Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Doctorow's True Intent
Unfortunately, I am sick and will not be able to make it to class today. However, I wanted to add my two cents to into the group discussion regardless. I enjoyed reading "Homeland", although it took me a while to get through it. The most interesting aspect of the book for me was the intricate break down of the computers and the other technological aspects, and how he went through and explained the hackers every move. As I was reading it, I couldn't help but realize that the story has nothing to do about Marcus or Ange, or even any of the other characters. It seemed to me that Doctorow's real intent writing this sequel was to inform the reader about the "big brother" aspect of the government, and foreshadow a society similar to this fictional setting in the future. Does anyone else also see it this way? And if so, why did he feel the need to string us along with the story line for so long? One possibility I thought about is that Doctorow didn't simply want us to discuss the plot in the book, but instead wanted us to discuss the things we learned from it. Overall, his writing is in a style of it's own, and I enjoyed reading both "Little Brother" & the sequel.
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I agree with you. Both of these books have had the feeling that Doctorow wants to inform the reader of the weaknesses of the government. He does a good job of displaying the immoral practices of the government toward innocent citizens. I think he strung out the story to emphasize the fear felt by the people.
ReplyDeleteYeah I definitely agree as well. The characters and story weren't exactly a revelation for me; I think Doctorow was more focused on getting his message out so he created a story around that (rather than the other way around). I'm not saying the books were bad, but there were more than a few moments when Doctorow strayed from the story and became a little too didactic for my taste.
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