superficial, especially in the portrayal of the naive but too perfect Barrett and the spoilt, bratty teenaged girl Taylor. The ending felt too rushed, with things being too hastily and neatly wrapped up without proper story development.Yet it was the concepts and ideas of the book that were of interest. The idea of privacy is foreign in that society, with the common belief that the personal information given results in better, more targeted advertising. This reminded me of moments in the 2002 film Minority Report, where a character has his eyes scanned and an individual, personally targeted advertisement displayed to him. More broadly, there are questions of how much information we now are now giving to private companies, whether voluntarily or unwittingly through cookies, metadata or otherwise – see Facebook targeted ads, Google’s growing influence of a common login or the numerous loyalty programs which to sign up for. Indeed, the issue of privacy has even attracted the attention of the Australian Law Reform Commission, currently (as at 3 March 2014) conducting an enquiry into Serious Invasions of Privacy. It is a little chilling to think that the world presented is not so far into the future as might be believed.As a book, it could have been a little deeper written with more nuanced and flawed characters. As a work that touches on some really interesting ideas and issues, I give the author credit. This book was very interesting. I’m not usually one for Science Fiction type books, especially ones that depict a very high tech future, however this one intrigued me. In this “near-future” advertising has taken on a whole new meaning. Cars have ID so that when you go through a Drive-Thru, a sign overhead can greet you by name. It also automatically debits your account when you make a purchase. Children are outfitted with Safety Sentinel’s which is basically a GPS tracker to keep track of where your children are. There are ads on the back of cars so the car behind it can see them. There are large ads on the sides of buildings. Life-sized dummies just inside stores talk about the stores features and sales. It’s crazy!Not only is the world crazy with advertising and high-tech gadgets, but Taylor’s cousin Barrett, who was raised in rural isolation, comes to live with them. He’s used to living without electricity or modern amenities so the world is quite a shock to him. Ad execs are very interested in the impressions of someone who hasn’t seen ads before, but they go to far.The chapters are told by either Taylor or Barrett, switching throughout the book. Personally I like books that do this as it seems more fair, instead of reading only one person’s point of view. This book is appropriate for ages 12 and up and would be a good read before a parent-child discussion on advertising. The story is gripping and thought-provoking.
What do You think about Leaving Simplicity (2007)?
It was an ok book. But was not something I normally read
—kalyani
OMG the best book in the world!!!!! Read it!
—VAlover
