Woohoo! I actually did another Weekly Ender! This time I talk about seeing the trailer with my mom and some brief thoughts on Ender’s Shadow.
The Weekly Ender #2
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3 responses to “The Weekly Ender #2”
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I had similar thoughts on Ender’s Shadow. The part before battle school was long, and then I was frustrated how Bean’s perspective of Ender seems so belittling. But I like it for several reasons: First of all it gives some great background information and different perspectives on key elements of the book. I loved when Bean gets Petra’s perspective on the hallway incident. Plus there is a lot more scenes with the teachers. Second, it does give you new angles on Ender that make you think. Third, when I recently reread Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow I was struck with this thought: As much as Bean knows, there is a lot he doesn’t know (which he even admits to). I think there is a tendency when you first start reading E.S to assume that Bean is always right (especially because he’s so smart). But he’s not always right. In fact, a lot of Bean’s criticisms of Ender he ends up taking back later on. What’s fascinating about this story is that this kid’s brain operates like a computer, and yet Ender ends up the better commander. Bean’s world is black and white, ones and zeros and he is full of pride. Ender’s is full color, 3-D, with numbers and letters. I think the detailed exploration of Bean and his mind, help create a foil to who Ender is. Both of the books together create a fascinating study on leadership. Anyway, those are my thoughts. In truth, I usually only go back to E.S to read specific scenes.
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Yeah I had tried to read it in college, but I never made it to Battle School because I just didn’t care for it at all. I do agree that some scenes were really good in ES.
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P.S. I think the subtlety of the writing is that you see Ender from a wrong perspective: you see him through Bean’s eyes and Bean is smart and proud, biased, and in a completely different position. The beauty of it is that in the end things come into line, and that even through the bias of Bean’s perspective, if you look carefully, you see new truths about Ender and about Battle School.
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