THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IN FUTURISTIC ENGLANDThe year is 2053 in England, a nation where people live either in the Conurb or the County. The psychological chasm that exits between the two lifestyles is vast, although there are those Commuters who straddle both worlds. Rob Randall is a boy raised in the Conurb--a sprawling, densely-packed megalopolis, whose masses are entertained with controlled riots and bloody sports events. But propaganda has made him scorn life in the County, where the Gentry (What would England be without her strict class division?) deliberately live in simple but antiquated styles, and even the servants seem satisfied. Both sets of people despise and distrust the other; their worlds are separated by a physical Barrier with guarded gates.After Rob's father dies in a mysterious work-related accident, orphaned Rob is packed off to a state-run boarding school. But the grim regimen is too much for the puzzled, grieving youngster, who decides to cross the forbidden Barrier and escape to freedom in the unknown County. But citified Rob can not cope with roughing it outdoors, nor hide for long on a rich estate. He soon discovers that Freedom isn't Free. Unexpectedly Rob is befriended by a County boy, whose family agrees to shelter him and provide him with a false identity. How long can Rob hope to fool the County authorities? Will he endanger his compassionate hosts? Gradually we discover that there are two sides of the Barrier--but ONE set of Guardians, who exist to protect the status quo. Who are these shadowy manipulators anyway? What right do they have to defy government rules about No Guns or to condition their people to acquiescence--on both sides! Which lifestyle will Rob ultimately choose? This is a good read but unevenly paced: 75% of this novel is slow, which is great for our hero, but not exciting to read. However the last chapter is quite long, full of surprise twists before we reach the final ending! The New York Times writes: "the novel is sparsely written, exciting and based on valid soci! al trends." Mankind is doomed to disillusion and social slavery if that judgment is correct. Just what does Rob suspect and learn about his father's death back in the Conurb? Will he join the Guardians or the rebels? Where will he make his home in the future, or can he fit in anywhere? A serious, thought-provoking read for people who ponder possible scenarios for the Future. (June 21, 2011. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
A subtle dystopia set in a semi-futuristic or fairly contemporary Britain which we explore from the point of view of a child. The subtly comes in from being limited to a childs perceptions and your understanding of quite how dystopian the setting in develops in tandem with that of the child.The general idea is that Britain has been divided by a fence into a sprawling urban area known as the Conurb where the bulk of the population are kept under educated, amused by bread and circuses and distracted by an ongoing war in China while on the other side of the fence is the County, a part of Britain which has been almost entirely deindustrialised to recreate an ultra-conservative version of the British countryside circa 1900. There a rigid class structure continues, electricity and cars have been abandoned in favour of horses and oil lamps and everything appears bucolic, at least it does if you belong to the upper classes and don't ask questions.The control mechanisms which keep the Conurb in place are plain to see, but those of the County are subtle and enticing. The hero gets to experience both. The ending, I think, is a fine touch, particularly for a children's book.
What do You think about The Guardians (1994)?
http://nhw.livejournal.com/907874.html[return][return]Rather an interesting book. The narrator, Rob Randall, is brought up in the Conurb, the massive urban settlement in the future south-eastern England; he flees a grim boarding school to the County, the rural area where the rich people live, and manages to get adopted by a gentry family. But some among the younger generation believe that the system is rotten and must be smashed.[return][return]It must be twenty years since I read any of Christopher's books, and I'd forgotten how good he is. Three-quarters of the way through I began wondering when the actual plot was going to start; and then within a few pages I realised that it had been unfolding all around me without being obtrusive; that the description of the society and how it is controlled actually is the plot, as much in the telling as in what we are being told. Likewise, his understated prose leaves us to infer the narrator's feelings about the deaths of his parents, and his divided loyalties to his new family in the County, but also leaves us in little doubt about either.
—Nicholas Whyte
Plot: Young Rob, a child of the walled-in urban sprawl of Future England, escapes to The Country, a bucolic vision of Past England.Thoughts: Classic Christopher fare: a troubled, friendless young teen living in a degenerate England of Tomorrow; a mélange of pre- and postindustrial technology and lifestyles; a child torn between allegiances. I had the distinct impression when I came to the end that Christopher had left himself enough room to pen a sequel if demand had warranted; alas for us, it was not to be so. Perhaps he had already saturated the market for dystopian trilogies in his day. If so, it's a shame he isn't still around and writing now, as the major themes of his works are very much in vogue in YA literature.Rating: Three Stars. Fans of Christopher's Tripods books or the Sword of the Spirits trilogy will no doubt enjoy it, but newcomers should look to one of those other series as an entrée into his œuvre.
—Zack
Read this one as a kid and enjoyed the subtlety, though at the time I'm sure I didn't know what subtlety meant. This is dystopia seen through the eyes of a kid, who can't see past first of all getting out of a bad situation into a better one to really see that the better one is just better in some ways, not all, and that the new situation may in fact be a lot crappier than the one he left. Christopher is a master of seeing things through the eyes of his protagonists, and letting the reader see that, and only that, until it's time for the reveal.Which reminds me -- I once read a book about two gangs of kids -- one a gang of boys, another a gang of girls -- fighting it out in some school where the boys were convinced the girls were trying to take things over. Wish I could remember the title and author, as I'd love to read the book again. At one point, one of the boys is slightly injured by a booby trapped desk, as he's searching for his desk in the rearranged classroom. Any help from those in Good Reads territory in finding the book would be appreciated.
—MisterFweem
