Dystopian Fiction Reading Challenge 2010
I’ve placed this challenge upon myself, so I decided to share it with the blogoverse. I enjoyed books such as The Hunger Games and Uglies so much that I planned on revisiting them this year, along with others in this category for comparison purposes. Therefor why not a challenge? First one that I am hosting. The challenge with end Aug 24th, in tribute to the release of the 3rd Hunger Games book. Participants in this challenge will be entered to win the 3rd book in a random drawing.
dys·to·pi·a (dĭs-tō’pē-ə)
- An imaginary place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.
American Psychological Association (APA):
dystopia. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dystopia
dystopia. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dystopia
Dystopian Fiction in it’s basic state is described as the opposite of Utopian fiction, but that is almost too simplistic a term to describe the genre.
Here are features of Dystopian Fiction:
- Post-apocalyptic setting, usually there is the background story of natural disaster, revolutions, war, climate change, some kind of devastating event that changed society
- Dystopians are normally future based
- A difference in the standard of living than what we enjoy in today’s society. This can be a poorer standard of living, as in The Hunger Games, or sometimes a more materialistic environment, like such in Brave New World and Uglies.
- The main character questions society, or is exposed to the baser ideals of their society within the plot, leading them to the knowledge that something is terribly wrong with their world.
- There is usually a group/revolution occurring within the novel that the controlling state does not have control over that the protagonist teams up with or strives to join/become like, although nothing is being changed by the character or group. In Brave New World, this group is comprised of the people on the reservation.
- Dystopian fiction typically elaborates on the darker society trends that effect us today. Usually the reader can identify things within our own society that could lead to this future terrible state.
- Within the plot of a dystopian fiction, the protagonist usually will try to escape or bring down the society that restricts them
Get your Dystopian Fiction Reading on!
Time Constraints:
Jan 1 2010 to Aug 24 2010
Deets:
- Open to everyone (if you do not have a blog, just state in the comments section that you read the book and on what date)
- Any book format – Wiki list of dystopian lit
- Books can be chosen throughout the year, but must have been read within the timeline. Just because your read Fahrenheit 451 in 7th grade doesn’t mean it counts.
- Sign-up below with Mr. Linky
- Post your reviews in the comments area
- Three Levels:
- Level 1 – Experimental – 5 books
- Level 2 – Addict – 10 books
- Level 3 – Junkee – 20 books
This is on your honor, so please play nice!
Buttons:
Rachel, whom you might know as Parajunkee, is the blog owner of parajunkee.com and the design blog parajunkee.net. Rachel has been blogging for close to four years, designing / web programming for over twelve, but her real love, reading, has been her favorite hobby since childhood. Rachel has won numerous awards for her writing, the blogs she has created and her design work.
Latest posts by Parajunkee (see all)
- Feature & Follow #149 – May 16, 2013
- Ten Tips for New Bloggers – May 16, 2013
- The Adventures of Evil Book Blogger Ep. 1 – May 15, 2013
- PJV News: Hot Books Releasing Today – May 14, 2013
- Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler – May 13, 2013
- Feature & Follow #148 – May 9, 2013
- Twitter Etiquette – May 9, 2013
- My Favorite Book is become a movie…an obsession story. – May 8, 2013
- ‘Til The World Ends (Anthology) by Julie Kagawa , Ann Aguirre and Karen Duvall – May 7, 2013
- Hot Books Releasing Today – May 7, 2013
Couple of new reviews done!
The Road by Cormac McCarthy: http://gnomadiclibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/04/road-by-cormac-mccarthy.html
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard:
http://gnomadiclibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/04/small-free-kiss-in-dark-by-glenda.html
Third review, The Forest of Hands and Teeth
http://tarawriter.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-forest-of-hands-and-teeth.html
Fourth Review:
http://www.bookloveteen.com/2010/03/good-things-come-in-small-packages2.html
I'm behind! Good thing I have a nice pile of dystopian titles standing by.
1st Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.
http://thedoortowonderland.blogspot.com/2010/04/review-hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins.html
Third book – Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.
http://cookiesbooksbikes.blogspot.com/2010/04/catching-fire-by-suzanne-collins.html
Here's my review of The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which is a brilliant novel
http://paranormal-obsession.blogspot.com/2010/05/adoration-of-jenna-fox-mary-e-pearson.html
Hello, I joined a little late, but I've read a few dystopian novels already this year. They're not all on my blog, I'll start with the one that is:
book 1 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/the-hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins
I'm joining rather late, but I have already read some dystopian novels this year. One is on my blog, the others I read before I had a blog.
Book 1: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (finished April 22, 2010) http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/the-hunger-games-by-suzanne-collins/
Book 2: The Stand by Stephen King (Finished January, 30th, 2010)
A great adventure in which most of humanity died because of a virus. The survivors are called to one of two places, in their dreams. One is the place of Mother Abigail, the "good" person, the other is the place of Randall Flagg, the "bad" person. This is going to be a fight between good and bad. Guess who wins?
Book 3: The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall (Finished April 6th, 2010)
In the book, the diary of an unknown woman is reproduced. She lives in England, where after an economic crisis and the fall of the government, a strict Authority rules. People are not allowed to leave town or have babies, and live in cramped circumstances in a dirty, depressing town.
The woman decides to leave her husband and try and move to a community of women that are living illegally in the hills of the Lake District.
Most of the book is about her living with the community. This is interesting to read, but not really much happens until the end. The mood of the book reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood).
Book 4: Sulphuric Acid by Amelie Nothomb (Finished May 2nd, 2010)
Unsuspecting people are randomly taken from a square in town and placed in a concentration camp. No, there's no war, this is for a Big Brother-type tv show.
The group is divided in bosses and prisoners. The bosses can do whatever they want to the prisoners, who spend most of their day doing hard labor. Every morning, the bosses choose a number of prisoners that are too weak to work, and they are executed.
Pannonique is a beautiful young woman prisoner who tries to keep morale up by treating everyone very politely. She'll help wherever she can. The others see her as someone to look up to. Meanwhile, one of the boses, a woman called Zdena, has also taken an interest in Pannonique. After some weeks of beating her up every day, she takes another approach and give Pannonique extra food, so she will live longer. When Pannonique wants Zdena's help to excape, Zdena has to choose between keeping her beloved Pannonique in the camp with her, or letting her go, and possibly never see her again.
My #rd Review– The Line by Teri Hall…
http://www.tinasbookreviews.com/2010/05/line-by-teri-hall.html
Forgot to add this–Review #3 is for The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Great read!
http://derapsreads.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-knife-of-never-letting-go.html
I forgot about these two, so they make number 5 and 6:
5. Gone by Michael Grant (Finished March 13th, 2010)
6. Hunger by Michael Grant (Finished April 5th, 2010)
2nd review: The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
http://thedoortowonderland.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-dead-and-gone-by-susan-beth.html
Hi! I just started my book blog and am excited to participate in this contest. I think it's a great idea and will post first review soon.
Book 7: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. My review is here: http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/catching-fire-by-suzanne-collins
3rd review: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.
http://thedoortowonderland.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-incarceron-by-catherine-fisher.html
4th review: Epitaph Road by David Patneaude.
http://thedoortowonderland.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-epitaph-road-by-david-patneaude.html
My first review is on I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (:
http://faithadelinereviews.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-am-legend-by-richard-matheson.html