I'm a little upset that no one responded to my blog post last week. It really hurt my feelings that no one has any favorite dystopian novels or movies. (Just kidding!) But seriously, there are so many dystopian books and movies to choose from. Especially recently, with the rise in YA dystopian novels being adapted to film. Examples: The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner. Dystopias are really popular right now, and there are always the classic dystopias as well: 1984, Brave New World, Blade Runner, The Handmaid's Tale.
I was surprised that none of these were interesting to you guys. There are so many dystopian novels and films these days that there really is a dystopia for everyone. (That sounds a little weird considering dystopias are supposed to be disturbing worlds, but you know what I mean.)
Anyway, I decided to write about my favorite dystopian novels, and other dystopian novels and movies I hope to read and watch in the future.
My 3 Favorite Books:
1. Feed by M.T. Anderson
2. 1984 by George Orwell
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3 Dystopian Novels I hope to read:
1. The Long Walk by Stephen King
2. 2030 by Albert Brooks
3. The Children of Men by P.D James
3 Dystopian Movies I hope to watch:
1. Brazil
2. Blade Runner
3. Metropolis
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Top 3 Favorite Dystopian Books/Movies
Hi, everyone. I was thinking about what my favorite dystopian books and movies are and it occurred to me to ask you (my readers) which dystopian books or movies were your favorites. I have read a lot of dystopian books, but there are always some I've never heard of or I've never gotten around to reading. Let me know what your top three dystopian books or movies are and why you consider them your favorites. I look forward to hearing from you all.
Sunday, November 1, 2015
What Should I Review Next?
Hello everyone! I've been reviewing dystopian fiction for a while now, and I'm feeling a little stuck. Of course there are a lot of dystopian books to choose from, I don't know what I should write about next. So I thought I'd ask for suggestions. If you like any of the books I mention below, let me know. I also thought I might review a dystopian movie just to change things up. Tell me in the comments what you think about my ideas for reviews, or if you want me to write about something else, mention that too. I would love to hear what my readers think.
Ideas for next reviews:
Ideas for next reviews:
- Matched by Allie Condie
- The Long Walk by Stephen King
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- Soylent Green (movie)
- Gattaca (movie)
Monday, October 26, 2015
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The House of the Scorpion was one of the first dystopian YA novels I ever read. I remember bringing it everywhere with me in seventh grade, constantly talking about it to my friends and family, who politely nodded. I was amazed and disturbed by the world Nancy Farmer created in equal measure. The setting and the characters were richly realized. I recently picked up The House of the Scorpion again, and remembered why I had liked it so much.
The House of the Scorpion takes place in a futuristic part of Mexico called Opium, between the United States and Aztlan. The main character, Matteo Alacran, at first seems like a typical young boy, naïve about the world around him, but curious to know more. Matteo is bright, he is kind and he is playful. He is also a clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old drug dealer who runs Opium. Matteo's only purpose is to provide El Patron with an even longer life though harvestation of his organs. For his short life, he is given an education, possessions and a luxurious upbringing. Matteo thinks this means El Patron loves him as a son and cares about him. But when the time comes, El Patron plans to use Matteo the way he used all his other clones: as a life force.
The themes covered in The House of the Scorpion are quite deep, in some ways deeper than more popular dystopian novels. The novel addresses the concept of a soul, what makes a person an individual, and much more. Matteo wonders if he is destined to be just like El Patron because he has all of the same DNA. The concept of drug dealing and drug lords is also very present in the novel, which is not usually addressed in many other dystopian novels. (El Patron is allowed to expand his drug empire by the United States, who fear that if they try to stop him, drug trafficking will overtake America as well.)
The House of the Scorpion is written on a middle-grade reading level, but deals with some disturbing themes. I think it is a great choice for anyone interested in the idea of cloning and what it might mean for a future society. If cloning was a real option to extend life, who would consider using it? I'm not sure we would want to know.
New Book Review
Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any preferences about what book I should review next. I'm up for reviewing anything, as long as it's dystopian YA fiction! A dystopian movie would also be okay. There are a lot to choose from. If you have any ideas, sound off in the comments below.
Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta
Memory of Water by Emmi Itaranta is classified as YA dystopian fiction. While it has the same defining features of YA dystopian fiction that Feed and The Hunger Games has, Memory of Water is most interesting because of its differences.
One of the biggest differences is that Emmi Itaranta is Finnish, instead of American, as all the previous books I have written about are American. She translated her original Finnish novel into English for American readers. (That is very unusual and impressive.)
Emmi Itaranta's writing style is very different from typical dystopian novels. From what I've read online, her writing is very characteristic of Finnish fiction, which often leaves the plot open-ended and lets the reader fill in the story with their imaginations. Itaranta's writing is similar to poetry. There are many repeated phrases and a light flowing melody to her words. One of the best parts of reading Memory of Water for me was just listening to the individual sentences and paragraphs as if they were their own poems.
For those expecting a typical heart-racing story or hoping to uncover a dark and disturbing secret about a conformist world, Memory of Water will disappoint. But if you approach the novel with an open mind, you might really enjoy this book.
Memory of Water follows Noria Kaitio in the land of New Qian, in which China rules over Finland and the rest of Europe. Global Warming has taken its toll on the land, and water is a scarce resource. The soil is dry and makes it hard for plants to grow. Heaps of old trash line the landscape.
As a tea master, Noria's father has a very important and well-respected job as a master of water. He holds a great responsibility that Noria is not aware of until it is her time to take up his job. Meanwhile, water grows more and more scarce. Noria isn't sure what to do - how much responsibility she needs to take to help the people of her town. There is also a possibility she is being watched...
I think Memory of Water is worth checking out. Dystopian fiction does not all have to fall into a tightly defined category. Memory of Water certainly doesn't, but it has a lot to offer.
One of the biggest differences is that Emmi Itaranta is Finnish, instead of American, as all the previous books I have written about are American. She translated her original Finnish novel into English for American readers. (That is very unusual and impressive.)
Emmi Itaranta's writing style is very different from typical dystopian novels. From what I've read online, her writing is very characteristic of Finnish fiction, which often leaves the plot open-ended and lets the reader fill in the story with their imaginations. Itaranta's writing is similar to poetry. There are many repeated phrases and a light flowing melody to her words. One of the best parts of reading Memory of Water for me was just listening to the individual sentences and paragraphs as if they were their own poems.
For those expecting a typical heart-racing story or hoping to uncover a dark and disturbing secret about a conformist world, Memory of Water will disappoint. But if you approach the novel with an open mind, you might really enjoy this book.
Memory of Water follows Noria Kaitio in the land of New Qian, in which China rules over Finland and the rest of Europe. Global Warming has taken its toll on the land, and water is a scarce resource. The soil is dry and makes it hard for plants to grow. Heaps of old trash line the landscape.
As a tea master, Noria's father has a very important and well-respected job as a master of water. He holds a great responsibility that Noria is not aware of until it is her time to take up his job. Meanwhile, water grows more and more scarce. Noria isn't sure what to do - how much responsibility she needs to take to help the people of her town. There is also a possibility she is being watched...
I think Memory of Water is worth checking out. Dystopian fiction does not all have to fall into a tightly defined category. Memory of Water certainly doesn't, but it has a lot to offer.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Uglies is one of the first Dystopian fiction novels I ever read. I remember reading Uglies in 7th grade, bringing it with me from class to class, sneaking in a few pages between periods. I was convinced that Uglies would be a movie in a few years. It had all the makings of a potential blockbuster: action, a disturbing world, a relatable main character. I still don't know why Uglies hasn't been made into a movie. There is a Dystopian craze in Hollywood. Divergent, The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games have all been made into movies. Why hasn't Uglies? I hope someone eventually picks it up, because Uglies has a lot of potential.
Uglies, the first in a trilogy by Scott Westerfield, follows Tally, a girl on the verge of turning sixteen. Sixteen is the age when everyone gets an operation to become breathtakingly beautiful. The operation reshapes uglies into entirely new people. Their bone structure is shaped to be more aesthetically pleasing, their hair and eyes are changed, they are given new skin.
(All of us would be considered uglies in Tally's world because we have never had their operation.)
Once an ugly undergoes the operation, she becomes a pretty and lives in Pretty Town, the side of the city where only pretties live and spend their time partying and purchasing whatever they desire. Once a pretty becomes middle-aged, they receive another operation, as well as a final operation once they become elderly.
Tally is extremely excited to undergo the operation, even when she meets Shay, a fellow ugly who criticizes the way pretties live and considers the operation to be losing an identity. Shay wants to live in the Smoke, a community of runaway uglies outside the city. One day, right before the operation, Shay runs away after trying to convince Tally to go with her. Tally is called to Special Circumstances and must choose between finding Shay or never having her operation. Tally decides to find her friend and turn her in to the city.
Once Tally agrees to go after Shay is when Uglies really jumps in to high gear. Tally finds it increasingly difficult to betray her friend once she gets to know the people of the Smoke, but she doesn't really understand that she is being used as a tool by the city. Tally makes for an interesting character because she is a very average girl. She is as desperate to become pretty as everyone else, and she is not a radical like Shay. She is shaped by the world she grew up in.
Often main characters in Dystopian fiction are outsiders who never felt like full participants in their worlds. Tally, much like Titus in Feed, is a believable inhabitant of her world. She has a game she plays in the beginning of the book that scans her face and allows her to make it pretty. She can change anything and everything about her face, and she does. She has dozens of pretty versions of her face saved. She obsesses about her ugliness constantly. She feels like a teenager with low-self esteem in a society that idolizes beauty. Seeing her own face blown up in size projected on the wall is enough to convince Tally to go find Shay. She can't bear to look at her own face any longer.
Uglies is a little different from many Dystopian novels as it deals with themes of beauty and excess rather than dictatorial leadership. The world of the book is not one in which the characters are abused or beaten down. Instead they are given absolutely everything they could ever want. It might even be easy for readers to imagine themselves in the world too. When we finally learn the secret about the pretty operations, some people might even find themselves wondering if it would still be worth it. Tally certainly wonders that herself.
Uglies, the first in a trilogy by Scott Westerfield, follows Tally, a girl on the verge of turning sixteen. Sixteen is the age when everyone gets an operation to become breathtakingly beautiful. The operation reshapes uglies into entirely new people. Their bone structure is shaped to be more aesthetically pleasing, their hair and eyes are changed, they are given new skin.
(All of us would be considered uglies in Tally's world because we have never had their operation.)
Once an ugly undergoes the operation, she becomes a pretty and lives in Pretty Town, the side of the city where only pretties live and spend their time partying and purchasing whatever they desire. Once a pretty becomes middle-aged, they receive another operation, as well as a final operation once they become elderly.
Tally is extremely excited to undergo the operation, even when she meets Shay, a fellow ugly who criticizes the way pretties live and considers the operation to be losing an identity. Shay wants to live in the Smoke, a community of runaway uglies outside the city. One day, right before the operation, Shay runs away after trying to convince Tally to go with her. Tally is called to Special Circumstances and must choose between finding Shay or never having her operation. Tally decides to find her friend and turn her in to the city.
Once Tally agrees to go after Shay is when Uglies really jumps in to high gear. Tally finds it increasingly difficult to betray her friend once she gets to know the people of the Smoke, but she doesn't really understand that she is being used as a tool by the city. Tally makes for an interesting character because she is a very average girl. She is as desperate to become pretty as everyone else, and she is not a radical like Shay. She is shaped by the world she grew up in.
Often main characters in Dystopian fiction are outsiders who never felt like full participants in their worlds. Tally, much like Titus in Feed, is a believable inhabitant of her world. She has a game she plays in the beginning of the book that scans her face and allows her to make it pretty. She can change anything and everything about her face, and she does. She has dozens of pretty versions of her face saved. She obsesses about her ugliness constantly. She feels like a teenager with low-self esteem in a society that idolizes beauty. Seeing her own face blown up in size projected on the wall is enough to convince Tally to go find Shay. She can't bear to look at her own face any longer.
Uglies is a little different from many Dystopian novels as it deals with themes of beauty and excess rather than dictatorial leadership. The world of the book is not one in which the characters are abused or beaten down. Instead they are given absolutely everything they could ever want. It might even be easy for readers to imagine themselves in the world too. When we finally learn the secret about the pretty operations, some people might even find themselves wondering if it would still be worth it. Tally certainly wonders that herself.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Feed by M.T. Anderson
Feed is one of my favorite frequently overlooked Young Adult Dystopian fiction books. I think of Feed as in the same genre as The Hunger Games, The Giver and Divergent but there are many things that set it apart from these more famous dystopian novels. One of the most common plots of a dystopian Y.A. novel involves a character who is a part of a seemingly utopian world but later discovers the ugly truths about that world and decides to do something about it.
In the case of Jonas from The Giver, he flees his community with baby Gabriel to save him from being euthanized. In The Hunger Games and Divergent both female heroines become a part of a revolution, throwing their worlds into turmoil and hopefully positive change. Feed does not contain this plot. Nothing radically changes about the world, and we are unsure whether or not the main character changes much himself. In my opinion, this makes Feed more realistic than many other dystopian novels. So many Y.A. dystopian novels feature a teenage character who takes on challenges many adults couldn't handle. Titus, the main character of Feed, reads like a teenager. He is selfish, easily entertained, social, obsession-obsessed and curious but never too curious. He is not a radical warrior. He is a boy.
Feed takes place far in the future in America. In the world of Feed many people have "feeds" installed in their brains at birth, which allow them to communicate telepathically, purchase items on the feed (very similar to purchasing items online), play games, watch shows, and record and play back memories they have. Through the feed, advertisements are marketed and buzzed into people's brains. These ads are constant, even during dreams. For example, when Titus and his friends walk by a store, ads are buzzed into their brains about what they should buy.
Titus explains that the feeds were originally marketed as the ultimate learning tool. With the feed, a user has access to any information he desires. He can look anything up at any moment. Eventually, though, the feed has become a way to buy. In Titus' school, more time is spent on shopping and decorating their rooms than on history or science because they already have access to all they need to know about everything.
This unlimited access to information does not make everyone eloquent geniuses. Titus and his friends speak in slang with words like "unit", "null", "skip" and "meg." Adults don't talk much differently. Much of Feed, which is narrated by Titus, is written in long run-on sentences and he often struggles to talk about how he means. The book is conversational- it is how Titus would talk to his friends, but without the video, pictures and ads they usually use to communicate. These are such a big part of the world that speech is not as valuable anymore.
The world of Feed may seem disturbing to us, but Titus is completely comfortable in it. He is a part of the feed, having it since birth, and never really questions it.
At the start of the novel, Titus and his friends go to the moon for spring break. They are "tapped" or hacked by a radical at a night club, and Titus meets Violet. Violet catches Titus' eye. She is wearing an old-fashioned wool dress and she is all by herself. Violet hasn't had the feed her whole life. She had it installed as a young girl after convincing her parents. Violet and Titus begin dating and Violet tries to show Titus the problems with the world around them. She thinks Titus is different than the rest of his friends. He is more curious, she thinks. Titus goes along with what Violet tells him, but after a while she becomes a bore. No one wants to brought down all the time.
Halfway through Feed, Violet reveals to Titus that she is sick. Her feedware is malfunctioning. She is losing function in her brain and she doesn't know if it can be fixed. Titus tries to be there for her, but he struggles to look for what to say. Violet isn't fun anymore. She's serious and negative and she wants Titus to store her memories as she begins to lose them. Titus panics and stops seeing or communicating with her. We as an audience want him to rise up, to fight back against the world around him that entertains others into submission, and be there for Violet when she needs him. We want Titus to be a good person.
One of the things I love most about Feed is the way its characters belong to its world. It makes you imagine what you would be like if you lived in a world where your every whim could be catered to in an instant, where your head would never be silent, where you are never alone or bored. How different would you be from Titus? How different are you from Titus now?
The world of Feed is unnervingly close to our world. We have a constant stream of advertisements everywhere we go. Entertainment is always a click away. We think we have gained so much from the technology advancements of today, but have we really? There are many things we are losing as well. Feed looks at a future in which technology has advanced, but many things have been lost and makes an argument to be fearful about a direction in which we may be headed.
In the case of Jonas from The Giver, he flees his community with baby Gabriel to save him from being euthanized. In The Hunger Games and Divergent both female heroines become a part of a revolution, throwing their worlds into turmoil and hopefully positive change. Feed does not contain this plot. Nothing radically changes about the world, and we are unsure whether or not the main character changes much himself. In my opinion, this makes Feed more realistic than many other dystopian novels. So many Y.A. dystopian novels feature a teenage character who takes on challenges many adults couldn't handle. Titus, the main character of Feed, reads like a teenager. He is selfish, easily entertained, social, obsession-obsessed and curious but never too curious. He is not a radical warrior. He is a boy.
Feed takes place far in the future in America. In the world of Feed many people have "feeds" installed in their brains at birth, which allow them to communicate telepathically, purchase items on the feed (very similar to purchasing items online), play games, watch shows, and record and play back memories they have. Through the feed, advertisements are marketed and buzzed into people's brains. These ads are constant, even during dreams. For example, when Titus and his friends walk by a store, ads are buzzed into their brains about what they should buy.
Titus explains that the feeds were originally marketed as the ultimate learning tool. With the feed, a user has access to any information he desires. He can look anything up at any moment. Eventually, though, the feed has become a way to buy. In Titus' school, more time is spent on shopping and decorating their rooms than on history or science because they already have access to all they need to know about everything.
This unlimited access to information does not make everyone eloquent geniuses. Titus and his friends speak in slang with words like "unit", "null", "skip" and "meg." Adults don't talk much differently. Much of Feed, which is narrated by Titus, is written in long run-on sentences and he often struggles to talk about how he means. The book is conversational- it is how Titus would talk to his friends, but without the video, pictures and ads they usually use to communicate. These are such a big part of the world that speech is not as valuable anymore.
The world of Feed may seem disturbing to us, but Titus is completely comfortable in it. He is a part of the feed, having it since birth, and never really questions it.
At the start of the novel, Titus and his friends go to the moon for spring break. They are "tapped" or hacked by a radical at a night club, and Titus meets Violet. Violet catches Titus' eye. She is wearing an old-fashioned wool dress and she is all by herself. Violet hasn't had the feed her whole life. She had it installed as a young girl after convincing her parents. Violet and Titus begin dating and Violet tries to show Titus the problems with the world around them. She thinks Titus is different than the rest of his friends. He is more curious, she thinks. Titus goes along with what Violet tells him, but after a while she becomes a bore. No one wants to brought down all the time.
Halfway through Feed, Violet reveals to Titus that she is sick. Her feedware is malfunctioning. She is losing function in her brain and she doesn't know if it can be fixed. Titus tries to be there for her, but he struggles to look for what to say. Violet isn't fun anymore. She's serious and negative and she wants Titus to store her memories as she begins to lose them. Titus panics and stops seeing or communicating with her. We as an audience want him to rise up, to fight back against the world around him that entertains others into submission, and be there for Violet when she needs him. We want Titus to be a good person.
One of the things I love most about Feed is the way its characters belong to its world. It makes you imagine what you would be like if you lived in a world where your every whim could be catered to in an instant, where your head would never be silent, where you are never alone or bored. How different would you be from Titus? How different are you from Titus now?
The world of Feed is unnervingly close to our world. We have a constant stream of advertisements everywhere we go. Entertainment is always a click away. We think we have gained so much from the technology advancements of today, but have we really? There are many things we are losing as well. Feed looks at a future in which technology has advanced, but many things have been lost and makes an argument to be fearful about a direction in which we may be headed.
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