Class starts with some of the classics and then moves forward in time. We will enjoy Dystopian societies through the ages. And because I'm a benevolent dictator in my classroom we will be reading 14 books. If I had more of the books I want to read read then we would be reading more.
First let's start off with three of the classics. These three basically set all the standards and wrote the rules for what is categorized as a dystopian novel. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931)
2. 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)
Now let's move on to some of the more modern dystopian novels. Each of these three provide excellent examples of dystopian societies with a little mix of pending apocalypse. The Giver is probably my favorite Dystopian novel.
4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (1985)
5. The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)
6. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff (2004)
Now onto the more recent dystopian novels that may have triggered the high rate of dystopian novels being published today.
7. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008)
9. The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009)
And these last five are all from the past five years and bring out strengths of the genre in many different ways. Except Divergent. Divergent is good, you don't need to read the rest of that series.
10. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (2009)
11. Legend by Marie Lu (2011)
12. Divergent by Veronica Roth (2011)
13. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (2012)
14. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau (2013)
So many amazing Dystopian stories to choose from, almost impossible to narrow it down. Legend and Cinder are my favorites from your list.
ReplyDeleteHere's my TTT:
http://pagestoexplore.blogspot.com/2015/08/top-ten-tuesday-top-ten-books-that.html
I appreciate the historic perspective. I think it's important to look at how a genre has developed over time.
ReplyDeleteThe Giver is probably one of my favorite dystopians as well. It is such a good book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Amanda
Such a fun syllabus! I like the way you group the books by publication date. I love The Giver especially. I recently finished Cinder and loved it. I need to blog about it still and now I'm dying to read the rest of the series!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my TTT: https://greenishbookshelf.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/top-10-tuesday-books-on-my-syllabus-if-i-taught-classic-british-lit-101/
Also I agree about Divergent! I really enjoyed Divergent itself but the series went downhill for me from there.
DeleteI still need to read so many classic dystopians, I was worried I'd have read few of your picks, but I have read The Giver, Hunger Games, Divergent and Cinder. Not too too shabby :) I want to read 1984 Fahrenheit 451, Ender's Game, The Maze Runner, Legend, Forest of Hand and Teeth and The Testing! Awesome selection^^
ReplyDeleteI did Dystopian 101 this week too, although I focused solely on modern ones (simply because those are the ones that I've read!). We share The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner and Divergent. Of your list, I really want to read Cinder!
ReplyDeleteMy TTT:https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2015/08/25/top-ten-tuesday-19/