Matched Trilogy by Ally Condie

I was going to blog about each book separately, but once I started to reread Matched, I couldn't put it down. Now, I've finished the whole trilogy in about four days without a thought about blogging. No, I didn't accomplish much else over the last few days. It's a magnificent story.

It's a page turner (obviously, since I was so enthralled in the story). Ally Condie's prose is poetic and musical. It's a very psychological narrative. Matched is written from Cassia's point of view. Crossed is written from Ky's and Cassia's points of view. Reached is told from Xander's, Ky's, and Cassia's points of view. I found it very engaging as I followed each of their very personal changes. Condie leads readers to understand the characters and their choices.

The story is about the right to choose, the people we love and effect, and what we need to really live. In one of my favorite quotes in Matched, Cassia comments that the Society gives just enough to satiate people, but that it's not really living.

Cassia, Xander, and Ky live in the Society. Their data is collected and then analyzed. Choices are limited; optimal results are best.

One example of their limited choices is that citizens of the Society can choose whether to stay Single or be Matched.  Matched opens with Cassia's Matching Banquet. She is matched with Xander. Later, when she sits down to view the microcard of his information, another face is presented. Ky. And so begins Cassia's journey as she opens up and begins to look around her, to see more, and to wonder.

The story takes the reader to the Outer provinces of the Society, through the Carving, into the Rising against the Society, out of the Society, and into the heart of the Society. I liked that Condie took readers all over the world she'd created. I really liked how the reader sees the good and the bad of the Society, the Rising, and the characters. Condie did a fabulous job showing how people and society are complicated and intertwined.

When I finished reading Reached, I was satisfied. Condie didn't leave loose ends, and she led the reader to understand the decisions the characters make. The characters are believable and consistent yet not stagnant.

In Reached, I loved finally being inside Xander's head, but I was a little disappointed. I first envisioned him to be more cunning because of how much he loves using his skill in games and how well he uses and lives inside the Society (references to Matched and Crossed), but in Reached, Condie focuses on his more compassion, dependability.  I felt a little let down; however, as I ponder it more, I am grateful. It shows Xander's depth of character and keeps more with his character than I originally thought. I learned that we aren't just what we choose to share with the world, we, as individuals, are more, and we want to be seen for what we really are, for our depth.

On a fun note, the second letter of each book title is written abnormally (though very computer-like). The letters spell: ARE. I find this significant because of the themes of seeing people for their depth and feeling alive.

The final scene involves a city hall, like the place where Cassia's Matching banquet occurred (though in a different province). It is fitting. The story ends where it began, but shows how things have changed. The people are voting. Condie doesn't tell us the result of the vote, and that keeps with the themes of the books. It's about choice. The opportunity to choose no matter what you do with it. The right to choose.

To finish, I love the cover art. It's very symbolic and beautifully simple.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The moment I finished the last word of this book, I immediately wanted to reread the book. I wanted so much to open to that first page and reread every single word. Reread it with greater understanding and depth. I left the story feeling fulfilled and knowing that when I do reread it, I will find an old friend again, and I will understand even more than I now understand from just one reading.

The Chosen is an emotionally intense story that explores the relationships between fathers and sons, Jewish culture and religion, and the friendship between two young men. It all begins with a baseball game.

The story follows the two boys over a several year period during which we see the effect of WWII on the American Jews and the world around them. We also receive an insider's view of Zionism and what it means for Jews of different sects.

I was amazed by the love of these two fathers for their sons and the love of their sons to their fathers and each other. I left the story understanding the characters and why they did what they did. I was reminded that God gives us the people we need in our lives. I was sent to parents that I needed. I am sure this is the same with other people.

The characters were all very dedicated to each other and that is a result of the love they all shared and the respect they shared even when they didn't agree with each other. I was impressed with the loyalty shown between people who didn't completely understand each other, but respected each other.

For me, the story was about peace, dedication, and love. I agree with the Wall Street Journal blurb on the cover of my edition, "It will stay on [my bookshelf] and be read again." For me, stories are about what I learn from them. I was reminded, and thus learned, about the great capacities of people to love and serve one another even as we struggle to best know how to serve the people around us and the people who are far from us (figuratively and physically).