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Shades of Grey: A Novel
by Jasper Fforde

Published: 2009-12-29
Hardcover : 400 pages
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5 clubs reading this now
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Recommended to book clubs by 2 of 2 members
From the bestselling author of Thursday Next?a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see

Part social satire, part romance, part revolutionary thriller, Shades of Grey tells of a battle against overwhelming odds. In a society ...
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Introduction

(From the bestselling author of Thursday Next?a brilliant new novel about a world where social order and destiny are dictated by the colors you can see

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 Next but 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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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

Class systems and their function in a society.
When does our need for stability and safety begin to impinge on individual rights and how do we balance the two?
by floydsbo (see profile) 10/13/10

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Member Reviews

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by Rachel H. (see profile) 06/20/24

 
by Jenna D. (see profile) 05/23/24

 
by Jax C. (see profile) 01/28/20

 
  "So Unique"by Ricki M. (see profile) 04/27/15

This is the most unique world I have ever encountered, and I cannot wait for the trilogy to be fully released.

 
  "Shades of Grey"by May H. (see profile) 10/13/10

For those that know Jasper Fforde, through either the Thursday Next or Nursery Crime novels, this is a step into another one of his incredibly imaginative worlds. Unlike the other novels, this isn't a... (read more)

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