Of all the dystopian books we have read, I think this was my least favorite. I am very partial to The Giver, it has always been one of my favorites. While unknown to me before this course, Among the Hidden was very interesting to me and I really enjoyed it. And while I am not a fan of animal books, I even liked Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM more than The City of Ember. Now, my attitude towards this book may be because I saw the movie before I read the book so I knew what was going to happen, but nevertheless I had a really hard time getting through it. My attitude could also reflect my long held hatred and fear of caves. For as long as I can remember I have hated caves and been frightened of getting stuck in one. So maybe that is effecting my attitude towards the book.
One aspect of the book that was different from the other dystopian novels we read, was how the city functions. In The Giver, children also receive their jobs at age 12, but the jobs are carefully selected by the Elders. But in Ember, it is the luck of the draw and if you do not like your job, then too bad or hope someone will switch with you. Even in today's world, people get a say in what jobs they do, but not in Ember. One would think that things could be more organized, but their system seems to work and no one really complains.
There is also the fear of running out of everything. It seems like the city was not very well planned. While they were only supposed to be underground for two hundred years, and the directions got lost along the way, the initial planning of the city does not seem to be very well thought out. It some ways this makes it more similar to Among the Hidden and Luke's family, where the people are living without luxury. It seems to me that the Builders could have thought through things a little more.
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