Time for Roland to die.
“You don’t want me,” Roland says desperately. “I’m not the Akron AWOL; Connor’s the one you want.”
See, cowardice is bad and Roland is bad therefore Roland is a coward.
Roland starts going on a mental ramble rant about how Connor must have blabbed about their fight and that’s why he’s getting killed but he’s told that actually it’s because of his blood.
“AB negative— it’s rare and in very high demand.”
I never got this. If it’s rare in people, that means the number of people who want it must be correspondingly low. It seems like things should even out. But apparently he’s the most valuable kid there at the moment by virtue of having a blood type most people aren’t compatible with.
Fun fact, AB blood is the blood of Japanese villains!
They add that anyway, Connor’s going to get unwound that day too.
Anyway, more on how Roland is a coward, begging for a priest (nope, they say, you only get one for when you’re dying. You’d think they’d be happy to have another adult to deflect all the hysteria) and begging them for another day and finally having to be bodily dragged in.
60 Harvest
That is not a POV book you know this.
No one knows how it happens. No one knows how it’s done. The harvesting of Unwinds is a secret medical ritual that stays within the walls of each harvesting clinic in the nation. In this way it is not unlike death itself, for no one knows what mysteries lie beyond those secret doors, either.
EXCEPT FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DO IT.
DO YOU NOT FUCKING KNOW WHAT “NO ONE” MEANS?
Anyway, “no one” is twelve surgeons, nine assistants and four nurses, “how it’s done” is in two teams that rotate by specialty and “what happens” is they carve you up in three hours.
And back to Roland. This is a really creepy chapter but I just can’t get past the fact it’s so transparently trying to be. They paralyze and anesthetize him but “By law, we’re required to keep you conscious through the entire procedure.” There is no explanation for this. One nurse’s job is just to talk to him and distract him from what’s going on, even though they claimed that the reason for keeping him conscious is that he’d want to know what was happening. The nurse says she knows about what happens and is very sympathetic about how it wasn’t fair. This is not how people function. When he’s mostly dismantled and can’t see any more, the nurse reassures him she’s still there, and moments later he hears footsteps walking away because she left right afterward because adults are evil. They start taking apart his brain and he gets some random memories, like the time he broke his arm and the cast was cheaper than a full transplant so he got a cast and what the fuck to they just throw parts at people in this setting? and
When I was three, I had a babysitter. She was beautiful. She shook my sister. Real hard. My sister got wrong. Never got right again. Beautiful is dangerous. Better get them first. because it’s not like this is taking place in a setting where they fix that with brain spackle. Also I guess this is explaining Roland’s nonexistent misogyny.
Anyway, his thoughts then quickly turn into nothing until there’s just I left, in complete defiance of the fact a sense of self is actually one of those higher level brain functions, because the author has never cared about biology and isn’t about to start now. And then it’s over.
It’s definitely really creepy to imagine getting hacked up, but it’s marred by how ridiculous the setup is. They should have said that if he wanted to, he could stay conscious, but I guess that would get in the way of the author telling us he’s such a coward.
Well, on to Lev, who won’t be hacked up because he’s going to explode.
Today he’s on a nature walk where the pastor shows off a frankenstein tree.
“I wanted you to see this,” the pastor says to the crew. “It’s not much to see now, but, oh, you should see it in the spring.
This really seems like the sort of thing they should be trained not to say. Also, since tithes are special, why not only take them at certain parts of the year where everything is prettiest?
“This branch sprouts pink cherry blossoms, and this one fills with huge sycamore leaves. This one fills with purple jacaranda flowers, and this one grows heavy with peaches.”
That sounds cool, if a bit tacky.
“What kind of tree was it to begin with?” asks one of the tithes.
The pastor can’t answer him. “I’m not sure, but it really doesn’t matter— what matters is what it’s become.
This is the sort of low-key creepiness that I wish we had instead of the obvious stuff. As it is, it’s hard to appreciate it because basically everyone agrees unwinding is fucked up and these people are the weird anomaly, so it loses the uncomfortableness of imagining a world where people think this. It’s just a couple crazy people who also are evil.
Also I’d just like to point out that yes, the original does matter. Grafting trees is standard and done because it lets you stick some delicate ornamental on top of a healthy base. In this metaphor, the base tree should be the person getting the cool transplants.
Lev is apparently at the end of his rope and blurts out that this isn’t wonderful at all, but quickly bullshits his way out.
“It’s the work of man, and we shouldn’t be prideful,” he says. ‘”When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but with humility comes wisdom.'”
Which seems like it would contradict the entire tithing thing, though, maybe that’s the author’s intent?
On their way back Lev nearly walks into Connor. Pastor guy jumps in before either can react, quickly herding his precious organ sack away from the bad kid.
“It’s all right,” says the pastor, his protective grip on Lev’s shoulders still firm as they stride away. “We’re all aware of who he is and what he did to you. We were hoping you wouldn’t find out he was at the same harvest camp. But I promise you, Lev, he will never harm you again.”
If they’re so concerned they really shouldn’t have put them in the same camp. It’s not like there’s any lack of the places.
And also, Lev learns Connor will be killed today!
And then LEV DOES SOMETHING OH MY GOD LEV YOU ARE THE BEST PROTAGONIST I LOVE YOU <3 <3 <3 <3
Okay, so people don’t pay too much mind to the tithes, so he manages to slip away and go look for his chaos cult buddies.
He finds Blaine in the grassy commons between the dining hall and the dormitories, being put through a regimen of calisthenics with his unit.
Not enough is being done with how creepy this is. The book went on about how it was creepy they were getting judged on their parts, but the idea they’re being handled like livestock to produce the highest quality parts is much worse.
A staffer attempts to keep them apart but Lev flashes his good-tithe-kid creds and explains that he just knew this guy and wants to say goodbye, being the little angel he is. Then he says that hey, detonating needs to get moved up to today, and by today, Lev means now. Blaine insists he’s in charge, because chaos really likes a clear command structure.
“The longer we wait, the longer we risk going off by accident.”
“So? Randomness works too.”
They are surrounded by adults who make their living murdering kids and he’s arguing for going off because he slips during basketball?
This is not how people act! He’s going to die, people want their death to count for as much as possible. And even if I could accept that someone wouldn’t care about anything but chaos, they’d still want to cause the most amount of chaos, which going off in an open field or whatever wouldn’t do.
Lev informs us that if he hits Blaine they’ll probably leave a crater in the field fifty yards wide because they have impossibly great explosives, but like I said, I’m willing to ignore the mechanics of the bomb.
See, you’re allowed to break the rules a little if it makes for a good story. Here, the fact kids can sometimes explode is being used in service of the plot. The unwinding-isn’t-death thing, in contrast, is not – it’s being used as part of presenting a case for what you should believe. It’d be like if this made-up explosive ability was being used to make an argument we should do invasible blood tests every time someone enters a city.
Lev does not consider telling the truth. Instead, he lies and says they’ve figured out clappers have infultrated the place and will realize who they are soon. But the other guy still doesn’t want to.
He thinks for a moment, then starts shaking his head. “No. No, I’m not ready.”
A lot of suicide bombers don’t go through with it. Maybe this is why clapper targets seem so random – not because CHAOS but because the kids drag their heels and end up going off by chance.
Anyway, Lev insists that if they don’t, they’ll just be taken away and blown up quietly, so they need to get moving.
Lev then heads back and tries to find his detonators, but accidentally searches in the wrong cubby. Another kid notices how freaked out he is and tries to be chummy, which pushes Lev over the edge and he yells about how they’re different right in time for one of the counselors to see him.
The counselor nods to the towheaded kid. “Thank you, Sterling.” The boy casts his eyes down and hurries out. “We assigned Sterling to keep an eye on you and make sure you’re adjusting. We are, to say the least, concerned.”
So I guess he hasn’t been playing his part half as well as he thought.
So now he’s stuck getting a helpful chat about how “We try to make sure every tithe enters the divided state in the proper frame of mind.” and stuff as time ticks by. Still, it doesn’t seem it matters too much. If Blaine had refused and he was the only one, sure, but the other two will go off at the right time and distract everybody.
On to a new POV, Guard
He hates his job, he hates the heat, he hates that he has to stand in front of the Chop Shop for hours guarding the doors, making sure no one unauthorized enters or leaves. He had dreams back in StaHo of starting a business with his buddies, but no one loans start-up money to StaHo kids. Even after he changed his last name from Ward to Mullard—the name of the richest family in town—he couldn’t fool anyone. Turns out half the kids from his state home took on that name when they left, figuring they could outsmart the world. In the end, he outsmarted no one but himself. The best he could do was find a series of unfulfilling jobs in the year he’s been out of StaHo—the most recent of which is being a harvest camp guard.
Adults being evil, this is not used as a chance to suggest that maybe people might end up doing things they don’t agree with because they need the job. No, he just hates it because it’s boring. No mention is made of the fact a lot of the kids he sees walking in there are Wards like him, that he must have had friends that didn’t make the cut. Adults are evil, okay?
Then some extra kids show up.
The guard doesn’t like the look of them. The boy’s a flesh-head. The girl is Asian.
Why does the guard hate Asians, of all things? Plus, Mai has a punk look, wouldn’t he be judgy about that if he’s going to be judgy about anything?
They say they’re there to deliver food and they’re acting all shifty but the guard thinks all unwinds are because adults are evil.
He looks like he’d rather be anywhere in the world but standing in front of the Chop Shop, so the guard decides to draw it out, making them stand there even longer.
In case you missed that adults are evil.
He does this by trying to call the office to see if they’re supposed to be there, only to get a busy signal. See, smarter plotting would have taken advantage of his inexplicable malice – the kids should be acting like they’d jump at an excuse to leave, which convinces him to send them up without bothering to call, with perhaps a line about how the office is always busy anyway.
He considers the plate in the girl’s hands. “Let me see that.” He peels back the foil and takes the largest chicken breast.
Did I mention adults are evil? Adults are evil.
[[“AB negative— it’s rare and in very high demand.”]]
I’ve been waiting for this one. This may be the single stupidest line in the entire book.
No, you fucking idiot, AB is not in high demand. It cannot be given to anyone except those who have AB blood, and people who are AB can also receive from literally any other blood type. AB is the LEAST useful (though AB- is marginally more useful and AB+). The golden ticket is O-, which can be given to absolutely anyone. In addition, people who are O- can only receive O-, making it all the more critical. It’s the only blood type that is like that, too, so it’s super important, because these O- genetic losers (like me!) are screwed if there’s none, whereas people who are AB can still get blood from other ABs in addition to A, B, and O donors.
It’s almost as though he did absolutely no research.
I was going to make the exact same comment. To be fair, Shusterman is hardly the only person to get this wrong though it makes me roll my eyes every time.
I remember on Dark Angel she explains she’s O because the scientists wanted their genetically modified supersoldiers to all be universal donors so they could donate to each other in the field, which was a good laugh at the time. I wonder if anyone ever wrote fic about the guy behind that decision getting fired.
I was thinking they meant the blood type was related to the demand of his organs, since I think an exact match reduces transplant issues further.
Looking it over I think they’re just talking about blood, though. And in that case, why aren’t they constantly draining it off the kids instead of just during the slaughter?
Probably something ridiculous like they don’t have permission to take blood, just kill them.
I always imagine that in the film adaptation of this book, the scene where Roland is unwound would either have Part Of Me by Katy Perry or We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift in the background. Because fuck you that’s why. I don’t even know if it’s a fuck you to Neal, the people who are fans of the book, or just the world in general.
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony would be more appropriate I bet.
That needs to play while Connor’s telling Roland to rape Risa.
They should both be playing at the same time! And slowly separate so you’re hearing one chunk of one, then a chunk of the other, because it’s symbolic of the fact they’re being separated!
I think the author is on to how ridiculous this whole thing is. This is a satire.
The cartoonishly evil adults, the ridiculous statements (no one knows how it is done!), the Gary Stu protagonist.
Gentlemen, we have been trolled.
In a just world, that would be the case, yes.
The author of “I am number four” was pretty straightfoward in saying he wrote the series for money. The same is happening here, the author just won’t admit it.
Oh, no, I’m absolutely certain that he’s in this more for the money than the art and ~writing the controversy~ primarily because controversy sells. Probably some of the stupider decisions are just there for the sensationalism and the “adults are useless and evil” thing is calculated shilling to the demographic. But he’s still too sincere and not nearly self-aware enough to be properly called a “troll”. He really does seem to believe that his opinions about abortion are better than everyone else’s.
Being a hack is not the same thing as being a troll, and no one here is denying that he’s a hack. That’s basically our whole point.
I remember when people would say that about Twilight. Sometimes it’s hard for us to accept that something this bad was published and received praise/fans.
See above. The thing with Twilight is that Stephanie Meyer is a mormon. The Cullen are the ideal mormons. Also, she is creepy crazy.
Neal also seems to have some weird religion issues, and I have yet to see any evidence that points to him *not* being crazy. I don’t understand why you’re being so insistent about this. Or why you’re referring to Farla and her readers as “gentlemen.”
Because thinking otherwise makes my head hurt. Some wishfull thinking on my part, perhaps, but I can see how Meyer thinks Twilight is a love story, and I can follow some incredibly self-centered thinking teenager prick might think/act like Bella.
But I can’t see it with Connor, nor the universe presented.
But I don’t mean to be insistent.
Also, is “gentlemen” offensive somehow? I tought it aggrouped people of either gender in a polite manner. If not, I blame english not being my mother language.
Gentlemen is male, if you were going for neutral, you could have used Ladies and Gentlemen, or simply people, or gentlefolks.
Are you also not from America? Because that might explain how you’ve never met anyone who would find Connor appealing. I certainly have, but it may just be a national variety of asshole.
It would also mean you might not be aware that when the subject of abortion is broached around here, actual elected officials start spewing hateful shit like that being impregnated through rape is a gift from God (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/october-web-only/are-pregnancies-even-from-rape-gift-from-god.html) and pregnant women should be treated like livestock (http://msmagazine.com/blog/2012/03/31/at-11th-hour-georgia-passes-women-as-livestock-bill/).
As for “gentlemen,” it isn’t outright offensive, but nor is it really a good thing to call a group consisting largely of women who are discussing issues that primarily affect women. It’s a male-gendered word that is often treated as gender neutral because in a patriarchal society, male is considered the “neutral” gender and women’s existences don’t need to be acknowledged.
I live in a pretty chauvinistic society myself, so I empathize. I’m sorry for partaking in such behavior myself, albeit unintentionally.
Connor is like a self-insert wish-fullfilement, and I get how he would seem appealing, but he is so blatant to seem like satire. Add the ludricous world and quotes…..
But I digress. I’ll always hold the suspicion that this is written in the same vein of My Immortal, and it just so happens no-one got the joke. “People of Chance”, or “Chance Folk”. Pfff.