I love all genres. Or most of them, anyway. But recently I've got into a dystopia mood... For anyone who's confused:
dystopia (n) : an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. Opposite of utopia.
Dystopian, science fiction and post-apocalyptic novels are often one and the same. Although not always. Some famous ones are:
1984 by George Orwell
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (recently made into a film starring Keira Knightly and Carey Mulligan)
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
To mention just a few!
Anyway, I decided I might as well make use of my dystopian mood, so I'm climbing on the band wagon started by BA Reading Challenges. Here's how the challenge works:
How To Participate
1. Decide which challenge level you'll be doing (see below).
2. Grab the code for the badge down below and post it on a side bar or in a signature.
3. Create your own post to let all your readers know you’re taking part in the challenge and at what level. Make sure to link back to this page with either one of the buttons or a text link.
4. Use the link form below to enter into the challenge by sharing your challenge post URL and your name (either your name, blog name, or both).Please don't use the comment form to participate, only to comment on the challenge or something else.
5. Submit your reviews (if you choose to review them, but that's optional) on the review page.
6. When you’ve completed you’re challenge let us know on the completion post. If you're using a tag or category I recommend sharing the link back to that so everyone can find them
Challenge Levels:
1. Asocial– Choose 5 books to read
2. Contagion – Choose 15 books to read
3. Soldier – Choose 30 books to read
4. Drone – Choose 50 books to read
5. Conditioned – Choose 75 books to read
For Extra Hard Challenges:
1. Brainwashed – Choose 76-125 books to read
2. Totalitarian – Choose 126-200 books to read
I'll be doing Contagion, I think. Seeing as I'm not that amazing, and I don't think I can even list 30 dystopian novels!!
These are the novels I'll be doing (I think):
1) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
2) 1984 by George Orwell
3) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
5) Animal Farm by George Orwell (this may or may not count as dystopian... I hope it does!)
6) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
7) The Time Machine by H.G Wells
8) The Chrysalids by John Wyndham
9) Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
10) The Running Man by Stephen King (under the pen-name of Richard Bachman)
11) The Iron Heel by Jack London
12) The Neuromancer by William Gibson
13) The Children of Men by PD James (perhaps, although I'm not sure about this one... )
14) ??
15) ??
Ug. I think I'll go get reading... !!
