{ABC Book Club} Theme#2: Diseases | Shades of Grey

[Anndrea Chan]

Good evening ladies,

Book#2 for our second theme is

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde 

Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society where the ability to see the higher end of the color spectrum denotes a better social standing, Eddie Russet belongs to the low-level House of Red and can see his own color—but no other. The sky, the grass, and everything in between are all just shades of grey, and must be colorized by artificial means.

Eddie's world wasn't always like this. There's evidence of a never-discussed disaster and now, many years later, technology is poor, news sporadic, the notion of change abhorrent, and nighttime is terrifying: no one can see in the dark. Everyone abides by a bizarre regime of rules and regulations, a system of merits and demerits, where punishment can result in permanent expulsion.

Eddie, who works for the Color Control Agency, might well have lived out his rose-tinted life without a hitch. But that changes when he becomes smitten with Jane, a Grey Nightseer from the dark, unlit side of the village. She shows Eddie that all is not well with the world he thinks is just and good. Together, they engage in dangerous revolutionary talk.

Stunningly imaginative, very funny, tightly plotted, and with sly satirical digs at our own society, this novel is for those who loved Thursday Nextbut want to be transported somewhere equally wild, only darker; a world where the black and white of moral standpoints have been reduced to shades of grey

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Book club discussion: 

Date and time: June 2 - RMH ;)

Questions(SPOILER ALERT):

1. Based on the evidence left behind by "the Previous," what do you think the "Something That Happened" was? Did it cause humankind to lose its ability to see in the dark as well as most of the colors in the spectrum? Or did that occur separately?


2. How did all the animals in Chromatacia come to have bar codes? And why does every human have a fragment of a bar code visible in his or her nail bed?


3. If the Caravaggio that Eddie recovers in Rusty Hill is called Frowny Girl Removing Beardy's Head, how might some of our world's other masterpieces be renamed in Chromatacia?


4. When Eddie first barters jam with the Apocryphal Man, he is told that history was eliminated because "in a world devoted to Stasis, there's no real need for it" (p. 208). Was its elimination necessary? Does our species benefit from its knowledge of history?


5. Why is it that the Greys knowingly shelter blind Mrs. Olive and other "unlicensed supernumeraries" (p. 297), but the Colors also contribute to their sustenance—albeit as invisible pets?


6. "Its function is to give life apparent meaning. It is an abstraction, a misdirection—nothing more than a sideshow at Jollity Fair. As long as your minds are full of Chromatic betterment, there can be no room for other, more destructive thoughts" (p. 304). What are the preeminent abstractions of our own time?


7. At the Fallen Man tearoom lie the remains of a helmeted man who had fallen to earth thirteen years earlier. Who might he be? And why is it here that long-established custom "would find Carlos Fandango offering tea and scones to Bertie, and discussing potential dowries, feedback ratings and virtues" (p. 311)?


8. In a world governed by free market capitalism rather than Munsell's Rules, who among the residents of East Carmine would thrive and who would fail?


9. After Eddie's Ishihara, his "Dad" shows him Eddie's dead mother's ranking, and Eddie asks, "So who was the man who made me?" (p. 375). What is the secret of Eddie's paternity?


10. It seems absurd that anyone would follow the dictates of a regime that outlaws spoon production. Yet aren't there Chromatician aspects to our own world? Does Eddie's epiphany inspire you to suggest a better way to queue, or otherwise question the status quo?


11. Do you agree with Eddie's decision to remain quiet when the Colorman announces his decision to send Dorian and Imogen to High Saffron? Is it acceptable to sacrifice the few in order to benefit—or attempt to benefit—the many?


12. Is ideology a good or bad thing?

Anndrea Beatriz Chan
www.originalcolor.net