"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury

"Fahrenheit 451" is set in a dystopian future where advertising and television aggressively pervade everyday life, people don't vote or question their government, where the USA is in a perpetual state of war with an unspecified superpower, and people's everyday lives are deeply affected by a sense of ambivalence and detachment (in some ways too close to the real state of the present world). Also, books are out-lawed and a special team of "firemen" are tasked with unquestioningly destroying all books on sight (by burning them) and sending book owners/hoarders/readers to gaol. The central protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman who through a series of though-provoking experiences (his acquaintance with Clarisse, a new neighbour who is "different", his wife, Mildred's attempted suicide and the self-immolation of a book-hoarder in her house upon his team's discovery of her illegal collection) questions and challenges the state of his dystopian society. Guy secretly begins to hoard books himself and is eventual exposed by his fire-chief, Beatty, whom Guy murders, beginning a large-scale (and cynically-televised) manhunt for his capture. Guy manages to evade the authorities (with the help of a book-hoarder, Faber) on the eve of the outbreak of a large-scale war that is hinted-at throughout the novel, which destroys Guy's home-city (and the pursuing authorities) hours after Guy escapes into the countryside.

A great book! Really clever and particularly engaging given the all-to-close to home nature of the dystopian future Guy Montag lives in. Guy is a particularly well-written protagonist, and I found it very easy to share his feelings of frustration in the maddening world around him. I thoroughly enjoyed Mildred, who was the embodiment of everything dysfunctional with Guy's society, and Beatty, who was the embodiment of those in power who enforced the status quo (what a brilliant villain!). Bradbury's writing is very accessible, I can see why it's such a popular text in school english. Bradbury does a great job of building up the climax towards the end of the novel during Guy's manhunt, I found I couldn't put the book down from this point on until the end!

It's really very difficult to criticise anything in this book. Definitely a must read.

"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card

Ender Wiggin is a child genius recruited into a program to develop children into starship battle commanders, to fight a war against an alien race, the Formics, otherwise referred to colloquially as the "buggers". The novel follows his experiences at the battle school, where he develops into the star pupil, attracting the jealousy of some of his classmates. He eventually graduates from battle school and is provided final training at command school where he leads a group of his more friendly, talented classmates in battle simulations against the buggers. He completes the final training challenge where it is revealed the "simulations" were in fact real battles fought against the real enemy via remote control, and that the war is over and Ender is responsible for the genocide of the buggers.

On a positive note, the story is generally interesting; the exploration into the psychology of military school training and the art of war is fascinating (I guess I can see why this is a recommended text for the USMC (along with "Starship Troopers" by Robert Heinlein)). Card's writing style provides a good pace to the novel, keeps the reader engaged and makes the book generally very easy to read. From this perspective I can see why "Ender's Game" has been typically voted the best science fiction novel of all-time for it's popular appeal.

On a negative note the characters are generally nothing special. Ender is uncomfortably likeable at the best of times but generally annoying at the worst (particularly towards the end of the book in his despair after his revelation). Other characters are generally two-dimensional. There are some interesting essays criticising Card's supposed justification for the violent actions of some of his characters (see Elaine Radford's review, "Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman" and John Kessel's essay "Creating the Innocent Killer: Ender's Game, Intention, and Morality"). These focus around the assertion that Card appears to be trying to convince the reader that intentions, and only intentions, rather than actions or consequences, are morally-judgeable.

Overall "Ender's Game" is a very entertaining read, and should be on every sci-fi lovers reading list, if at least for being in-the-know.

"The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Shevek is a brilliant theoretical physicist from the anarchist planet of Annares who, tiring of the stifling impediments on his progress imposed by the society he lives in, decides to travel to the neighbouring planet of Urras with it's hierarchical and authoritarian society to continue his life's work. On Annares, Shevek found only apathy for his work and struggled against jealous colleagues. On Urras, Shevek discovers a new kind of "freedom" allowing him to fulfil his work but at the cost of him being subject to the political motivations of those in power within his host government of A-Io and the opposing revolutionists within the powerless, lower classes of Urras society. Shevek finds himself embroiled in bloody war and revolution, circumstances which he has trouble comprehending, coming from his anarchist upbringing. Amidst the turmoil, Shevek completes his paradigm-revolutionising work on the "Principle of Simultaneity" sharing the results with both planets, before returning home to face an uncertain future within his society on Annares.

The novel moves back and forward between Shevek's life on Annares, prior to his leaving, and his life on Urras in two chronological threads. Each thread weaves a consistent climax towards the end of the novel; on Annares, the chapters follow Shevek's increasing disillusionment with his anarchist society culminating in his decision to travel to Urras; on Urras, the chapters follow the growing political unrest following his presence on Urras, leading to completion of his work and his return home. Le Guin is an extremely intelligent writer, and creates fantastically believable politics and societies on both worlds. The book does a great job of exploring the complexities of how an anarchist society might function, which I found fascinating. Shevek is a top-notch protagonist; perhaps not as vibrant as other great central characters but I found that his quiet subtleties somehow made it easier to absorb some of the deeper ideas in the book. Takver (Shevek's partner and the mother of his daughter on Annares) is an absolute cracker of a character! It's somewhat sad that good female characters in science fiction are rarer than their male counterparts, particularly in older novels; I wouldn't go as far to say "The Dispossessed" is feminist science fiction as some do (it certainly explores feminist themes), but theres definitely a realistic gender-balance in the portrayal of the characters.

The only negative aspect I could possibly imagine is that the pace of the novel is a little on the pensive side, however, in my slightly biased opinion, I loved this (being a big fan of Kim Stanley Robinson, who I now realise must have had at least some degree of inspiration from Le Guin).

Overall, "The Dispossessed" is highly recommended and has creeped into my favourites list. I'm looking forward to reading more Le Guin; "The Left Hand of Darkness" awaits on the list.

"A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess

"A Clockwork Orange" is told from the first-person perspective of anti-hero Alex, a classical music-loving juvenile delinquent living in a crime and social-ill-ridden near future. Alex tells his story in the slang of his generation, Nadsat, making the book difficult to read at first, but very effective as the reader becomes familiar with the terminology. Alex and his gang of Droogs (friends) indulge in a life of drug-taking, bullying, violent assault, fighting with opposing gangs, home invasion and rape, which comes to a halt when Alex is betrayed by jealous gang-member Dim, and caught red-handed during a bungled robbery in which Alex unwittingly kills an elderly woman. Alex is sent to prison where he is selected to take part in an experimental rehabilitation program, the "Ludovico Technique", a form of Pavlovian conditioning which forces Alex to watch ultra-violent films while causing him feelings of pain and sickness. Alex is released back into society and is no longer able to perform violent or sexist acts without a conditioned response of pain. As a side-effect Alex also feels pain when listening to his beloved classical music. Alex is taken in by a seemingly-benevolent, anti-government group who seek to use Alex to further their political agenda, seeking public sympathy for the poor state the Ludovico technique has left him in. Coincidentally, one of the group is a previous home invasion victim of Alex and his Droogs, who gradually recognises Alex through his voice and therefore plots revenge with others in the group by arranging Alex to be locked in a room playing classical music, forcing Alex to jump from a window, killing two-birds with one stone (revenge and political objectives via Alex as a martyr). However, Alex survives his fall and is taken to hospital where the government arranges for treatments which reverse his conditioning, returning him to his original, violent self.

A really good book. The use of first-person perspective in Alex's nadsat is particularly effective in adding colour to the story, and made it really unique and an interesting read. "A Clockwork Orange" is a dark and cynical novel and I really liked it's gritty nature. That said, it's very violent and sometimes difficult to read, particularly Alex's descriptions of his violent acts, both for the act itself and the use of nadsat in it's description which heightens the sense of Alex's sociopathic nature. Therefore not for the faint-hearted.

The version of the book I read is a reprint of the american print, in which the final chapter (present in the british print) has been left out. In this chapter, years have past and Alex reflects on his violent behaviour remorsefully. Apparently Burgess was unhappy about this edit, claiming the alternative ending glorified Alex's behaviour; interestingly it was this print of the book which was most popular. Personally I found the ending somewhat dark, however there was a touch of poetic justice against the system which had sort to remove Alex's free-will to perform violent acts; the novel certainly does not glorify Alex's behaviour but perhaps the futility in state control over the individual.