Center for Teaching & Learning

Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow live in the city of Ember, a place eternally shrouded in darkness, except for the electric light bulbs spread across the town. However, food is running out, and the lights have been flickering constantly. When city jobs are assigned, Lina’s worst fear comes true: she’s assigned to the most menial task—Pipeworks laborer. However, by circumstance, Doon happens to have her dream job: messenger. He offers to trade, in order to inspect the generator—the cause of the blackouts plaguing the city— and she is overjoyed. But then she discovers scraps of parchment hidden in a closet, which could shine a light on everything hidden in the darkness of Ember. They could even lead to a path out of the city. This is the dystopian story of The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau—and the beginning of a great series.

But this isn’t just a book about a few pieces of ripped parchment and a city in darkness. It’s a book about how limited conditions for the many can elevate the few, and therefore an allegory for corruption and authoritarianism. Explaining these crucial events in detail would spoil the plot of the book, but it’s enought to say that corruption is contained within the darkness of Ember. As Ember is essentially a poverty-ridden police state, similar to today’s North Korea, when this corruption is discovered, the full extent of its leaders’  power is revealed. This unfolds throughout the entire book, beginning with the event mentioned above, and continuing into the sequel, The People of Sparks, where DuPrau also handles such delicate and controversial issues as xenophobia. DuPrau weaves these in expertly, beginning with a detour from the path out of Ember, and incorpoating it throughout the rest of the book and its sequel.

I loved how the novel showed exactly what it would be like to live in a world deprived of such basic technology as a movable light. It was interesting to ponder what our world would look like without the technology we have developed, and even as a possible, hopefully distant, future way of life. It challenges the popular notion of futuristic ways of life as dominated by technology by presenting a vision of life without it.

The third person narrative voice usually makes readers feel much more distant from the characters, but DuPrau utilized it so expertly that it makes the audience feel just as close to the characters as they would if the novel was written in first person, and it spreads out the focus between the two main characters evenly. For example, when Sadge Merrall returns from the Unknown Regions ranting and raving, readers will almost feel Lina’s anxiety and fear, even through third person narration. For another, when Lina and Doon are being pursued by the police, third person is perfect, as it doesn’t have to use just one perspective, and the reader would be much less confused.

DuPrau kept the pace speedy, as this is an adventure novel at its core, but she also added some truly powerful and insightful moments. I enjoyed this; it never felt slow or drawn-out, but wasn’t shallow or without theme. The strong plot makes for a quick but insightful reading experience. I flew through this, never lacking for theme or pace.

I rated this book a ten out of ten, as did many of my peers. This is for all the features that I have already mentioned, as well as so many more that I could not possibly fit into this short review. As I have mentioned, there is a sequel, The People of Sparks, and it is exactly as enjoyable as its precursor. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced dystopian adventure with elements of mystery and can still appreciate a captivating and insightful theme. Everyone who has tried The City of Ember has enjoyed it, so therefore everyone should try it.

Ian

Random House, 270 pages