Book Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Sep. 11th, 2007 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: How I Live Now
Author: Meg Rosoff
Published: New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004
Page Count: 194
Total Page Count: 111
Text Number: 38,953
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Some day in the near future, Daisy leaves Manhattan and moves in with her aunt and cousins in their farmhouse in the English countryside. Her cousins adopt her immediately, and Daisy falls in love with one, beginning the few idyllic weeks that pass before, while her aunt is away on business, war breaks out. With the country in chaos, Daisy and her cousins must fend for themselves through increasingly dismal, difficult times. Told in an immature adolescent voice and focusing on, not the political issues, but the daily life of war from a teenager's point of view, How I Live Now deals with everything from eating disorders to love to the dystopic wasteland of the abandoned countryside. The voice is difficult to adjust to and to read, the subject matter is dark and almost hopeless, but Rosoff conceives her modern war in gritty detail and brings it to life through the vibrant young characters. A different, odd, but fast-paced read, and moderately recommended.
I come into this review without a strong opinion one way or the other on this book, and still confused as to why and how much I gained from reading it. The book is difficult to adjust to at first. Told in Daisy's voice, it is stripped of almost all punctuation, heavy on capitalized words, and thick with immature adolescent sarcasm. However, as the reader adjusts, the voice begins to contribute to rather than detract from the book by becoming one of the many factors that bring to life the vibrant young narrator and characters. Many of the book's features follow this contradictory path: they are odd, strange, or even off-putting, but are ultimately crucial to creating the book as it is. From the love between the cousins Daisy and Edmond to Daisy's eating disorder, to the deaths, days of starvation, and terror that populate the latter half of the book (expressed, often, in gritty and unforgiving detail), the book rides the line between hopelessly depressing and distinctly, vitally alive. It is an odd combination that makes for an even stranger read, but with Daisy's well-paced narration remains an engrossing book.
Unlike many post-apocalyptic or dystopic texts, however, How I Live Now does not offer a concrete warning or message for the reader to take away at the end of the book. This, too, plays a dual role: in some ways, the lack of a greater message makes the narration more engrossed in and authentic to itself; in all other ways, it limits the lasting impact of the book. With young narrators, without a political slant, without a thematic message or warning, the book falls somewhat flat at the end. Once the shell-shocked daze of reading it wears off, the text seems pointless, hopeless, and messageless—begging the question: Was this a worthwhile book?
Rosoff's world is realistic, her characters vibrant and human despite their telepathic traits, and the horrors of her war are unforgiving. The book is a compelling read, difficult to put down, constantly leading into the next struggle, difficulty, and sometimes triumph. But it is more unsettling that it is memorable or meaningful. I cannot say that I enjoyed reading it, but I do appreciate both the skill and the content of the work. I wish it had more to offer once the reading were done, but I am still glad to have read this book. Post-apocalyptic/dystopic fans may enjoy the concept and the setting; all readers will be drawn into Daisy's world. This is not a must-read, and it left me feeling unsettled, but I do nevertheless recommend it.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
Author: Meg Rosoff
Published: New York: Wendy Lamb Books, 2004
Page Count: 194
Total Page Count: 111
Text Number: 38,953
Read For: my own enjoyment, checked out from the library
Short review: Some day in the near future, Daisy leaves Manhattan and moves in with her aunt and cousins in their farmhouse in the English countryside. Her cousins adopt her immediately, and Daisy falls in love with one, beginning the few idyllic weeks that pass before, while her aunt is away on business, war breaks out. With the country in chaos, Daisy and her cousins must fend for themselves through increasingly dismal, difficult times. Told in an immature adolescent voice and focusing on, not the political issues, but the daily life of war from a teenager's point of view, How I Live Now deals with everything from eating disorders to love to the dystopic wasteland of the abandoned countryside. The voice is difficult to adjust to and to read, the subject matter is dark and almost hopeless, but Rosoff conceives her modern war in gritty detail and brings it to life through the vibrant young characters. A different, odd, but fast-paced read, and moderately recommended.
I come into this review without a strong opinion one way or the other on this book, and still confused as to why and how much I gained from reading it. The book is difficult to adjust to at first. Told in Daisy's voice, it is stripped of almost all punctuation, heavy on capitalized words, and thick with immature adolescent sarcasm. However, as the reader adjusts, the voice begins to contribute to rather than detract from the book by becoming one of the many factors that bring to life the vibrant young narrator and characters. Many of the book's features follow this contradictory path: they are odd, strange, or even off-putting, but are ultimately crucial to creating the book as it is. From the love between the cousins Daisy and Edmond to Daisy's eating disorder, to the deaths, days of starvation, and terror that populate the latter half of the book (expressed, often, in gritty and unforgiving detail), the book rides the line between hopelessly depressing and distinctly, vitally alive. It is an odd combination that makes for an even stranger read, but with Daisy's well-paced narration remains an engrossing book.
Unlike many post-apocalyptic or dystopic texts, however, How I Live Now does not offer a concrete warning or message for the reader to take away at the end of the book. This, too, plays a dual role: in some ways, the lack of a greater message makes the narration more engrossed in and authentic to itself; in all other ways, it limits the lasting impact of the book. With young narrators, without a political slant, without a thematic message or warning, the book falls somewhat flat at the end. Once the shell-shocked daze of reading it wears off, the text seems pointless, hopeless, and messageless—begging the question: Was this a worthwhile book?
Rosoff's world is realistic, her characters vibrant and human despite their telepathic traits, and the horrors of her war are unforgiving. The book is a compelling read, difficult to put down, constantly leading into the next struggle, difficulty, and sometimes triumph. But it is more unsettling that it is memorable or meaningful. I cannot say that I enjoyed reading it, but I do appreciate both the skill and the content of the work. I wish it had more to offer once the reading were done, but I am still glad to have read this book. Post-apocalyptic/dystopic fans may enjoy the concept and the setting; all readers will be drawn into Daisy's world. This is not a must-read, and it left me feeling unsettled, but I do nevertheless recommend it.
Review posted here at Amazon.com.
