Ship Breaker is a wonderful novel by Paolo Bacigalupi. It’s a strange genre. I think the closest thing I’ve figured, is dieselpunk. I don’t know if it’s considered a legit genre, and I don’t know much about it, but that’s what I’m thinking.Ship Breaker is about a boy who works on a beach stripping ships of metal and oil in near poverty. It’s almost post-apocolyptic. Or at least during an apocoliptic-like depression.
It’s one of my favorite books because of the setting in the near (it seems) future and the idea is very realistic. The economy is devistated and New Orleans is flooded and is constantly under threat of terrible storms because of the removal of some islands that normally would have kept the big storms at bay. It never says what year it’s set in. It doesn’t mention any other recognizable places except Orleans and Antarctica and the Indian Ocean. The swank do have GPS, though.
Age?
It is mildly graphic and dark. Nailer’s father is a drug addict and a violent man. Lots of clearly described violence, blood, and gore.
With these in mind, I would say not under 13. 12-year-olds maybe be able to if they’re used to reading gore or they’re mature readers.
Philosophy, Morals, and Themes
The main theme in the story is Luck. Luck and karma. Nailer and the rest of the workers in crews always consider everything to be luck, karma, or the Fates. The Fates are what a lot of them consider the gods. Fates are in charge of luck.
Nailer and Pima both mention a few times what they have needed to survive as a crew member–brains and luck.
Loyalty is also a big part. The unknown of if someone is with or against is a very stressful subject in this book. It’s very important on the beach to not trust too much. Not expect loyalty. It’s one for one and all for no one.
Questions:
1. What genre do you think Ship Breaker is?
2. Do you think Nailer and Pima would have been fine if they never let Lucky Girl live? Would they end up at the same result? If so, would they have been through the same hard-ship/would it have been easier to just take the scavenge?
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