Divergent

Book discussion. No spoilers, really. I thought I'd mention it, though, just in case you want to avoid learning anything about the book before you read it. 

I read Divergent.  It is well-written:  it flows well, with a good use of language that is neither too simple nor needlessly complex.  The story is based on activities of teenagers in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic society. There is a strong female protagonist -- always a pleasure -- who is resourceful and independent and unfortunately (though perhaps somewhat realistically) a bit dim when it comes to her comprehending the motivations of the young male protagonist who is attracted to her.  There are overarching political ideas as well as a general theme of "a few brave and motivated youths must save the world from itself."

The previous paragraph could have described any of a half-dozen currently popular books (see, e.g., The Hunger Games). What is it that makes Divergent different?

In the society of Divergent, people are divided into five specific groups -- factions -- based upon one overarching characteristic that drives their behavior, their employment, and their way of life. (Each faction has its own manifesto helpfully provided at the end of the book.) They are:

Abnegation - selflessness.
Amity - peacefulness.
Candor - truthfulness.
Dauntless - bravery.
Erudite - intelligence.

(We note that three faction names are nouns, and two are adjectives.  Such it was in the book.)

One can see social commentary within the descriptions of the factions, certainly. It's a novel concept, made even more interesting by the fact that each single characteristic is driven to the extreme:  for example, much as Mr. Spock from Star Trek emphasizes pure logic, the erudite of Divergent believe that knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict. The website created around the movie based on the book highlights the factions, even providing a quiz to see into which faction one might fall.

To which faction would I belong?  That's a tricky question.  Not all of the factions are equally described in the book -- for example, Amity plays a very small role in Divergent -- so information is incomplete. Furthermore, the extreme bias of each faction's underpinnings turns what might otherwise be a most admirable character trait into nearly a liability. We're fairly certain, though, that it would be one of two. Perhaps we will need to read the next book in the series to glean more information.  We shall see.

Which faction would you join? Why?