Interlude: Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Every once in a while I will deviate from the plan in order to write about a contemporary book. Rest assured I am reading away and will be back to regular programming shortly.

People. This holiday season, I am going to do something that is very difficult for me. I am giving away a book that I love.

If you shuddered just reading that, then you understand. Books are often hard to part with. But this is for charity, and they need gifts for teenagers, and as you’ve probably guessed, my house is full of great teen novels.

I’ve chosen Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother to give away because it is a wonderful, thought-provoking and innovative novel, but also because I think (and hope) that it will appeal to teenage boys, those ever-elusive readers.

Before I start, here is a quick synopsis of the book, taken from the author's Web site.

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

So, here are three awesome things about Little Brother (I had to limit myself, believe me).

1) The title

It might seem kind of obvious to point out that the title of this book is an allusion to George Orwell's 1984. But I'm going to do it anyway, because I think that the way Doctorow has interpreted the Big Brother theme is one of the most interesting aspects of this book.

Little Brother comes from Big Brother, a term coined by Orwell, one that conjures images of dangerous and exploitative acts justified by claims of protection and love. Big Brother takes advantage of people's eagerness to believe what they are told; people are so willing to believe that someone else knows what is best for them that they give up more and more of their freedoms until it is too late to get them back.

Little Brother, as a title, implies right away that the protagonist of this book is in the role of "protected" rather than "protector." Marcus learns early on that the government is terrifying rather than helpful, but instead of accepting his prescribed role as an ignorant citizen, he chooses instead to fight the system. [Marcus's screen name, as a wink to Orwell readers, is w1n5t0n.]

2) Don't Trust Anyone Over 25

Marcus's age is important, and not only because this is a YA novel. Children and teenagers, more than anyone else, are subject to society's rules and restrictions. All day long, teachers and parents and other adult authority figures tell them what to do, and even the most rebellious teenager probably spends more time obeying adults than disobeying them. (Side note: whenever people complain about teenagers being rowdy, I always point out that they're generally more orderly than the elderly, who have a much larger sense of entitlement.) So Marcus's decision to fight the seemingly all-powerful Department of Homeland Security is not easy, and he does not make it lightly.

Age is an important theme throughout the book, with the adults more inclined to obey the government and the younger people often desperate to escape it. This important reversal of the parent/child relationship mirrors the problems with the larger relationship between civilians and the DHS.

3) Technology

Related to the importance of youth fighting for their rights, and certainly related to Doctorow's status as an exalted techie, this book is overflowing with cool and, if you're an analog girl like me, pretty scary technology. I will not go into too much detail, because while it was fairly easy to follow in the book, I will only expose my ignorance if I try to explain it here. Suffice it to say that Marcus leads his rebellion on an Xbox, using untraceable internet connections to organize mass technology sabotage in order to overload the DHS's attempts to track the population. In a world of gait-recognition devices (yes, that means cameras that identify you based on the unique way in which you WALK) and constant surveillance, Marcus discovers ways to turn often-unfriendly technology to his advantage, and it is fascinating to watch, even if you (like me) don't always get it.


Phew! That is all I'll say about Little Brother (and I didn't even talk about the post-9/11 political connection!). Go read it. It's great. I would lend you my copy, but I'm giving it to charity.