Tuesday 13 March 2012

Top Ten Tuesday - Dystopian

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme from the Broke and The Bookish. It's a fun prompt for listing books. In this week we get to pick a genre and list our top ten books. I've chosen dystopian. Although I have a funny feeling I have done this before. It's been a while since I have taken part in this. I actually meant to take part in last weeks top ten book covers but forgot.

1. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley. This was the first book that introduced me to dystopian and I have loved it since. In this society people are cloned and from that their lives are determined. Happiness is mandatory. Sex and drugs are used to encourage this.

2. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury. My second introduction. A world where thinking is done for the people and as a result books are banned. The fire brigade in this society is there to burn any books.

3. 1984 - George Orwell. Anyone who loved dystopian is going to have read this. Probably one of the most famous. Big Brother is watching your every move to ensure you to not stray from their way of thinking.

4. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess. The streets are ruled by gangs of violent teens. This is seen through the eyes of one teen, Alex. I was surprised by how much I loved this one. Couldn't put it down.

5. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood.  I love Atwood and love all her writing styles. In this one women are forced to have children for the rich and powerful. Those who can't have a darker future.

6. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin. Where ever citizen has a number rather than a name. Their homes are made of glass so they can't be hidden and they walk in step with each other. To have any emotion is against the rules of the state. I enjoyed it although it was a little slow going.

7. The Chrysalids - John Wyndham. After a world changing event society has returned to a feudal state with the population practicing fundamentalist religion. Anyone who is different is a blasphemer and their life is in danger. So when children began developing gifts of mental abilities they have to hide it in order to save their lives. I love John Wyndham. He truly had a talent for sci fi.

8. The Book of Dave - Will Self. A society and religion that revolves around the ravings of a long dead, London, cab driver. The most unusual of all my favourite dystopian reads.

9. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro. Humans are bred entirely for their organs. Probably the one that disturbed me the most and one of the most moving.

10. Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde. Place in society is determined by where you can see in the colour spectrum. Grey being the lowest and purple being the highest. I loved this book and the use of colour in it. For example the colour green is used as a drug.

20 comments:

  1. GREAT classic list! Love so many of them! Check out our Top 10 this week!

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  2. I can't believe I haven't read any of these - and I love dystopian novels!

    Tanya
    Girlxoxo.com

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  3. My current book I'm reading is Dystopian, the White Horse and I'm really liking it so far. I haven't read any of your listed books.

    http://kristina-worldofbooks.blogspot.com/2012/03/top-10-tuesdays-13.html

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    1. I'll have to look that one up as I haven't heard of it.

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  4. This is a great list and I've missed a few of these so now I've added them to my Neverending to be Read List.

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    1. Thank you. That's the only thing about these lists. Always end up seeing something that catches my eye.

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  5. Nothing beats a good dystopian and so many of these are personal faves including Brave New World. Great picks!

    Thanks for stopping by! And following you now. Otherwhere.co

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    1. Thank you. I completely agree. Thanks for following too.

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  6. Great List! I love that you chose older dystopian novels. Also I loved A Clockwork Orange, too, it barely missed being on my Top Ten Classics this week.

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    1. Thank you. I honestly think no dystopian list is complete without at least one classic.

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  7. Excellent list! Love that you went back to some of the roots of dystopian fiction. There are a couple here that I've yet to read, you've reminded me that I really need to bump them up the TBR list a bit!

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    1. Thank you. I actually forgot that it was the YA rage just now. I have read a few good ones in the past but I wanted to make the list all about the non-YA books.

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  8. I have not read any of these, but they do seem great :D
    Thank you for commenting on my Top Ten. <3 I only read YA books, so my list only had those ;p
    Love, Carina @ Carina's Books

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    1. I haven't read many YA of late so they didn't make mine, lol. Have read a few good ones though in the past. Loved the Malorie Blackman books.

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  9. I wonder if you would like Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

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    1. Will have to look it up. Thanks for the recommendation.

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  10. Oh, I love this list! It's not got all the typical YA stuff on it, for one, so that's impressive in and of itself ;)

    Thanks for stopping by my blog, the comment is appreciated!

    Ree @ Literary Obsession

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    1. Thank you. I don't really read many YA these days. Plus my original love of dystopian came from the classics.

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  11. Great list! There are quite a few books in here that I want to read!

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