It seems to me that ‘these days’ we can’t leave a good thing alone. Suddenly a Snickers has almonds it, pizza’s gone tandoori, TV shows need a film release, films need a sequel—and now a prequel, and successful young adult books must be trilogised. The fact is that Suzanne Collins’ first book in the Hunger Games series, The [...]
Archive for the ‘dystopia’ Category
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Posted in Books, Books and Film, dystopia, fantasy, fiction, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Reading, Suzanne Collins, young adult, tagged adventure tales, comparing books and movies, following a series, hitting people with books, postaweek2011, teen romance on 2 June, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Posted in Books, Child Narrators, dystopia, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Suzanne Collins, young adult, tagged adventure tales, being compelled to keep reading, following a series, postaweek2011 on 4 April, 2011 | 4 Comments »
I am not a trendsetter. I don’t own an i-phone, I don’t live in a funky suburb, I’m not sure what the hip kids are up to these days, and wearing cartoon-character T-shirts to the gym seems to be something only I find pleasing. And yet in the last few months I have had a taste of what [...]
V is for Virtual Reality
Posted in Book Group, Books, Books and Film, dystopia, science fiction, William Gibson, tagged book group selections, dealing with reading disappointment, failure as a reader, literary leaps of faith, things editors get worked up about on 5 January, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Sometimes I finally get around to doing one of those things I’ve been meaning to do and end up disappointed. Perhaps the anticipation outweighs the pleasure of completing the task. Perhaps it was never a good idea to begin with. Being a dedicated, loyal type of person doesn’t help. Something I agreed to months earlier, or decided was [...]
H is for Hunger
Posted in Books, dystopia, fantasy, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, Reading, Suzanne Collins, young adult, tagged adventure tales, am i too old to be reading this?, following a series, reading overcommitment, teen romance on 7 August, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Despite not being able to describe myself as a ‘young adult’ – I recently turned 30, but who’s counting? - YA fiction still appeals to the reading-me. Is it because I’m hopelessly immature? Borderline illiterate? Has moving back to my parents’ house led to some kind of mental and/or emotional regression? Or are there things about teen novels which make them more [...]
D is for Dystopia
Posted in Books, dystopia, fiction, Sarah Hall, tagged being compelled to keep reading, dealing with reading disappointment, living off the grid, women warriors, yeats confusion on 20 May, 2010 | 6 Comments »
To be honest, I blame my dad. Encouraging your very young children to watch the movie version of Watership Down over and over again is only going to lead to them having weird views about how the world works, the English countryside, socio-political powers … and rabbits. I know it’s not classic dystopia, more of [...]
Book 21: The Year of The Flood by Margaret Atwood
Posted in Books, dystopia, Margaret Atwood on 30 September, 2009 | 1 Comment »
What is it about the world spiralling out of control into a future of death, disease and the end of humanity as we know it that gets me all excited? Some kind of meglomaniacal obsession with destruction? A terribly pessimistic outlook on life? Some kind of God complex? I don’t know, but tell me that life as [...]
