V for Vendetta: A Review

We have a guest book reviewer this week; some of her favorite books are by Danielle Steele and Jodi Picault. In the interest of full disclosure, she also loved the film version of this book.

~Olga~

V for Vendetta
by Alan Moore
10 Scrolls

"The verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive not in vain..."

I had already seen the movie when I wanted to read the book V For Vendetta. Although the movie was one of the best I have ever seen, the book filled in missing pieces between the lines that the movie failed to fully describe. This is one of the few times when the movie and book are neck and neck. This book really explained what Larkhill really was and what was done to those innocent people that the movie just briefly touched on. V being the most enigmatic character in a Guy Fawkes mask and though the mask stayed frozen in place with that smile, in the book you knew when his mood changed. The fascist gov't of "strength thru unity, unity thru faith" and all of its misdeeds against its public was a combination of what happened during WWII with Hitler and with the technological advances of the future. It's a scary thought that something like that can happen if the population at large lets it.

Though most of this book is action, the relationship that forms between V and Evey is touching as it evolves throughout the story. We see a freedom fighter who is as tough as nails, as strong and fast as superman, with unimaginable capabilities and a horrific past that put him on a collision course with destiny on Nov. 5th; a destiny that he formed for himself after his whole life was taken from him. Then all of a sudden he meets Evey, a scared young woman with her own troubled past just wanting to get by in the current world unnoticed, and everything changes. Though the plan to blow up Parliament and kill all of the Larkhill conspirators goes on without a hitch, something new forms within the strength and brute force; love.

V never thought that he would fall in love, let alone with Evey, but he did and it made his final grand scheme worthwhile because though he knew he was going to die, at least his heart and soul were full of a positive emotion and he knew that she loved him back. It's always sad when the main character dies in the end but in this case everyone knew that there really was no other way. He also knew that his and Evey's love would live on forever and what he did for his country would never be forgotten.

"Remember, remember,
the 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot."