Book Friday – Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
22 January 2010
“I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one. Or at least as close as we’re going to get.”
So, Ender’s Game isn’t the typical book that I would select for myself. I read it because it’s one of my husband’s favorite books, and both Angela Hunt and my best friend, Roseanna White, list it as one of their favorites as well.
Through the entire reading process, my husband would look over my shoulder, make a comment or two about where I was, and then say, “What do you think of it?” And I usually said something really eloquent like, “Well … I don’t know. I mean, I like it, but I just… I don’t know. I guess I’m not seeing what’s so fabulous about it that everyone just raves and raves. I mean, it’s good. I’m enjoying it, I just… I don’t know.”
And that, in a nutshell, is my review. (You can see why I don’t get paid to do this.)
I liked it.
It was different than any book I’ve ever read, and I’m always a fan of that. (It also used the word “farteater” way more than any other book I’ve read. That was a surprise.)
I liked Ender a lot. It really bummed me out that he was so bummed out for 95% of the book, and that’s always a good sign. I thought the relationships between Ender, Valentine, and Peter were all really interesting. And there were a lot of, “Oh!” kind of moments. (I mean surprises, if that’s unclear.)
But…
I don’t know. Especially because the end was so different than I thought it would be, and it left me feeling like, “Wait, so he doesn’t get to…? So, we’re not going to get…?”
So, basically, I’m still wrestling with how I feel about this book. I liked it, but I didn’t like it to the degree of basically everyone else around me. Usually when everybody I know loves a book, I either really hate it (Da Vinci Code, The Notebook, The Shack) or really love it as well (Twilight). And that’s left me feeling off-kilter. And wondering if I’m just not as deep as everyone else. Like maybe I didn’t “get it.”
So, a good book. I liked it. But…
Comments
That line caught my eye as well. Actually, I noticed quite a few insightful lines. So it’s probably going to be like Lord of the Rings, where it’s not really something I love, but it’s something I quote :)
Posted by Stephanie on 22 January 2010
Shaking my head at you, but I suppose I’ll forgive it and love you anyway. ;-) Actually, you should next read Ender’s Shadow, about Bean. The writing’s in Card’s more modern style, and it’s really fun to get the same story from Bean’s point of view.
Posted by Roseanna White on 25 January 2010
LOL. Great review. =) First, I read it as a teen, which probably has something to do with my love for it. There’s something about reading about a kid who saved the world when you’re a kid, dreaming of impacting the world. ;-)
Next, for me, my adoration of the book is rooted in amazement of the line that says something like, “You can’t really defeat your enemy until you know them. But once you know them, you love them.” Okay, that’s not the actual line, but it’s the idea behind it—that to ultimately defeat who you hate, you have to love them. Which means you also defeat yourself by winning.
Roseanna’s take. =)
Posted by Roseanna White on 22 January 2010