Impactful Paper

I *think* we were supposed to post this...anyway, here it it:

I was not prepared for how I would feel rereading Pretties, the second book in the Uglies trilogy; they were probably the most influential books I had read that shaped how I read. It’s not a fantastic read, but at the age of eleven or twelve, I thought it was genius. Deep down, I had hoped rereading it as a nineteen-year-old senior in college would have the same effect on me as it did as a tween. Of course that wasn’t the case, but it wasn’t terrible. There was equal amount of disappointment and enlightenment.

            The first time I read it I was young—perhaps a little too young. I put it on my bookcase and picked it up again a year or so later. The second time around, I devoured the entire trilogy. I read it and reread it over and over again for two weeks straight, only leaving my bedroom to go to the bathroom or get food, and then promptly go back to bed to read some more. It was like an addiction, something I couldn’t control. The dystopian world Scott Westerfeld created absorbed me, fascinated me. The physical and emotional experiences the characters went through seemed so large. I loved the escape reading Uglies gave me. My life at the time was all over the place and some major changes were happening. Tally, the protagonist, also went through some major changes. (Literally. Like body-altering changes.) While we were in completely separate situations, we were both going through tough parts of life. We needed to adapt.

            After my Uglies ammo ran out, I moved on to other books. Twilight, I’m reluctant to say, was one of the reads that I became obsessed with—I was at the perfect age when it became huge. But despite my temporary adolescent idiocy, I began to read more than I ever had after reading the Uglies Trilogy. They may not have been great books I was reading, but at the time I needed that commercial quality that outpoured after Twilight. It’s eight years later and, while I’ve learned the difference between good writing and bad writing, I still read commercial books that give me that feeling of escape I first felt while reading Uglies.

            While I unfortunately didn’t have the first book in the series (who knows where it went), I was still excited to reread Pretties. A part of me prepared for what my brain would digest, like clichés and character development and relationships, but I was surprised when I wanted to chuck the book against the wall. I almost did. Fifty pages in and Tally is kissing someone who is not David! My inner romantic, childish-self still loves the first love interest, even though, at age twelve, I rooted for the second love interest, Zane. But after having grown up and learning about the dos and don’ts of writing and storytelling, I just about gave up on the book when kissing was going on with some guy she’d just met fifty pages in. I also rolled my eyes a lot at some of the cheesy lines.

            Despite the above, there were some aspects of the book I rediscovered and loved. Mostly, these were world building aspects. Scott Westerfeld created a world after the apocalypse and referenced certain features of today’s society that made me think. “Rusties” is the term used for us. Several lines or passages either made me smile at the ironic truth Tally noted or made me seriously consider if I should worry more than I already am about our world. There’s a point in the novel where Tally is walking through the “Rusty Ruins” and observes skeletons crumbling in rusted automobiles, withering away after a plague made petroleum burst into flame. She comments on how, despite the knowledge of the plague, people still went into their cars to drive away from it, but then died before they could. I stopped reading at this point and thought, “A lot of people really would do that.” Fear can make idiotic choices. At age twelve I didn’t have the brain connections to understand what Westerfeld was trying to say. But now I do. And it’s kind of scary.

            I think I got a lot more reading the second time around. While there were parts that made me want to gag or beat the book against the wall to get rid of the stupid moments, I could appreciate the underlying conflicts, morals and social commentary in the story. The good and interesting bits outweighed the terrible romance. The image of a burned, crumbling skeleton is etched into my brain for a long time.