Outread Aubrey! Challenge discussion
SPRINT: Dystopian (2/1-2/28)
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Morgan
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Feb 10, 2014 05:38AM
It comes out in Mockingjay, because it has to do with why he knows just how Snow came into power. I was more worried about Johanna and the whole elevator thing in Catching Fire, but they handled it well, though they left out the real point of it. In the book, she did that, and Finnick tried to flirt with Katniss and such because they saw her as pure, as Peeta tells her in a bit of dialogue they left out.
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Amanda Davis' books (or at least the first one, I didn't read the second one) are clean. I didn't enjoy the one I read very much, but it was clean.@Morgan: Hunger Games was borderline for me too.
Finnick didn't really bother me too much. Well, actually, he would have at first if I didn't know his back story in advance. The bit about what he was forced to do is actually what made me comfortable with his character though. Probably because I've done a lot of reading about human trafficking and his personality was really quite accurate to how a sex trafficked victim might behave in his situation. So, yes, I actually kind of like him.
Morgan wrote: "It comes out in Mockingjay, because it has to do with why he knows just how Snow came into power. I was more worried about Johanna and the whole elevator thing in Catching Fire, but they handled it..."Gah. Yes. Johanna's two strip scenes were my least favorite parts of the book. And they're not really even in keeping with the way the author portrays her character the rest of the series.
Yes, I hated that about Johanna. It also made me uncomfortable that Peeta started sleeping with Katniss because of her nightmares, though not so much that I stopped reading. I know it was just so she'd have someone there when she woke up screaming, but it was still wrong. I guess I was more comfortable with Finnick later on. Peeta is my favorite character, though.I want to read Amanda Davis's books, but I'm not sure about the price. The first one is eight dollars on kindle, and I would rather not pay more than three for a kindle book.
I have Amanda Davis's first book on Kindle (haven't read it yet--thanks for reminding me!). Let me check if it's a book the publish allows to be loaned via Kindle... Aha! Yes, I can loan Precisely Terminated once to one person for 14 days. I won't be reading it in the next 14 days, so if somebody here (Morgan?) wants to take a loan via Kindle, I'd be happy to help.
Ahh, I see, in regards to The Hunger Games. I liked the movies better (partially because they dialed back on some of the content), but I'll still make an effort to finish the books.
Ahh, I see, in regards to The Hunger Games. I liked the movies better (partially because they dialed back on some of the content), but I'll still make an effort to finish the books.
Really, the content doesn't go into any more detail than we have here. From your review of Divergent, it sounds a LOT worse. They did majorly tone down the injuries for the Hunger Games movies though.My mom is supposed to be picking up a couple library books for me, and I do have several projects to do this week, so I'll have to see if I have time. Thanks for the offer, though!
I'm listening to Red Rain again while working on a dress for my sister. This is the first time this year, so I guess it counts. :)
Why yes, it does count. :D
Yeah, Divergent wasn't anything I could "handle," but I can't say I fully enjoyed it for those reasons... Really a mixed bag, that book!
Yeah, Divergent wasn't anything I could "handle," but I can't say I fully enjoyed it for those reasons... Really a mixed bag, that book!
I'll take a loan, if it's still available! I haven't read Amanda's book yet. I'm usually wary of self published books (even though I know it's not always warranted), so I like reading excerpts or getting reccs. from friends. I actually kind of fell out of Bryan Davis' books ... The Dragons in our Midst series was good, and I loved Oracles of Fire, but I couldn't bring myself to read the current series (Children of the Bard?) because of the summary ... Though, it might count as dystopian? That WAS kind of OOC for Johanna, now that you mention it! Kind of disappointed to hear that they didn't keep Peeta's lines (I thought they were kind of sweet ... to the Capitol, you're pure, but perfect for me ...) Do they just say they were doing it to mess with Katniss then? Thinking about it now, they didn't bring up her modesty in the first movie, so maybe they decided it wasn't needed/important.
Since they literally were just sleeping, I could kind of tolerate it a bit more, considering the horrors they went through, but IRL, I would say a huge "no" also. Peeta was also seriously tempting fate, I think, considering that he's been " in love" with her for practically his whole life ... But his restraint made me love him even more. How realistic that is, I don't know ...
Haha, he is also my favorite HG character. :)
First come first served, so have at it! I need your email again, though. Didn't bother to save that PM... ;-P
Zekkaina, I totally agree with what you said on The Hunger Games. About the elevator scene, they cut all dialogue afterward. Johanna does her thing, complaining about her costume designers (neck up shots), Katniss looks horrified, Johanna steps out, says "We should do this again sometime," leaves, Haymitch tells them her name, and it's never mentioned again. I honestly didn't notice they cut the whole point until my violin teacher pointed it out to me. I wish they HAD kept the point, or cut the scene entirely, but of course I didn't have a say in it.
@ Morgan -- that is disappointing. I guess they kept it because of the shock value and it's such a memorable moment for Johanna. :/ I've seen promos of her gown, and personally, Johanna's brown cork like dress in the movie is so fashionably amazing (all that tailoring and couture techniques!), I don't know why she'd want to want to get rid of it! Haha, guess you can tell I almost majored in fashion design. :P
If anyone else wants to borrow Amanda Davis' first book, I have a kindle copy available to lend out also. So, first come first serve, you're welcome to it.
I have to say about the Johanna scene, though, Katniss's face was utterly HILARIOUS. Like, I loved it just for the comedy value of everyone's expressions. I was cracking up.(I also know far too many people who ship Johanna/Katniss. I may be one of them. I'm still on the fence about it, and need to reread the rest of the books.)
@Miriam --I can't wait to get my hands on the DVD/bluRay. :) haha, I can see myself "friendshipping" Johanna/Katniss, but I think I'd do it with Finnick and Katniss more ... Especially with Mockingjay. I'd have to reread them also. ;)
I definitely think Katniss and Johanna (keep catching myself calling her Jo because one of my friends does...) got to be cautious friends in Mockingjay. And Finnick and Katniss definitely.
Katniss and Johanna agreed not to hate each other. And Katniss and Finnick tied knots together for therapy.
Oooo, Leah!! *waves hand eagerly* I'd love to "borrow" it! I'll have to ask my Mum first though...
Annie wrote: "Oooo, Leah!! *waves hand eagerly* I'd love to "borrow" it! I'll have to ask my Mum first though..."You're welcome to it, Annie. ;) Let me know what your mom says. (And excuse me if I don't lend it right away. I have a busy week coming up so I might not get on too much.)
She said "yes"!!! :D ^_^(Oh, that's quite all right. I understand. :))
P.S. Do you need my email address or the kindle address?
It's your normal address, I just found that out myself. Kindle email doesn't work. :)
Kindle email addresses only work if you're sending it from an email you've added to your "safe senders" list. I email things to my Kindle all the time :)I reread Catching Fire and now I'm on Mockingjay. I also ordered Insurgent, but I'll probably need to reread Divergent first because I've forgotten what happens.
*actually owns Insurgent and still hasn't read it yet* Hence this challenge, yah..
Yes. What Miriam said about the Kindle. You just have to set a person's email to "safe" before having them send it. But for borrowing you just use the person's email. So, yes, Annie. I do need your email address. You can message it to me or just send it to my email --> leah(at)leahegood(dot)com
Aubrey - I wanted to order Allegiant too, but it's still in hardback and I can't afford it. Sigh.
Um...I didn't get it Annie. Maybe try emailing it to me?
There, I emailed it to you, Leah. Hopefully, you got it! O.o :)
Finished reading Mockingjay -- now rereading Divergent in preparation for Insurgent hopefully arriving early next week! Also just realised that Shade's Children by Garth Nix is dystopia and I wanted to reread that too, so I might do that at some point. I feel guilty for just rereading so much, but I've been so mentally tired recently that it's nice relaxation for me. Dystopia is weird. It's so dark and often depressing yet, particularly in the case of YA dystopia, makes for such great escapism, don't you think?
An example I just thought of of a book with a dystopian setting (and at that a dystopian setting that doesn't claim or imagine itself to be a utopia), though I'm not sure whether it qualifies as a dystopia (it's deliberately genre-blending SF/intertextual-literary/somewhat-fantastical mystery): The Eyre Affair. And sequels.
Finished rereading Divergent. Aubrey, I disagreed slightly with your evaluation of its content - I've elaborated on that in a comment on your review :)
I got it Annie.@Miriam: I find the sometimes depressing nature of Dystopian very interesting. Especially in light of it's current popularity.
I just read "Matched" by Ally Condie. I loved it! And I think it's classed as Dystopian...
@Leah: Yay, I got it!! *grinning happily* Thank you heaps! :)
I have "Matched" from the library but have yet to read it ... Hopefully I can finish it in time for the sprint. Good points about dystopians ... Maybe it has something to do with how scifi has been getting a bit darker since the 1990s (e.g. Star Trek, Star Wars novels, the reimagined Battlestar Galactic series vs. the original 1970s series, etc.)?
@Miriam -- Thanks for your comment on Divergent. I've heard different things about those books ... But I'll probably give it a shot, at least before I watch the movie. ;)
Annie wrote: "@Leah: Yay, I got it!! *grinning happily* Thank you heaps! :)"De nada. ;)
Zekkaina (LadyDragonKeeper) wrote: Good points about dystopians ... Maybe it has something to do with how scifi has been getting a bit darker since the 1990s?I think also it plays on a lot of fears that people have -- fear of the government, fear of climate change, fear of technology taking over. All the privacy scandals, the corruption, the human rights abuse, and the flooding/snow/drought (delete as appropriate according to location) means all of that seems very close to home. But the thing about dystopian fiction as that it's often about taking on the system and beating it, so I think it gives us hope that we don't have to be trapped by our circumstances. If our government is corrupt, overthrow it. If people are being beaten down for who they are, save them, stand up for them. If the weather is destroying us, fight back...
@Miriam: Yes. That's so true. I think the difficulty is that too many Dystopians don't do a very good job showing the hope aspect. Some do a lot better than others.
I do agree that dystopian plays on people's fears. Unfortunately, many of those fears, the government related ones anyway, are not unfounded. The government is controlling more and more of our lives (Obamacare, Common Core, etc.), outlawing things that shouldn't be outlawed (like prayer in public schools), and allowing things that shouldn't be allowed (like abortion). That's why I think dystopian is popular: it seems to be coming.What would an official definition of dystopian be, though? If it's just fighting back against an evil government, then Star Wars would qualify.
I don't know as I agree with you on all those things, Morgan, but it's certainly true that a lot of dystopian predictions seem to be coming true. From the perspective of somebody whose country has greatly suffered from flooding this winter, I'm pretty worried about all the books which take place in a world severely affected by climate change in which whole areas are cut off by water ... I mean, we already lost Cornwall.
Ooh, ooh! Lemme answer this question! I know I wrote an article about this. Where in the hay did it go? Oh, here. Skip down to the section that says "What would a fallen society look like?" if you don't have time to read the whole thing: http://www.holyworlds.org/blog/?p=1325
I appreciated the comment on my review, Miriam. It's nice to have comments of substance. :)
I appreciated the comment on my review, Miriam. It's nice to have comments of substance. :)
I just finished "Precisely Terminated"! And I l.o.v.e.d it. ^_^ Definitely a favourite. Now to buy the second book as soon as I'm to! *excited bounce* :D
I don't believe in climate change, so I wouldn't say dystopian that is climate change dependent is coming. The things I mentioned about politics are absolutely true. I have been greatly involved in politics for about ten years now, and I pay attention to what's going on in the government. I'm currently working on the campaign of a congressional candidate who is a long time family friend and has been in the state legislature since 2005. I have also studied the founding of our country and our founding documents a lot, and we are so far from the original intent that I seriously doubt the founders would recognize America today. I'm not saying I necessarily think the sci-fi aspects of dystopian are coming, though sometimes certain things seem possible, but if the American people do not wake up and do something about what's going on, I absolutely believe America will crash and burn. We really aren't a free country anymore.Aubrey, I guess that's why I like dystopian, the political side. Genres can be confusing, though, since some stories seem to fit into multiple ones.
Annie wrote: "I just finished "Precisely Terminated"! And I l.o.v.e.d it. ^_^ Definitely a favourite. Now to buy the second book as soon as I'm to! *excited bounce* :D"Wow. Glad you liked it so much, Annie. Since I wasn't a big fan, it's great that you made the money I spent on it worth it. ;) <3
I'm with you, Morgan! I love the political angle.
Interestingly, I rarely find dystopian depressing when I read it. What I find depressing is when I look at the real world and see the same signs. Of course, a lot of dystopian is intentionally exaggerated/fantasized--that's the point of the genre--but the principle is there.
Interestingly, I rarely find dystopian depressing when I read it. What I find depressing is when I look at the real world and see the same signs. Of course, a lot of dystopian is intentionally exaggerated/fantasized--that's the point of the genre--but the principle is there.
Morgan - I don't mean that they're not happening, I meant that my opinion as to whether or nor they're a good thing is not the same as yours. And while I don't want to get into an argument about it, please go and tell the South-West of England that you don't believe in climate change: I'm sure they'll be massively comforted because everything may be underwater but hey, it's. not climate change, so it's fine. (The notion of 'believing' in climate change is strange to me. It'll exist either way. It's not a metaphysical concept. It's a proven thing. That's like saying, "I don't believe in technology." It's right THERE.)Sorry if I sound snappish. I just woke up after staying up too latr last night reading Insurgent. But really...
LOL. Okay, girls, we're mixing up our science with our politics. :) There is climate change, which happens, and then there is /political/ climate change, which is what scientists say happens so they can get grant money. Just look at how many "little ice ages" we've had in the past. (We're due for one about now-ish.) And if you don't believe there's politics in science, then go look up some scientists who are struggling, or studying something against the grain. They'll tell you. The balance of our ecosystem is a very delicate thing. We have documented evidence of volcano eruptions causing worldwide famine, because the volcanic dust prevented enough sunlight from filtering in. It's pretty easy to imagine some other catasrophe, likely or unlikely (such as an asteroid knocking the moon out of orbit) that would also result in similar devastation.
When I get confused on what is dystopia and what isn't (moving on from science, now, ) I look at the two scifi novels I have written. They both feature corrupt governments, but one is a dystopia and one isn't. The difference is that the dystopian government has the appearance of perfection, but is rotten underneath. The second one is just plain corrupt in the everyone-knows-it sort of way. Defining dystopian is as tricky as defining superhero stories, I think, and we once debated the latter for the most part of a month. It's almost impossible to define, because it's more of a stylistic thing than a plot thing. But you also know it when you see it...
Aubrey wrote: "Interestingly, I rarely find dystopian depressing when I read it. What I find depressing is when I look at the real world and see the same signs. Of course, a lot of dystopian is intentionally exaggerated/fantasized--that's the point of the genre--but the principle is there."Same here, Aubrey. But I can usually tell how the mood could feel depressing to a lot of people.
Specifically, I mean human caused climate change. Humans breathing out carbon dioxide does not cause the earth to warm. That is just a scam by the government to get people to accept more regulations. And what I don't understand is why people buy that, since plants require carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.There are cycles, in the 70s people thought that it would be so cold we couldn't grow food, in the past decade people thought it would be so hot the world would burn, and now, due to a decrease in sunspot activity, in Georgia we have had several snowstorms. I wouldn't consider volcanic eruptions causing things like the year without a summer to be climate change. That's a natural disaster. Climate change would be saying Florida will go from being semi tropical to having winters where they regularly get temperatures below zero and feet of snow with no disaster causing it.
Miriam, just because South England is under water does not mean the climate is changing. It means there are floods.
Ultimately, though, I think it comes down to a definition of terms. If by climate change you mean natural disasters which cause weather not quite typical to the area, yes it happens. If you mean random changes like from tropical to arctic with no disaster to set it off, then no it doesn't.
Outread Aubrey! Challenge
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Swipe (other topics)The World of the Hunger Games (other topics)
Among the Betrayed (other topics)
Among the Hidden (other topics)
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