Hey, guys! I decided to pick up The List after reading its description. It seemed like an interesting story to me, and I wasn't disappointed. This book delivered exactly what it said it would.
The Cover:
It shows Leta standing on the top of a building of "list" words and being taller than any other structure in the city. It's a really pretty cover that sums up a lot of the contents of the book. A+ cover.
Official Description:
In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world.
On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark’s citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it’s up to her to save not only words, but culture itself.
Review:
This book is an interesting mix of things. It is a dystopian society that seems both to be set in the future and in the far past. At some point in the future, a flood came and destroyed all of civilization but those who got on the Ark. The setting is that of a small community that is set up more like an ancient village than anything else, with apprentices, etc.
The List has been described as The Giver meets 1984. And, I think that that is a fair estimate. It has the job specialization and the realization that you are able to see more of the world from The Giver and the desire to overthrow the corrupt government from 1984. I think there is also an element of Divergent worked in there with the characters' interaction with the "Wordless". It's an interesting mix, but it works perfectly for this book.
The List is well-written with a fairly interesting, if a bit overdone, plot. I liked the characters and empathized strongly with Letta, the lead. They were easy to root for on their journeys.
Really, my one and only real issue with this book was minor but devastating to my view of the book. It just distracted me to no end constantly and made me kind of scoff. It's the issue of what is on The List. We can see from conversations that the word choice is limited at best in the jumpy sentences, etc. Fine, I believe you might be able to get by with 500 words for conversations, if you count in the fact that the conversations won't really be worthwhile. I understand that and that it's the point of the book.
My problem is that there seems to have been no plan as to what The List actually holds on it. Each chapter starts off with a list word, including the word and its definition. And those chapter starters were completely nonrealistic! When defining water, it is said to be "clear and translucent." In a world where colors were eliminated from the English language, I highly doubt that "translucent" made the cut. And in that case, why would they bother defining the words at all? No one who reads it will have no idea what the definition means, which won't help them to understand the List word.
Overall, The List was good. It was well-written and had a bit of a spin by using the idea of limited language. It did have some drawbacks, such as the lack of a plan for the List words and its general lack of originality (I felt like I'd already read three versions of this book). That being said, I would recommend this book if the premise sounded interesting to you! It is exactly what it said it was going to be.
Phrase:
Beet juice
*Note: This book was given to me through edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
Matched by Ally Condie
If you're looking for a good book, check out my Suggestions Page!
Happy Reading!
The Cover:
It shows Leta standing on the top of a building of "list" words and being taller than any other structure in the city. It's a really pretty cover that sums up a lot of the contents of the book. A+ cover.
Official Description:
In the city of Ark, speech is constrained to five hundred sanctioned words. Speak outside the approved lexicon and face banishment. The exceptions are the Wordsmith and his apprentice Letta, the keepers and archivists of all language in their post-apocalyptic, neo-medieval world.
On the death of her master, Letta is suddenly promoted to Wordsmith, charged with collecting and saving words. But when she uncovers a sinister plan to suppress language and rob Ark’s citizens of their power of speech, she realizes that it’s up to her to save not only words, but culture itself.
Review:
This book is an interesting mix of things. It is a dystopian society that seems both to be set in the future and in the far past. At some point in the future, a flood came and destroyed all of civilization but those who got on the Ark. The setting is that of a small community that is set up more like an ancient village than anything else, with apprentices, etc.
The List has been described as The Giver meets 1984. And, I think that that is a fair estimate. It has the job specialization and the realization that you are able to see more of the world from The Giver and the desire to overthrow the corrupt government from 1984. I think there is also an element of Divergent worked in there with the characters' interaction with the "Wordless". It's an interesting mix, but it works perfectly for this book.
The List is well-written with a fairly interesting, if a bit overdone, plot. I liked the characters and empathized strongly with Letta, the lead. They were easy to root for on their journeys.
Really, my one and only real issue with this book was minor but devastating to my view of the book. It just distracted me to no end constantly and made me kind of scoff. It's the issue of what is on The List. We can see from conversations that the word choice is limited at best in the jumpy sentences, etc. Fine, I believe you might be able to get by with 500 words for conversations, if you count in the fact that the conversations won't really be worthwhile. I understand that and that it's the point of the book.
My problem is that there seems to have been no plan as to what The List actually holds on it. Each chapter starts off with a list word, including the word and its definition. And those chapter starters were completely nonrealistic! When defining water, it is said to be "clear and translucent." In a world where colors were eliminated from the English language, I highly doubt that "translucent" made the cut. And in that case, why would they bother defining the words at all? No one who reads it will have no idea what the definition means, which won't help them to understand the List word.
Overall, The List was good. It was well-written and had a bit of a spin by using the idea of limited language. It did have some drawbacks, such as the lack of a plan for the List words and its general lack of originality (I felt like I'd already read three versions of this book). That being said, I would recommend this book if the premise sounded interesting to you! It is exactly what it said it was going to be.
Phrase:
Beet juice
*Note: This book was given to me through edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*
If You Liked This Book, You May Also Like:
Matched by Ally Condie
If you're looking for a good book, check out my Suggestions Page!
Happy Reading!
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