The Latest in Speculative Fiction

Apologies for the lack of posting yesterday... It was the last day with students, and thus the unofficial end of the school year, so I took the day off from blogging!

Just a quick post to discuss my latest read:

One of my students recommended the "Young Adult" books from The Chemical Garden Trilogy and, since the book made the summer reading list, I decided that it was time to read it. I began with the first book of the series by Lauren DeStefano, Wither.

So, at first I must admit that I was profoundly disturbed at the thought of this book being a "teen read." This work of speculative fiction begins with the eerie premise that, after developing human beings that are born without any potential for disease development, something goes terrible wrong and humans only live into their twenties, with males living five years longer than females. As scientists race to determine how to stop the virus that kills the population in their twenties, the disparities between the wealthy and the poor lend to a world in which the rich take on many wives (poor women hand selected by "Gatherers") in order to begin the production of a well of offspring who will hopefully be immune to the deadly virus.

From the not so subtle rape references to a character who heads blindly and happily into being a "bridesister," I immediately had huge issues with the series. However, upon reading the book in its entirety, I think that the disturbing gender dynamics of the society are dealt with in a more Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale, way than I originally expected. For this reason, and the fact that the main character is fairly "empowered" and acutely aware of the fallacy of the gender dynamics in her society, I think that this is actually a really teachable text and, while I wouldn't necessarily want to see a young reader undertake it on their own without discussion, I do think that the potential discussion engendered from this book could be rich and advantageous! Essentially, the application of a feminist reading to this novel would offer a high interest approach to discussions about gender, class, and technology (there is even an allusion to Shelley's Frankenstein in one scene). So, for this reason, I recommend this book, with the caveat that a discussion must follow!

Happy Reading!