The Maze Runner

 

            This six weeks I decided to read The Maze Runner by James Dashner. Random House Inc. published it in 2009. It’s a dystopian style of book that takes place in the future. The book is generally about a group of boys that are trapped in the center of a maze. They have been trying for the past 2 years to get out, and when Thomas turns up it seems like escape just might be possible. I would say the overall theme of this book would be not everything is as it appears; the boys end up finding out that they’re essentially in a big test and that there are scientists studying their brain and how it reacts to various problems, when they thought that was the “real” world. 

            The story is told through the point of view of Thomas which I kind of disliked because you don’t get to see the story from other character’s point of views, and don’t get to see how they interpret the various life-experiences they’re put through, as well as connect with them on various levels. It’s about a 16 year-old boy named Thomas who wakes up with his memory erased remembering only his name in an elevator. He arrives in a place called the Glade where there are roughly 50 to 60 other boys of varying ages that recognize themselves as Gladers. The Glade is a place about the size of a couple football fields that has four different areas, the living area, farm area, livestock area, and lastly the forest area. There are four doors (North, South, East, West) that lead out to the maze and close at night. There are various jobs/careers in the maze and Thomas ends up becoming a runner, whose job is to run the maze and try to find a way out to wherever out of the maze is. They then write down their section of the maze at the end of the day to try and find a pattern. But when a girl shows up in the elevator that has previously only given supplies and a new boy every month things begin to change. The intended audience of this book I think would fall into teens and young adults. This book falls into the science-fiction genre because there are definitely various scientific elements involved throughout the book and it is obviously fiction. The author keeps you interested with suspense and foreshadowing, there was one chapter of the book that the author had me very interested to find out the outcome by using suspense. The author’s style is definitely more of a strange style than other authors I’ve read, but I would say is unsettling, it’s a unique style that I can only describe as weird. 

            This book affected me because it made me about what my life would be like if I was stuck in a world that was created by scientists to provoke certain brain waves. You would never know if you were ever safe, and you don’t have the protection or reassurance of parents or knowledge of what’s going on. The book did not change any ideas I held, and doesn’t really fit into my world view aside from provoking me to think about what my life would be like if my life was in the hands of scientists that I had never met and only wanted me for their test. It did not remind me of any other books I have read before; it was a truly original book. 

           I had a love hate relationship with this book. I did enjoy reading this book, but at the same time I found it hard to read in places and just didn’t enjoy the storyline as much as other books I’ve read. I would recommend this book if you like weird, dystopian, messed up government type books.

Abi Pitman

12/11/2013

3.5/5 stars