Review Proposal & Draft

My Project Proposal

First person writing has always been difficult for me - I generally prefer a polished & somewhat detached tone - so with this Amazon Review project I was eager to put more of myself into it and really make it personal. It fits the genre perfectly and I know it's something I need to work on as a writer. After the first draft I wrote, I felt like I succeeded in doing that to some extent, and I want to work to make my voice even more apparent.

My concern with deliberately crafting reviews from other perspectives is that it will feel disingenuous, and I really want to be honest and sincere with my review. I had an intense personal reaction to the themes in the book, and I think it would help my growth as a writer if I really focus on making this one review the best -and most personal - it can be.

My Review, First Draft

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother takes place in a slightly-futuristic, slightly-dystopian San Francisco; it's a setting that is similar enough to our current reality to make the implications of a total surveillance culture all the more terrifying. A terrorist attack blows up the Bay Bridge in the first few pages of the novel, creating the permissive atmosphere required for a whole lot of very invasive security procedures, all conceived and carried out by the villainous Department of Homeland Security.

If this sounds like a familiar narrative, it's no accident: Doctorow's political agenda is apparent from the moment that 17-year-old Marcus, our protagonist, is abducted by Homeland Security and imprisoned under suspicion of terrorism. Is Marcus a terrorist? Hardly. He's an ace at hacking through his school's secure internet and evading their gait-recognition cameras. He builds his own laptops, and he likes to cut class to play a city-wide interactive game with his best friends. But the post-attack environment is such that everyone, it seems, is a suspect. And that's exactly what Marcus and I take issue with: under the guise of keeping us safe, our country is making criminals of us all.

He faces formidable obstacles in his quest to defend the Bill of Rights. Among them: his very own father, who was spooked enough by Marcus's presumed death after the attack to find even the most Draconian measures acceptable and appropriate. And yes, Marcus does question himself along the way, particularly after he gains an enormous online following and his worshipers seem at risk of retribution for their "treasonous" acts. But Doctorow paints us a picture of a smart, courageous, industrious high school student, willing to use every technological resource at hand to stand up for what he believes is right. And my reaction, as a liberal twenty-something looking for inspiration in a discouraging political climate, is that this world could use way more Marcuses.

Little Brother is classified as a young adult novel. So how's the writing? There is a touch of that adult condescension, a not-quite grasp of kid slang that made me cringe from time to time. There is also a tendency to over-elaborate when it comes to the finer technological details of Marcus's plans. I sense that it's an effort on Doctorow's part to show that with a basic grasp of some simple mathematical concepts, we too can confound the oppressors who would seek to track our every move and bust us for some crime (any crime will do). But that didn't keep my eyes from going a little blurry every time the exposition train went off the tracks.

The characters are strong for the most part, with a slight tendency toward caricature. Marcus feels intensely throughout the novel, and we are along for the ride on a mostly-believable emotional roller coaster. (The stakes are appropriately high.) His best friends are an array of quirky young geniuses, and his girlfriend is incredibly intelligent, funny, and fiercely supportive. It's nice to get female characters that are more than peripheral admirers or untouchable beauties - Ange has a voice all her own, and that's why Marcus falls for her. His parents are loving, despite the varied conflicts at home. I would have related to his complex relationships with his parents at that age.

The great thing about this book is that it's incredible easy to access online for no cost whatsoever - though, if I had it all to do over again, I would much prefer a physical copy for ease of use and for note-taking. (I'm all about scribbling in margins.) But this, too, is part of Doctorow's philosophy. We learn from his impassioned introduction that he believes unfettered access to books is not only a good thing but is now simply a reality that publishers and distributors need to embrace, and he had me convinced without much difficulty.

"For me, for pretty much every writer, the big problem isn't piracy, it's obscurity," Doctorow tells us. "Of all the people who failed to buy this book today, the majority did so because they never heard of it, not because someone gave them a free copy." Yet sharing something that you have purchased legally - something that by every reasonable definition is now your property - is seen by many as a criminal act. This ties into his central theme: a society that makes criminals of all its citizens is undeniably a dysfunctional one. It's up to us to follow Marcus's example, and use our collective ingenuity to protect our freedoms and preserve common sense.