03-06-2014, 10:47 AM | #1 | |
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Dystopic YA fiction serves a purpose
Old article but since news are slow:
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-...ian-literature Quote:
I always thought dystopias were useful because they are easy to build out of contemporary anxieties and easy to build conflict into. |
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03-06-2014, 11:02 AM | #2 |
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Their main purpose is to sell books by playing to teenage angst, to my mind. (Which, I hasten to add, I have absolutely no disagreement with. Anything that sells books is good.)
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03-06-2014, 12:37 PM | #3 | |
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Quote:
No end in sight, either. Thing is, many are readable and a few genuinely good. (Pretty much like most genres.) |
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03-06-2014, 03:02 PM | #4 | ||
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And most any "genre fiction"? |
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03-06-2014, 03:23 PM | #5 |
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I'm not fond of the YA label (plenty fond of some of the stuff that gets painted by that brush, though)--whether it's attached to dystopia or otherwise. I've read many a "YA" book that I'd have never really considered YA if it hadn't been labeled so at the time of its publication. I don't even think YA is being marketed to young readers all that much any more. Nowadays, it seems to be marketed toward Regular Adults who enjoyed a lot of books that were labeled Young Adult in the past. A self-perpetuating misnomer, if you will. In fact, most of the "YA" stuff I've enjoyed; I'd label "All Ages" (if I had to label it anything). It's like the marketing equivalent of a McGuffin most times, if you ask me.
Last edited by DiapDealer; 03-06-2014 at 03:33 PM. |
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03-06-2014, 07:58 PM | #6 |
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As far as I can tell, the purpose of Dystopian YA fiction is to entertain people other than me. Since there are billions of "not-me's" in the world and only one me, I think it makes a lot of sense.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it. It just doesn't interest me (though TBH, dystopias have always been a tough sell for me). |
03-06-2014, 08:51 PM | #7 |
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As far as I'm concerned, the purpose of dystopian YA is to provide entertainment.
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03-06-2014, 11:46 PM | #8 |
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I really liked the Hunger Games series. While I like dystopias that's where my dabbling in the YA end of the pool begins and ends, I don't need 50 more series' to follow.
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03-07-2014, 06:35 AM | #9 |
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I agree with the article. I haven't read a lot of dystopian fiction; the last one I read was The Giver which was a few weeks ago, and 1984 a few months ago. I've read more but all the ones I've read have all been thought provoking.
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03-08-2014, 10:59 AM | #10 | |
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I've heard good things about The Giver. Is it that great? |
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03-08-2014, 11:33 AM | #11 | |
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Dystopic YA fiction serves a purpose
Quote:
The first and second book of The Hunger Games were really good, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get into the third one, Mockingjay, and so I abandoned it halfway. The Giver is a quick and easy read and can be finished in one sitting. I found the story intriguing. Basically, it's set in a community where everything is safe and perfect; citizens don't know what war and hunger are and everything is in order and the citizens' lives (job, spouse, etc.) are chosen by Advisors in order to protect them from making poor decisions. The author also wrote three companion books but I haven't read them. There are people who find the book inappropriate and disturbing. It has been challenged and in some parts of the States, banned. There are some who think that it promotes infanticide and I wonder if they've really read the book. I personally didn't find it disturbing and I don't think it needs to be banned. |
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03-08-2014, 11:50 AM | #12 |
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Dystopic seems have been the trend for a lot of adult sci-fi for a long time. It is not only a YA phenomena.
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03-08-2014, 12:04 PM | #13 | ||
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I read The Giver when it was first released and I was in the 3rd grade.
It blew my mind at the time. I own it now and I still love it. Keep in mind that The Giver is NOT YA. It's middle grade. --I feel like making the distinction because I find I can't get into most YA, but I don't have an issue with middle grade. ^^; It is one of my all time favorites. There is a bit of weirdness in it. I didn't notice it as a kid, but as an adult, it was like... hmmm that doesn't quite fit. It's nothing that pulled me out of the immersion, but more something that I was thinking about afterward. Spoiler:
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I do NOT recommend them. The first of the 3 is okay. It's set in the same world, but in a different community and has no direct ties to The Giver within the book itself. It was enjoyable, but no where near as good as The Giver. I did not like the second book at all. There's a lot of plot holes. Big gaping ones. I have not read the third. Last edited by peachiekene; 03-08-2014 at 12:12 PM. |
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03-08-2014, 12:13 PM | #14 |
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For those interested in the genre, may I recommend Wyndham's The Chrysalids? Read it for the first time last week. It was first published in 1955, but you'd never be able to tell...reads like current dystopian YA fiction by someone who can write.
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03-08-2014, 12:18 PM | #15 | |
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Adding it to the wishlist pile. Thanks! |
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