Discuss: Soundless

[Shiloh Adlar]

Unfortunately I was number four on the wait list from my library for this book. Fortunately, I saw we sell it at work. I couldn't wait, so I bought it and was not disappointed. I read the entire book in one sitting before I realized it was 3am, and I had to be awake in two hours.

This contains spoilers!

Spoiler :: Show this spoiler

I was very impressed with how much this book reminded me of our world. In fact, for the majority of the time I was reading it, I could believe it was based on a true story or very close to it. When the end came around with the pixius, I had to remind myself that I was reading a work of fantasy fiction because it threw me off for a quick moment. However, it also brought other thoughts to mind.

This book parallels our world in the treatment of others. I'm reminded much of my own country and how those at the top (or the bottom of the mountain in the case of Soundless) think not much of those less fortunate than they. There are many people in my country suffering due to the fact that we are less of a democracy and more of a oligarchy run by big business. I don't know much about politics, so I won't add to that. Even in day to day life however, you see people using other people for personal gain. I myself have had experiences with this when I was still in high school a couple of years ago. I would only be placed into groups to do most of, if not all of the work for the group so the others could get a good grade because they knew I would get it done no matter what, needing a good grade myself. It's in a smaller perspective than what the villagers deal with, but the idea is the same. In order for them to receive food, they must work for those in the township who care little, let alone know they exist.

Then at the end of the book, another message radiates in my mind. Although the pixius come and save the villagers from their fate, they must be called by uniting as one. The people must stand up for themselves and believe that things can change. Without this belief, they would not have made the call that awoke the pixius to them. In our real world, pixius don't exist in the form of glittering winged animals, but I do think they can stand in for hope. However, it is too little to just hope and dream. We must also act to instill change. As a people, when we unite, "we're pretty good at the impossible."

End of spoiler.

What are your thoughts?

Worth 5 activity points!

[Hannah R Thomas]

Shiloh-
I thought this was an amazing book! I couldn't put it down myself because if being such a good book! It took me a few pages to get into it, but after that, I just wanted to see what was going to happen next. When I read books, I always try to find if there is anything significant the author is trying to teach us. In this, I saw that Richelle Mead telling us that there is more to the world than the area that we grew up in. In addition, I thought Mead was trying to tell us that all of our senses are significant

[Leonie Hauri]

I enjoyed this book too! It's very engaging, never leaving you bored with the book. It leaves you with enough mystery that you want to keep on reading but not too much mystery that you're frustrated because you don't know what's going on. I was very satisfied with the ending, because it's not an ending where all of their problems are magically solved, but it's also not a problem where they're off no better than when they started. The pixius came and sort of saved everybody, but even after they were saved, the village still had to care for themselves and work - the pixius didn't solve everything, but they did help with some things.

[Joey Stark]

I wasn't too sure what to think about the book at first as it's a bit different from what I usually read (but then what are book clubs for, right?).

I agree with Leonie that it was very engaging, it definitely kept your attention throughout. I find fast-paced books good for relaxing and easy reads. I think it was well written and really liked the description of the 'Soundless' world, the Chinese setting was really interesting and I'd be interested to know exactly how much of the story, and to what extent, was actually inspired by Chinese mythology. I also really enjoyed Fei's reactions to different sounds that she encounters during her journey. I thought some of the characters, Fei and Li Wei included, were a bit underdeveloped and that the ending was maybe a little too abrupt, it felt a bit rushed to me. Overall I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and it definitely raised some interesting ideas about living without hearing and/or sight.

[Prof. Scarlet Leslie-Lewis]

I popped in here before my pre-blizzard library run and saw that you choose this book for Dec/Jan. Of course, the Chinese folklore aspect intrigued me. I started and finished the book during the blizzard... it was a quick read! It was really interesting to think about the sounds we normally hear everyday and how to describe them to someone who is not used to them. I was slightly disappointed with the Chinese cultural references in the book. Besides the calligraphy, playing xiangqi (Chinese chess!), and the names, it really could've been any culture. But I guess that also shows how certain concepts transcend culture and can apply to people all over the world.