The Guardians

Rating:
Summary: Classy vision of the future!
Review: "A 21st Century book describing England split into Conurb and County, only being one or the other. The young Rob Randall from the Conurb finds himself in an unstable position after his rebellious father and his mother had both died. He attempts the life-threatening mission of crossing the barrier between Conurb and County. He falls into County gentry and finds himself into a handful of problems."

I found the book quite slow and hard to read at first, and had we not been made to read it, I probably wouldn't have carried on, but as I got to the end, I regretted it. The last two chapters swept me off my feet! I wanted to read it over and over again because there was so much drama and action in it. John Christopher wrote the book in 1970, trying to put across his view of what the world will be like in 2053, with the Country divided into two different ways of living. I thought that the idea of a group of people called the Guardians looking after both Conurb and County was a good idea.

All in all I thought that the book was very enjoyable and easy to read and if a sequel of it came out, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: The Guardians
Review: I read this book as a part of a study to do with books. This book deals with a lot of moral issues including thoughts on social control. In the book, John Christopher describes the place as being totally different but actually were under the same group of people who wanted to make England a better place. he shows the different ways of control and how people will go to certain extents to stage a rebellion!! This book is one of the best I have read and makes it a fantastic book for teens!!

Rating:
Summary: A slow book with a few twists towards the end.
Review: The Guardians by John Christopher

The year is 2053, and Britain is divided into the tightly packed Conurb and the leisurely County. The people in the County don't work, and they live a very easy life, with hobbies such as growing miniature trees. The Conurbans work in crowded cities with hi-tech entertainment, such as Terraplaning, the bloodthirsty Games and lots of riots. Rob is a Conurban, but he doesn't fit in with everyone else. He would rather read books, while others watch Terraplaning and the Games. When Rob's father dies, Rob is sent off to Barnes Boarding School, which he hates. Rob decides to try and cross the barrier, which is supposed to be a hundred feet high and electrified, and enter the County. Rob finally finds the cave and to his amazement is only 12 feet high but his temptations soon catch up with him but he soon does the jump a quick scramble and he himself was on his way to freedom. A boy, about the same age as him, named Mike Gifford soon finds him. Mike shows him a cave, which Rob lives in for a few days. However, Mike's mother soon finds Rob, and offers to take him into the house, and pretend he is a cousin from Nepal. How long can Rob stay in the County, fooling the officials? How long will Rob be able to pretend to be one of the Gentry? How long will it be until someone finds out the truth?

This is quite a good book, but I feel that it is not evenly spaced out. For a long time, from when Rob crosses the barrier to the last chapter not a lot seems to be happening. Even the last chapter goes on for too long, although it does have a few twists. The whole point of the book is about freedom, and how most people are not free, because they all have to go along with everything else in the Conurb. They are not free to do what they want to do. Equality takes a big part in the book I think this book could play apart in the war going on at the moment in Kosovo. It is a great book and a pleasure to read I think more people should read it.

Rating:
Summary: Don't judge a book by it's cover
Review: This book looked horrible but we had to read it for school.The old saying 'Don't judge a book by it's cover' came into effect although there were quite a few bad points about the book.
For example:
-This book moves really slow by the fifth chapter and has bits which just seem like fillers(does everyone want to know two pages on bonsai?)until the rushed chapter which is the end.
-The end.Hello but am I the only one who wants to know what happens?Yeah I know I can use my imagination but I will never really know the ending.
Aside from that the book was quite enjoyable.The plot is about a young boy called Rob who had lived his entire life in the Conurbs(a city like place with holovision,electrocars,where everyone likes to be in crowds)until one day his dad dies.Rob is sent off to boarding school which is a living nightmare.They are strict and harsh and you are not allowed to be different.Desperate to escape Rob sets off to the County(where his dead mother used to live)in hopes of a better life.On the way he gets chased,becomes hungry and uncomfortable and has trouble getting into the County as the Barrier that seperates the two is supposed to be electrofied.
In the County Rob meets Mike and the two become friends and to disguise him from the authorities he is taken into the family and is made Mike's cousin.Everything goes fine until Mike starts to rebel against the controlled way of living.Rob has to decide whether to help his friend who he owes his life to or stay in the County where he's safe and secure.The really bad thing is I've gone into about chapter eight(out of ten)which just shows the slowness of the book and I won't reveal the ending which is a real suprise.
I like this book as it argues about the right of humans to do what they like and not be controlled.Also I like how on different sides of the Barrier things have gone different ways.For instance the County have horses and carriages for their transport and go fox-hunting whereas the Conurbans have inventions like the electrocar and holovision.
If you saw the same cover of the book that I saw you would probably be put off the book.But give it a try as it deals with a really good issue and even if it does move slow it is still a good read.Happy Reading!!

Rating:
Summary: Contented Slaves
Review: This is an interesting story about freedom, and in particular, our ability to make choices that could affect the rest of our lives.

Rob Randall lives in the Conurb - an overcrowded urban maze, where reading and thinking for yourself is unpopular, and life revolves around sport, holovision, and riots. When Rob's father is electrocuted, he is sent to a boarding school where life becomes a nightmare of over-zealous discipline and torment.

Rob hears about the Barrier, which divides the Conurb from the rural, open spaces known as the County. Rob runs away from the boarding school and crosses the Barrier, hoping for a better life. On the surface, life in the County seems perfect. But Rob soon learned that appearances are very deceptive...

Although "The Guardians" is not as fast-moving as the "Tripods Trilogy", it's an interesting book nevertheless. Some of the things John Christopher writes about in his imaginary future are rather close to the bone. In the culture I live in, sport is treated with much more reverence than literature and the arts. There are signs that people devote less time to reading, as it's much easier to slump in front of the screen, watching sentimental drivel. More than ever, our lives are controlled by the media and a growing lack of privacy.

The two worlds John Christopher writes about here are deceptively utopian, but are in fact places where people are ruled by a cynical elite. Books like "The Guardians" remind us that the freedom we have is something we must never take for granted.