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Friday, April 06, 2007

Dystopian Challenge, part 3.

EDITED May 5, 2007 - Mr. Linky wasn't working. Go HERE for reviews instead. I'll invite you all as soon as I figure out how...

Ok, I have no creativity for these things, so I have named my challenge the ever-inspiring: Dystopian Challenge. Like it?

In case you missed the first post, the rules were as follows:

  1. Pick any number of books you wish to read that fall into the Utopia/Dystopia genre.
  2. They do not have to be books you've never read, but hopefully they aren't books you last week.
  3. Challenge is open now, and will last until November 6th.

I followed that up with post #2, which has some lists of books and links to lists.

A couple of brave souls actually agreed to play along with me! Ok, so there aren't many, but at least I'm not alone. I plan to convince my husband to join in too. I had a hard time narrowing down my list, without it being the first 5 books listed. I think I have it now though.

  1. The Giver by Lois Lowry. (I really want to read Lowry's Number the Stars too, but it doesn't fit the challenge. Or really, any of her books. )
  2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. (I read this in 10th grade and loved it so much. It was the first books that really made me *think*. Then I had to do a presentation to my class, much of which revolved around sex and drugs, and I was mortified.)
  3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. (I've also read this before, but I'd like to read it again as an adult and mother.)
  4. Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. (Susan at West of Mars keeps recommending it, so I chose it.)
  5. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. (This one was on the list at wikipedia and looks interesting.)
  6. Either Animal Farm or 1984 by Orwell. I have not decided which.

Those of you who are gamely playing along, post your list in comments and I'll edit it into my post here.

Gina's List:

  1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  2. The Giver by Lois Lowry
  3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  4. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  5. Brave New World and
  6. The Island by Aldous Huxley
Michelle's List:

  1. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
  2. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  3. 1984 by George Orwell
  4. (and possibly) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip Dick
  5. Jennifer Government by Max Barry
  6. Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Maggie at Maggie Reads is playing, she's starting with The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

Mercy's Maid over at Random Musings is only unoffically playing. If she WERE playing, she'd start with:


  1. 1984
  2. The Handmaid's Tale
  3. Animal Farm
Raidergirl3 at an adventure in reading is planning to tackle:


  1. The Giver
  2. Never Let Me Go
  3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Cloud Atlas
  4. Brave New World
  5. Fahrenheit 451

Paige is planning to read:

  1. 1984
  2. Brave New World
  3. The Giver
  4. The Road
  5. Oryz and Crate

Amy at The Sleepy Reader's list comes from the YA field:

  1. The House of the Scorpion by Farmer
  2. Feed by Anderson
  3. Gathering Blue by Lowry
  4. The City of Ember by DuPrau
  5. Among the Enemy by Haddix
  6. Among the Free by Haddix
Wendy at Caribousmom is reading:

  1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  2. The Road
  3. The Handmaid's Tale
  4. In the Country of Las Things by Paul Auster ( I can't find a link for this?)
Camille at Dabbling Dilettante has signed up for:

  1. The Handmaid's Tale
  2. The Postman by David Brin
  3. A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller Jr.
  4. Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)
  5. The Road
  6. Children of Men by P.D. James

Nattie at Nattie Writes! is planning to join.

Dana at Think Pink is going to read:

  1. Fahrenheit 451
  2. A Brave New World
  3. Oryx and Crake
  4. Shade's Children by Garth Nix
  5. The Road

Denise W at not-so-deep thoughts posted her list:

  1. Brave New World
  2. When Late the Sweet Birds Sang
  3. The Road
  4. The Giver

Chris at book-a-rama is joining with:

  1. Oryx & Crake
  2. Brave New World
  3. and maybe more!

Teabird at Tea Reads will be back with her list!
And here it is:

  1. Children of Men
  2. Oryz and Crake
  3. Cat's Cradle by Vonnegut
  4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Michelle at 3M's Booklist will read:

  1. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick
  2. The Messenger by Lois Lowry
  3. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
  4. The Handmaid's Tale
  5. Never Let Me Go
And possibly:
6. Oryx and Crake
7. Children of Men
8. Cloud Atlas

a.book.in.the.life's list:
  1. The Road
  2. Animal Farm
  3. Brave New World
  4. The Handmaid's Tale
Stephanie at Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic:
  1. The Giver
  2. Uglies
  3. Brave New World
  4. Fahrenheit 451
  5. The Road
  6. Cloud Atlas
lovelyloey:
  1. 1984
  2. Animal Farm
  3. The Giver
Megan:
  1. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
  2. Utopia - Thomas More
  3. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
  4. The Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis
  5. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
  6. The Island - Aldus Huxley
  7. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

47 comments:

  1. You do realize now that if you hate the Sweet Birds, I'll have to slit my wrists or something? *grin*

    Glad you're taking the plunge. Your list is AWESOME.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Farenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
    The Giver Lois Lowry
    The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood
    Animal Farm George Orwell.
    Brave New World and The Island by Aldus Huxley

    These are all books that I have wanted to read at some point in my life. The only one I have read before is Animal Farm, which I have read 3 times. I loved it, hated it and then loved it again. Can't wait to see what it makes me think now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like Number the Stars when I was little. You SHOULD read it. I'm reading Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 1984 by George Orwell, and I haven't chosen anymore as yet, partly to do with the fact that I haven't been able to find Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep in any library (and I'm a member of libraries in THREE counties!) Recently read Never Let Me Go and The Handmaid's Tale, not sure if that counts? OK it doesn't.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just found you from wendy who linked you up at novel challenges.
    I didn't think I liked these kind of novels, and maybe I don't, but I am already planning to read The Giver and Never Let Me Go, so I will commit to two books, and I may look for The Road and Brave New World too.
    How do you know if a book is dystopian? Would it be on the bok jacket? I didn't even know this was a category of books until very recently.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OK. Guess what other books I found at the library book sale this weekend...

    1984
    The Handmaid's Tale
    Animal Farm

    I thought of your challenge when I found them, but it would be overly ambitious of me to officially join another challenge at this point, so I just want to unofficially join in hopes that I actually read some of them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is my first choice. I have always wanted to read this but never have it around when I'm ready to start. This is the perfect excuse to go to Books-A-Million and get a copy. :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would love to join this challenge, I really enjoy this genre in movies but haven't really tackled this genre in books before. My book list is:

    1984 by George Orwell
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
    The Giver by Lois Lowry
    The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    Oryx and Crate by Margaret Atwood

    ReplyDelete
  8. I've added Jennifer Government by Max Barry and Uglies by Scott Westerfield to my list.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Glad to have you Paige. Michelle, I was thinking about both those books (Jennifer Government and Uglies) The synopsis of Uglies had me confused for some reason though, and I decided not to read it. You'll have to let us know how it is.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have read all three, Uglies, Pretties, and Specials because my son raved about it. I really enjoyed all three!

    ReplyDelete
  11. These are books recommended by my kids:
    The House of the Scorpion-Farmer
    Feed-Anderson
    Gathering Blue - Lowry
    The City of Ember - DuPrau
    Among the Enemy - Haddix
    Among the Free - Haddix

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've read many of the books you've all listed here and I love them all. This must be a genre I'm into! But I think I'll have to pass on the challenge, all these challenges are making my head spin. I need to give up the book clubs and just do challenges one year or something!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've given up trying to resist this one. I'm in *smiles* You can find my list here: http://caribousmom.blogharbor.com/blog/
    _archives/2007/4/12/2876203.html

    ReplyDelete
  14. For those that are reading The Giver for the first time, just wanted to let you know it's a trilogy. I loved all three! I can't join the challenge right now, but I'll be looking out for the next one!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi! I found you via Wendy's Book Challenge blog and, coincidentally, I've been on a dystopian kick lately. So I'd love to join your challenge if that's OK and it's still open. My books will be The Handmaid's Tale, The Postman by David Brin, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. Those are for sure. My probablies are: re-read of Fahrenheit 451, The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Children of Men by P.D. James.

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  16. Oh yeah, and I just recently read all of Lois Lowry's The Giver trilogy and it's fabulous. And I also highly recommend Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien.

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  17. Welcome Camille! A Canticle for Lebowitz looks really interesting.

    NOLAdawn, I bet I end up reading all three.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oops, the only re-read for me would be Fahrenheit 451. I've never read Children of Men or The Road yet. Sorry, I wrote that in a confusing way the first time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow I am most definitely in! I remember reading a book that would fit this when I was younger but do you think I can remember the title or author? By 'eck I can! Is it ok if I join? If so I will be back with my list of books later!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you! Phew because I have just spent this time on amazon choosing books. i aam using other peoples lists as inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi again,
    I read The Giver,and wow, I really liked it. I am amending my list, since we go til November and I don't know why I was so scared to commit. So, definite: 3.Farenheit 451 4.Brave New World 5.The Road or Cloud Atlas. So, 5 books total.
    Thanks.(sorry to be a pain)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi! I'm up for yet another challenge but since I was reading Oryx and Crake for The Spring Reading Challenge, I thought I'd join.

    So far...

    Oryx & Crake
    Brave New World

    I'll go over the lists and get back to you with more later.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Feeling brave.....I'm going to give it a go. After looking at the titles listed, I wanted to read them all!

    Brave New World - I read it when I was young and I'd like to read it again.
    Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing
    The Road - I bought it this morning in anticipation!

    I want to get to The Giver, too. Before long my son will be reading this....

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'll play and I'll post my list in a few days...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Count me in! My list so far(will be cross-posted at my blog):
    1. 1984
    2. Animal Farm
    3. The Giver

    Yay!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I would love to join this challenge!
    My books are
    We - Yevgeny Zamyatin
    Utopia - Thomas More
    Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
    The Hideous Strength - C.S. Lewis
    The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
    The Island - Aldus Huxley
    Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

    and I have one more I may be adding. I need to check something on it.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yeah...You hooked me! I'm in!!

    Of course, I stole shamelessly from everyone else, but here is my list:

    The Giver by Lois Lowry
    Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
    Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
    The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

    Thanks for having me along!

    ReplyDelete
  28. OK I have made my choices!
    The Road by Cormac McCarthy
    Animal Farm by George Orwell
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

    ReplyDelete
  29. Here it is. I have chosen:

    A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
    The Messenger by Lois Lowry
    Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
    Never Let Me Go by K. Ishiguro

    Bonus/Alternates that I probably won't find time for but would like to read are:

    Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
    Children of Men by P.D. James
    Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

    Lisa, I also noted that you have 3mchat on your sidebar. I'm going to delete that soon and just have everything on 3mbooklist.blogspot.com

    Looking forward to reading my titles!

    ReplyDelete
  30. ooh 3m I have just watched the film of A Scanner Darkly, I may have to add that to my list.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Ok, I *think* I have everyone's list up! I'm so glad to have everyone join me!

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  32. I'm going to go with four:

    James:Children of men
    Atwood: Oryx and Crake
    Vonnegut: Cat's cradle
    Dick: Do androids dream of electric sheep?

    melanie

    ReplyDelete
  33. This might be a stupid question, but would The Stepford Wives fall into this category? I saw that another one of this author's works was included, so I wondered. I have a copy of The Stepford Wives, so if by some chance it does work for this challenge, you can add it to my unofficial list.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hello all.
    I don't know about you, but I love listening to author interviews. I know some of you have Oryx and Crake on your list and I just found this... http://download.guardian.co.uk/
    sys-audio/Books/Books/2007/04/
    20/MargaretAtwood.mp3
    so I thought I would post it for those who were interested.
    (sorry I had to break up the link so that it would be readable. I will post an active link to my blog as well.)

    Also I said I would get back to you on another book. It is called Scraps of the Untainted Sky by Tom Moylan. You don't have to worry about adding it to my list because it isn't a dytopic novel, it a whole book exploring the genre. I just wanted to let you all know about it and let you know I would be reading it.

    Megan

    ReplyDelete
  35. Just letting you know that I finished my first book for the challenge. :)http://dilettantedabbling.blogspot.com/2007/04/canticle-for-leibowitz.html

    ReplyDelete
  36. I think everyone who is going to join on this already has, but just in case here is a good source for understanding this genre of literature and dystopian works
    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/
    Delphi/1634/Distopia.html

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Lisa,

    I'm about 1/2 way through with 1984 and I was wondering what you want to do about peoples' responses to the books they complete for this challenge. I was thinking that a post with a Mr. Linky (similar to the Saturday Review of books here: http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=1904) might be neat--just to provide an easy way for everyone to see all of the book reviews that this challenge will spur.

    It's just an idea. I'd even be willing to set it up on my book blog if you don't want to fool with it.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I also finished my first: Oryx and Crake

    Here's my review:

    http://chris-book-a-rama.blogspot.com/2007/05/oryx-and-crake-review.html

    ReplyDelete
  39. That is an EXCELLENT suggestions Ms. Maid. I will add it to this post, probably at the top so it's easy to find.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Yay! I can't wait to read what everyone else's reviews. I just finished my first one (1984) and have added it to the Mr. Linky.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Here's my list:
    http://blbooks.blogspot.com/2007/05/dystopian-challenge.html

    ReplyDelete
  42. Am I having technical difficulties? I can't get the Mr. Linky to work. For now I have to get the kids in the bath. Here is my first review.
    http://mqos-lit.livejournal.com/13817.html
    It is considered by some to be the first dystopic novel. It is called We.
    It is better viewed from my main site than the link page.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I can't figure out how to get Mr. Linky to work.

    My review is posted HERE

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  44. I'm joining in (a bit late I know) I've said 3 books definately:
    Cloud Atlas
    Z for Zachariah
    The Road

    Plus these 2 if all goes really well:
    Do Androids Dream of Sheep
    Naked Lunch

    http://katrinasreads.blogspot.com/2007/05/dystopian-challenge.html

    ReplyDelete
  45. I just posted my review of Children of Men by P.D. James.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Hi,
    I am a bit later, but I really like to join.

    1-NEUROMANCER by WILLIAM GIBSON

    2-THE GIVER by LOIS LOWRY

    3-THE CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

    4-FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury

    5-THE CHILDREN OF MEN by P. D. JAMES

    6-THE IRON HEEL by Jack London

    Thanks, Rosangela.

    ReplyDelete

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