Title: Salt
Author: Maurice Gee
Publisher: Puffin Books, Penguin Group
Date Of Publication: 2007
Summary: 'Hari lives in Blood Burrow, deep in the ruined city of Belong, where he survives by courage and savagery'. 'Pearl is from Company, the ruling families, which have conquered and enslaved Hari's people'. Hari and his father Tarl live in one of the five burrows that Company has enslaved. The other burrows are Keg, Keetch, Basin, and Bawdhouse.
Hari’s people are being enslaved individually, and when his father is branded, he kills a guard and injures a clerk severely. Consequently, it was promptly determined that Hari’s father, Tarl, would be subjected to severe punishment and sent to serve as a slave in deep salt. Deep Salt serves as a destination where defiant slaves from the burrows are dispatched to work until they die.
...However, there is a condition: once someone enters deep salt, they are never able to leave. There has never been an individual who successfully escaped the deep salt mine or managed to survive it.
When Hari and Pearl uncover the truth about deep salt, they are taken aback. It is not at all what they expected, with no sign of salt rats, tigers, or a soul-sucking monster trapping them indefinitely. However, any creature that spends more than a few days in deep salt is afflicted with a devastating illness. The cause of this illness is the green glowing salt crystals, which transform the skin to a paper-thin, white appearance.
The text discusses a harrowing fate where the afflicted individuals' blood will turn watery and their bones will eventually break through their skin, causing a slow and painful death. Hari has promised to save his
father from this terrible destiny known as the deep salt, reunite him with their family, and also triumph over the Company. What drew me to this book was its captivating blurb that emphasized Hari's unique ability to communicate with animals, promising an exhilarating story filled with action.
Despite my initial expectation, I discovered that this book was extremely gruesome and it took a considerable amount of time to engage with the primary plot. Consequently, it became challenging to maintain interest in further reading. Insufficient details concerning the characters were provided, leaving me unaware of Hari and Pearl's ages by the conclusion. Despite not being particularly fond of this book, both Hari and Pearl serve as admirable role models, inspiring individuals to advocate for their beliefs and persevere.
This book not only teaches the significance of upholding promises, but also serves as a recommendation to individuals with strong fortitude. Although fictional, it closely reflects the horrifying historical acts committed against Jews by Adolf Hitler in World War 2. Chapter 1 depicts Tarl, the protagonist, being enslaved in a salt mine, which starkly reminds us of these events. While it is part of a trilogy, I have no intention of reading the second installment.
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