Set in a future world where people are classified by which
(and how much) color they can see, Shades of Grey is a bizarre book about Eddie
Russet, Red swatchman’s son and likely future prefect. In general I didn’t really care for this one.
Throughout listening to the book
(although the reader was very entertaining and excellent), thoughts kept
popping into my head that prevented me from truly enjoying the story.
Look, I can suspend reality like a champ. People living in
fear of a tyrannical government that makes children fight to the death as a
form of keeping rebellions at bay? People classified into factions based on a
dominating personality trait? Wizards, witches, gods living among us? Done. For
some reason with this one I couldn’t get past classifying people by how color
blind they are. Why does that matter at all? Who gives a crap? If that was the
only thing I would have had to accept as weird in the entire book, maybe I could
have gotten past it. But in combination with things like spoon shortages
(really? Is that supposed to be satirical? It makes no sense), colors fixing ailments
and getting people high (sorry, what?), and night terrors (because they can’t
see colors? Why?)? I just couldn’t. And that bothers me a little, but that’s
how this went. Over and over. Instead of enjoying the book for what it was I kept
catching myself questioning the author’s choices and not getting involved in the
story or escaping into the book. It was all too convoluted and there was too much
going on that I needed to just accept. Maybe
that’s the point. But I think what is meant to be satirical and funny only
irritates me.
It did finally get me near the end, so not all of it is
bad. I still had the same problems accepting a lot of what I was being told,
but I did want to know what would happen, which remains the book’s saving
grace, and the reason I gave it a two instead of a one.
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