Personal Response:
I look back on what I read and even though I finished it moments ago I am not sure what to think of the book. I did not enjoy reading it, neither did I hate the book. There is no doubt that Rosoff knows how to weave a story, but the story itself was one I found less than captivating. I am truly struggling with why I did not find it interesting because it is obviously a minority opinion of the book. It could be my dislike for post apocalyptic literature (I know that I may be stretching when I say it was post apocalyptic, but many of the themes in the book are very similar to that genre) books as a whole, or it could be how I felt Rosoff handled certain situations.
The way that she seemed to handle stressful situations bothered me greatly. I find it hard to believe that Rosoff has ever been in a situation where she has witnessed death on the level that the children do. For example, when the girls watched the major die all they did was ride the rest of the way in silence. There is no process for dealing with the emotions, it is as though they do not have emotions even though they witness two men get shot to death. The only time they ever deal with loss is when it is on a more personal level, namely when they can’t find Jet, Edmond or Isaac. Rosoff even seemed to glance over the death of Aunt Penn. This lack of concern made it very hard for me to connect to the book. While I understand that there was quite bit going on in the book, I feel that dealing with heavy issues is vital for students and Rosoff could have been a great voice for adolescents.
Another area that I was struggling a great deal with was the love story. Even in my wildest dreams I cannot see the relationship between Edmond and Daisy as a healthy one. This is not only because they were first cousins, it has more to do with the way it happened. It was not as much love at first sight, as lust at first sight. I did not feel that Rosoff created a sense of love between the two of them. Sure they had an emotional and physical connection, but I could not feel it like I could all of the other emotions Rosoff was able to elicit throughout the novel.
Overall, I guess I just struggled with the novel because I truly feel that I was not able to connect with the novel on very many levels. Which as a reader makes it hard to want to pick up the book and continue to read it.
Critical Response:
I think the thing that worked best for Rosoff was the voice she used to tell the story. Daisy was a character that I believe many students can and will connect with. She was a good mix of intelligent, compassionate, witty, and had a dry sarcasm to go along with everything else. The way Rosoff told the story though Daisy’s eyes let the reader feel as though they were part of the story. The reason that I feel it was so effective was because Daisy was written in such a way that the reader will not only feel a part of the story, but they will be able to feel the emotions that Daisy went through. This is not an easy task for any author, but I believe that Rosoff did a wonderful job with that aspect of the novel.
Another thing that Rosoff did well was create a story that could captivate the audience. While I did not find the story interesting I can see it to be a story that many people would find interesting. I feel that the idea of an unnamed terror is something that many students feel about the world as a whole. We seem to be living in a world that is worried more and more about someone coming to get us. So I think that the way Rosoff uses such a open ended terror, make it possible for more students to be able to connect with it. She also seems to include many themes and ideas that students look for in a novel. A love story (even if I did not like it) as well as suspense, excitement, loss, and most importantly sex. The way that she was able to weave everything together I believe will reach out to many students on many levels.
One thing I am struggling with is the idea of How I Live Now being in the genre of realitic fiction. Maybe it is just me (and from the reviews I read I think it is) I do not see this happening anywhere in the near future. The reason I say this is not because I feel that this could not happen anywhere in the world, I just do not feel that this can happen in the western world. One might ask what the difference is, and I guess that I would say that if the book is written for and about an obvious western culture then it should be realistic to that society or culture. So in my eyes I would put it more in the realm of science fiction/fantasy that in the genre of realistic fiction.
I look back on what I read and even though I finished it moments ago I am not sure what to think of the book. I did not enjoy reading it, neither did I hate the book. There is no doubt that Rosoff knows how to weave a story, but the story itself was one I found less than captivating. I am truly struggling with why I did not find it interesting because it is obviously a minority opinion of the book. It could be my dislike for post apocalyptic literature (I know that I may be stretching when I say it was post apocalyptic, but many of the themes in the book are very similar to that genre) books as a whole, or it could be how I felt Rosoff handled certain situations.
The way that she seemed to handle stressful situations bothered me greatly. I find it hard to believe that Rosoff has ever been in a situation where she has witnessed death on the level that the children do. For example, when the girls watched the major die all they did was ride the rest of the way in silence. There is no process for dealing with the emotions, it is as though they do not have emotions even though they witness two men get shot to death. The only time they ever deal with loss is when it is on a more personal level, namely when they can’t find Jet, Edmond or Isaac. Rosoff even seemed to glance over the death of Aunt Penn. This lack of concern made it very hard for me to connect to the book. While I understand that there was quite bit going on in the book, I feel that dealing with heavy issues is vital for students and Rosoff could have been a great voice for adolescents.
Another area that I was struggling a great deal with was the love story. Even in my wildest dreams I cannot see the relationship between Edmond and Daisy as a healthy one. This is not only because they were first cousins, it has more to do with the way it happened. It was not as much love at first sight, as lust at first sight. I did not feel that Rosoff created a sense of love between the two of them. Sure they had an emotional and physical connection, but I could not feel it like I could all of the other emotions Rosoff was able to elicit throughout the novel.
Overall, I guess I just struggled with the novel because I truly feel that I was not able to connect with the novel on very many levels. Which as a reader makes it hard to want to pick up the book and continue to read it.
Critical Response:
I think the thing that worked best for Rosoff was the voice she used to tell the story. Daisy was a character that I believe many students can and will connect with. She was a good mix of intelligent, compassionate, witty, and had a dry sarcasm to go along with everything else. The way Rosoff told the story though Daisy’s eyes let the reader feel as though they were part of the story. The reason that I feel it was so effective was because Daisy was written in such a way that the reader will not only feel a part of the story, but they will be able to feel the emotions that Daisy went through. This is not an easy task for any author, but I believe that Rosoff did a wonderful job with that aspect of the novel.
Another thing that Rosoff did well was create a story that could captivate the audience. While I did not find the story interesting I can see it to be a story that many people would find interesting. I feel that the idea of an unnamed terror is something that many students feel about the world as a whole. We seem to be living in a world that is worried more and more about someone coming to get us. So I think that the way Rosoff uses such a open ended terror, make it possible for more students to be able to connect with it. She also seems to include many themes and ideas that students look for in a novel. A love story (even if I did not like it) as well as suspense, excitement, loss, and most importantly sex. The way that she was able to weave everything together I believe will reach out to many students on many levels.
One thing I am struggling with is the idea of How I Live Now being in the genre of realitic fiction. Maybe it is just me (and from the reviews I read I think it is) I do not see this happening anywhere in the near future. The reason I say this is not because I feel that this could not happen anywhere in the world, I just do not feel that this can happen in the western world. One might ask what the difference is, and I guess that I would say that if the book is written for and about an obvious western culture then it should be realistic to that society or culture. So in my eyes I would put it more in the realm of science fiction/fantasy that in the genre of realistic fiction.
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