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The Pit
Australia in the far future - the water- and oxygen supplies of the planet earth have been depleted. Life is only possible in hermetically sealed cities that have to be supplied through a subterranean tunnel system and hard physical labour.
Annual tests and a subsequent lottery system decide who of the people who have turned sixteen that year have to go and work in "The Pit", the cities' supply system.
It is hard for Scarlett and Prince when Scarlett is chosen. Prince decides to follow her, and both become entangled with a plot of rebels who want to leave the Pit behind.
This book is a short novel aimed at learners of English in their fourth year of learning at a German secondary school.
Annual tests and a subsequent lottery system decide who of the people who have turned sixteen that year have to go and work in "The Pit", the cities' supply system.
It is hard for Scarlett and Prince when Scarlett is chosen. Prince decides to follow her, and both become entangled with a plot of rebels who want to leave the Pit behind.
This book is a short novel aimed at learners of English in their fourth year of learning at a German secondary school.
88 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 27, 2021
Interesting setting, catchy style, genuinely exciting to read. BUT: none of the issues raised in this dystopian novel are addressed let alone solved! The (terrible) status quo is upheld and the protagonists are just fine with it. Well, that offers room for discussions in class, doesn't it?
April 9, 2015
The standards for original stories aimed at ESL students are extremely low, I'll give you that, and by that standard this book is excellent. It's well-paced, engaging, has very short chapters and a vocabulary section in the back. The language is simple, but still evocative. The characters could have done with more nuance, but they will likely still engage students.
Seen as a novel, however, I quickly became frustrated not only with the fact that it just barely passes the Sexy Lamp test and the status-quo-upholding ending that... doesn't really feel as though anything much has been accomplished. The characters don't develop, the dystopian world is still dystopian, and the rather heavy subjects that the book barely hints at are also not unpacked but sort of nonchalantly glossed over (eugenics, forced labour, race, classism, etc.)
I find it difficult to decide at this point if this is intentional to leave us teachers room to make up our own endings with our students or if this just fell prey to the common problem of the genre.
Well, it's full of action, is probably going to get students reading and can be mined for teachable topics to discuss.
Seen as a novel, however, I quickly became frustrated not only with the fact that it just barely passes the Sexy Lamp test and the status-quo-upholding ending that... doesn't really feel as though anything much has been accomplished. The characters don't develop, the dystopian world is still dystopian, and the rather heavy subjects that the book barely hints at are also not unpacked but sort of nonchalantly glossed over (eugenics, forced labour, race, classism, etc.)
I find it difficult to decide at this point if this is intentional to leave us teachers room to make up our own endings with our students or if this just fell prey to the common problem of the genre.
Well, it's full of action, is probably going to get students reading and can be mined for teachable topics to discuss.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews