Hello again, few but dear readers. How goes life? Monica and I are still making our way through Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker. Our thoughts about chapters 13-17 are below. We'd love to hear what you think of the book in the comments, few but dear readers.
Shel: After taking a few days off and picking up this book once more, I can't believe some of the characters' names. It makes me wonder what my name would be if I lived in the Ship Breaker world. I imagine I would be something like "Whiney Girl," since I'd constantly complain about the working conditions and lack of sanitation. How about you?
Monica: Oh, I’d be Stumbles, for sure. Because—and trust me on this—if I had to do be doing any of the running / wire cutting / fighting that these kids are doing on a daily basis, I’d be black and blue and blistered and crippled. Clumsy is my middle name.
Whiney Girl: I like that Tool turns out to be a good guy. Yay, Tool!
Monica: His name is strange but we love him!!! I wonder if we’re ever going to find out his whole back story… To be honest, he might be my favorite character of the whole book.
Shel: See, at first, I was willing to cheer on Lucky Girl, but she is proving to be a little too manipulative for my tastes. I do like Tool. But just as Lucky Girl is too manipulative, he seems a little too wise.
Shel: I like the tension over how similar Nailer is to his father.
Monica: And how desperate Nailer is for it to not be true. Poor Nailer. If my daddy was a crazy drunken killer-type person, I’d have disowned him by now. But family loyalty wins out, I guess, at least for now.
Shel: And I quote: "It's human nature to tear one another apart. Be glad you come from such a successful line of killers" (p. 175). Yikies.
Monica: Upside, he’s ahead in the game! Look how much more trouble he would have had if he *didn’t* have such a fierce attitude! (Trying desperately to look on the bright side…?)
Shel: The bright side is fun! While I'm enjoying this book, I did feel like the first two part were a little too heavy on the lets sit around and talk. It's nice to have some more action now.
Monica: Yeeees. I liked the finger-cutting moment, but other than that, there was a LOT of exposition. But now, there’s fighting in the streets! Running for their lives! Hooray!! J (I’m a little bloodthirsty. I can’t help it.)
Shel: Never fear, I thirst for blood too...in the only way that a vegetarian can thirst for blood.
Monica: Nailer is right. Nita *is* kind of a cold one. Way to hang Tool out to dry, girl – I like him way more than you, so I’m kind of bothered by your Cringe In The Shadows attitude. … On the upside, yay Nailer! Way to be loyal!
What are your thoughts, cool cats? Monica and I would love to read your opinions of Ship Breaker. We'll be back with comments on chapters 18 through 21 by Saturday-ish. The feast continues then!
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