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2010-03 - Dystopia - What will you Read in March?
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I will be interested to know what anyone who reads Uglies thinks. I am about 1/2 way done and must confess that I am not enjoying it very much.
Karen wrote: "Have just finished Child 44 and am now going to start Uglies"Karen, I just got Child 44 from the library. What did you think of it?
Lynne wrote: "I will be interested to know what anyone who reads Uglies thinks. I am about 1/2 way done and must confess that I am not enjoying it very much."That surprises me, Lynne! I read the entire series a couple of years ago and enjoyed them all. I gave them all a solid 4-star rating. Unfortunately, I read them before I started writing reviews here, so I can't give you details of my thoughts from right after I read them. What is it that you aren't enjoying?
That is the thing that is bugging me so much (and keeping me from giving up entirely, I suppose) I don't really know what I don't like about it. Today it occured to me that the author spends more time talking about the culture of the "Rusties" then delving into the "Pretty" culture that the characters live in. Maybe that's what it is.
Some of the Rusties culture does come into play eventually, and some of it is part of the world-building. I just remember being fascinated by the world he created - including the interesting slang words.But if you really aren't enjoying it, you shouldn't feel bad if you don't want to finish. There are too many good books out there to spend time on books you don't enjoy.
I see the author's time spent on the Rusties was a way to help emphasize how and why the new pretty world exists as well as establish the outside protesters. For me it was an interesting side and sorta gave commentary on why being you is better. Of course, as I said before I did not feel that he expressed his views as fully as I would have liked. Like Luann, I read this a while ago so it is a bit fuzzy.
Amy wrote: "Karen wrote: "Have just finished Child 44 and am now going to start Uglies"Karen, I just got Child 44 from the library. What did you think of it?"
I really enjoyed it,couldn't put it down.I think part of that comes from the fact that for millions of people this dystopian society was real and not just something that the author imagines will happen in the future.
Lynne wrote: "Karen wrote: "Am now reading The Day of the Triffids and after that I'm going to read Catching Fire these are both ebooks so for a real book after I've finished [book:C..."Lynne, I'm about half way through uglies and right now I have to agree with you.I can't say what it is about this book that isn't grabbing me but part of the problem is that I don't really care about the characters.However I am going to give it a few more days as I'm not quite ready to give up on it. I've read books before that took a long time to get into and they did eventually improve so I'll give this a chance.
Finished Uglies but for me it never improved. It may be that you need to read the whole trilogy for the story to work, however don't think I'll be in any hurry to read the rest of it.
I got two of the books I wanted to read in from the library a couple of days ago. I started reading How I Live Now and after the first 5 chapters I couldn't read anymore. It was something I could just not continue reading, the way it was written seemed strange and no use of quotation marks made it difficult and not enthralling in the least. Personal Opinion here. On the other hand I just finished reading The Adoration of Jenna Fox and it was an amazing read. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. This one I am definately recommending for reading :) The next on my list is Anthem, I'm hoping this will be a good one, looking forward to it.
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War This book must be a serious contender for the interesting title list. And so far the book doesn't disappoint.
This group is so great. I haven't been able to get on the computer in a couple of days (since I made the Uglies comment) but 2 days ago I decided to give up the ghost and quit reading Uglies altogether. Logging on tonight has definitely confirmed my decision. It's not that the book was bad, it just wasn't good either.I started to read Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron instead, and unlike Uglies, it grabbed me from the very beginning. Fforde has once again fleshed out a whole world with an interesting history and characters I liked immediately. It is also full of his wry sense of humor. Although I am only on page 47, I am REALLY enjoying this book.
THis whole experience has got me thinking about what makes a good dytopia read in general. I think I was on the right track before when I mentioned the ratio on time spent on the new society vs. the old. I am really enjoying absorbing the norms of the Chromatic society through context and am looking forward to discovering what the Thing That Happened Before might be.
Erinashley wrote: "I got two of the books I wanted to read in from the library a couple of days ago. I started reading How I Live Now and after the first 5 chapters I couldn't read anymore. It was somet..."I loved The Adoration of Jenna Fox too! I think i heard it is becoming a movie.
Tara wrote: "Erinashley wrote: "I got two of the books I wanted to read in from the library a couple of days ago. I started reading How I Live Now and after the first 5 chapters I couldn't read an..."Oh wow, really??
I have to find out if thats true cause I reckon it will be a real good movie :D
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Interesting comment on what makes a good dystopia read. Both of the books I am reading do not spend much time at all on the "old world". In fact, in Never Let Me Go there is not "old world", which is why I wouldn't really class it as a dystopia book, even though it is an excellent book.
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Of course I bought the new Ffjorde. I should have given up buying books for lent! I too noticed that people aren't finishing some books this month. Maybe because most dystopia aren't "light and fun" reading so if you don't totally LOVE the book (like "The Giver") you are less inclined to stick with it?
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Lynne wrote: "Of course I bought the new Ffjorde. I should have given up buying books for lent! I too noticed that people aren't finishing some books this month. Maybe because most dystopia aren't "light ..."
I agree, I'm finding it's taking me a lot longer to read 1984 than I expected. I really like it so far, but it's definately not "light and fun".
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Seems like even with all the current financial muck in the U.S.A. our society doesn't look SO bad after all, huh?"Shades of Grey" is pretty funny though.
I'll be really interested to see what you think of WWZ!
Wow, I've been MIA (lots of family visiting), but I'm back now. And crazy because I just read 2 dystopian books this week. I'll add my reviews soon.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Sabriel (other topics)World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (other topics)
How I Live Now (other topics)
The Unit (other topics)
The Handmaid’s Tale (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Catherine Fisher (other topics)Jasper Fforde (other topics)
Arkady Strugatsky (other topics)
Kazuo Ishiguro (other topics)
Carrie Ryan (other topics)
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"A novel that imagines England's future as a dystopian society where climate change has taken effect and women no longer have the right to bear children."