Olivia’s Letter Essay #7: The Maze Runner

 

Recently, I finished a novel called The Maze Runner. This book was written by James Dashner. This 375 page book’s genre is dystopian and science fiction. The Maze Runner was published on October 7, 2009 by Delacorte Press. James Dashner was born on November 26, 1972 in Austell, Georgia. He typically writes children and young adult fiction. Dashner is well-known for his series, The Maze Runner. Following The Maze Runner, there are two sequels, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. This novel has been adapted into a film produced by 20th Century Fox. I had previously read this book when I was in 6th grade. I had enjoyed the series then, but as I was rereading it, I found myself having less interest in it. I read this book for my 2nd round of book clubs, it was not my first choice, but my last. When I wrote it down I was not completely uninterested in it, but I was more interested in reading other books. Now that I think of it, I might have been having high expectations for it, after rereading The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, since that is my favorite dystopian series. My book club group and I all did not strike too much interest in it. I found myself reading it quickly so I could “get it over with”.

 

Thomas, a sixteen year old boy, wakes up in a pitch black box. All he knows is his name, nothing else. The box seems to be moving upward, but he has no knowledge of where it is headed. He screams and screams and the box just keeps going up and up, like it would never end.  Thomas eventually wakes up to a bright light. As he looks up, he sees a very big group of teenage boys staring down at him. The boys tell him that he is now in the Glade, no one knows how they got there, where it is, or why they are here. All they know, is that they have to survive, and find a way out. Thomas knows no one and feels like the boys do not like Thomas. Until, Thomas meets Chuck, the youngest one out of all the boys, they befriend each other. At first, Thomas is not too fond of Chuck, but at least he has a person to talk to. Thomas’ mind is filled with questions, but everyone refuses to answer them. Eventually, Thomas finds out some new information. Once a month, every month, a newbie, comes up in the box. And once a week, every week, same time every week, supplies come up from the box. Thomas is told about The Maze, a place where the Runners explore and try to find a way out.

 

I was surprised when rereading this book, about how many things I had forgotten. They were small but important details. I had noticed the same thing while rereading The Hunger Games series. I noticed that every time you reread a book, you notice or realize something that you didn’t before. I was unhappy with the ending of the book. I definitely think James Dashner could’ve written it differently. Like I had said before this was one of the reasons why I didn’t really like the book as much as other people had said they did. I did like all of the characters, so that was definitely a plus for me when reading this book. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy reading action, science fiction, and  dystopian novels. I found the beginning of the book important but somewhat boring. I do think the first few pages were very descriptive and it made you think and wonder what was happening. “This quoted pages occurs on pages 1-3. “Harsh sounds of chains and pulleys, like the workings of an ancient steel factory, echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls with a hollow, tinny whine. The lightless elevator swayed back and forth as it ascended, turning the boy’s stomach sour with nausea; a smell like burnt oil invaded his senses, making him feel worse. He wanted to cry, but no tears came; he could only sit there, alone, waiting.

My name is Thomas, he thought.

That… that was the only thing he could remember about his life.” That passage occurs on pages 1 and 2. I would rate this book a 6.5 out of 10. It was entertaining but certainly not my favorite. I have already previously read this series and I personally think I would not want to reread it again.

 

Sincerely,

Olivia Bauks

 

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10 thoughts on “Olivia’s Letter Essay #7: The Maze Runner

  1. I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. It was really well written. The part that i liked most was how you included a very long quoted passage. You should try to work on elaborating on your three sentence starters from your readers notebook. It would give you’re letter essay a lot more pazas.
    From,
    Erick Miljkovic

  2. I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. I think it depicts the book perfectly. You should try to work on elaborating a little more. But other than that good job
    -Erin

  3. I really liked your letter essay! I enjoyed reading your summary! It was really well written. I would try to elaborate you sentence starters.. But overall your letter essay was awesome! I really enjoyed reading it.

    -Issabella Merrill

  4. Dear Olivia,
    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay. I liked how you added a lot of good thoughts and information from the book. Good job.
    Julia

  5. Dear Olivia,
    This was a very well written letter essay and you used a lot of description. I also really liked your quoted passage and found it very interesting. Keep up the good work! I probably will not be able to read this book but it sounds good.
    Johanna

  6. Dear Olivia,
    I really liked how you explained why you did not like the book and how it may not measure up to other certain popular series, I don’t really see that too often, and I think that was a very unique “twist.” Overall great job on your essay!!
    Tabitha Aime

  7. You letter essay was really well written and very descriptive and it seems you did some research on the book’s background before writing it. I liked how you provided lots of information about the book a clear summery. A couple things I would change is try to have a bit of a longer passage and before going into the passage, introduce what is happening.
    -Madigan

  8. Dear Olivia,
    I loved reading your letter essay! I remember reading this book in 6th grade, I liked it for a while but when I reread it I also did not have as much interest. Your summary of the book was very good and I liked the passage you chose. I would work on elaborating a bit more. I can’t wait to read more of your writing!

    -Nicole

  9. Dear Olivia,

    Your letter essay was really well written good job. I really like how your summery got me wanting to read the book. I never really like maze runner i read the first few chapters and stopped than watched the movie but this essay may make me want to reread it. Somethings to work on would be the intro to your summery but everything else was good. Keep up the good work 🙂

  10. Dear Olivia,

    I really enjoyed reading your letter essay! I liked how you included many statistics in your introduction. I have not read this book, but I have heard good things about it and this motivates me to read it even more.

    -Zoe W

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