Cory Doctorow
With a title that so blatantly riffs on Orwell's masterpiece of paranoid dystopian literature, I knew I would like this book, not to mention the fact that it was up for a Hugo and has received praise across the board. Billed as YA but appropriate for any skeptical and thinking reader, Little Brother is a chilling version of a society not too far removed from our own that rapidly sees the glorious technology of the Information Age turned against it by a careless Department of Homeland Security on the march to remove suspected terrorism; their solution, of course, is to treat everyone like a terrorist. Doctorow can be incredibly heavy-handed at times, but what Little Brother lacks in subtlety it has in philosophy and heart- Doctorow goes to no lengths whatsoever to hide his views and this prominent display is uncompromising, powerful, and absolute. Doctorow perhaps misses an opportunity to show the power of dissent and critical thinking by including it in his book, but his resort to absolutes in his future of absolutes is an interesting and compelling choice when viewed in the context of the book's atmosphere. Also interesting is this book as a clear arifact of the Bush era; while it's obvious that intrusive technology is not going away and while it's as obvious now as it was in 1793 that privacy is a pivotal concern for a free society, the president and his advisors are definitely approximations of Bush & Co. and the attitude of America directly following the 9/11 attacks. That we can recognize the novel as a relic of this era also says something about the current tone in America.
Getting back to the content itself, Doctorow has created a compelling future with direct links to technologies being invented and refined now; once readers recognize that "arphid" is simply a linguistic shortcut for RFID, the future of Little Brother seems a whole lot closer. The book's main character, Marcus, is a steadfast 17-year-old who grew up with technology and the Internet and who illustrates the ways that tech-savvy can be used for good, evil, and good thwarting evil. The technology described in the book is compelling and understandable for a relatively unfamiliar reader; adults a bit older than me may have trouble following, but teenagers and twentysomethings should be able to key into the novel's mentality easily and fully. The plot is fast-moving and action-packed, with some tough scenes of torture and tender scenes of a teenager's first mind-blowing love affair. The book's only contruction fault other than it's heavy-handed tone is its deus-ex-machina-style conclusion, which is thrilling and convenient and, sadly, seems a bit optimistic (which just says more about the depth of this vision of San Francisco and perhaps my own sensibilities). Though Marcus is, in many ways, extraordinary, he grapples with the philosophical ambiguity inherent in taking on the DHS and also provides a view of life in the new future from the viewpoint of a largely normal teenager; though Marcus is a gifted hacker, he recognizes and taps in to the potential of his generation to create real change. Little Brother is, in this way and coupled with its afterword essays, a rallying call to the kids of the Bush years and a tangible reminder that relinquishing freedom for security ultimately gets one neither.
Grade: A-
Getting back to the content itself, Doctorow has created a compelling future with direct links to technologies being invented and refined now; once readers recognize that "arphid" is simply a linguistic shortcut for RFID, the future of Little Brother seems a whole lot closer. The book's main character, Marcus, is a steadfast 17-year-old who grew up with technology and the Internet and who illustrates the ways that tech-savvy can be used for good, evil, and good thwarting evil. The technology described in the book is compelling and understandable for a relatively unfamiliar reader; adults a bit older than me may have trouble following, but teenagers and twentysomethings should be able to key into the novel's mentality easily and fully. The plot is fast-moving and action-packed, with some tough scenes of torture and tender scenes of a teenager's first mind-blowing love affair. The book's only contruction fault other than it's heavy-handed tone is its deus-ex-machina-style conclusion, which is thrilling and convenient and, sadly, seems a bit optimistic (which just says more about the depth of this vision of San Francisco and perhaps my own sensibilities). Though Marcus is, in many ways, extraordinary, he grapples with the philosophical ambiguity inherent in taking on the DHS and also provides a view of life in the new future from the viewpoint of a largely normal teenager; though Marcus is a gifted hacker, he recognizes and taps in to the potential of his generation to create real change. Little Brother is, in this way and coupled with its afterword essays, a rallying call to the kids of the Bush years and a tangible reminder that relinquishing freedom for security ultimately gets one neither.
Grade: A-
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