Dystopian novels (and films)--

I used to like to read a few dystopian novels, but it's isn't my favorite genre. My favorite was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I waded my way through others, and found them not to my taste. The Hunger Games trilogy (as it was then, and I know there's another book now), Fahrenheit 451 (not bad), The Giver (hate the ending, too much of a cop-out, imho), are all perennial favorites, but I don't gravitate to them. One other novel that really stands out, though, is Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke. It blurs the line between dystopian fiction and science fiction, and it presents a chilling ending to what is masked as a utopian premise. That one is a good one, but hard to teach. And as far as 1984 goes, it made me incredibly angry, so much so I can't read it again. There's also the movies, so many of them, everything from Star Wars movies to Mad Max. Next up: Minority Report? It's scary to think that these are not really feeling all that fictional some days.

The common theme among these novels is a rag-tag resistance to the draconian authority. And, from what I recall, anyhow, there's another common factor: the resistance is primarily led by younger, energetic people. The older, wiser characters are there to guide, but they don't often make it to the end of the story. I'm feeling like one of them lately; I am a keeper of the stories, and I can share my knowledge (secretly-- more-so as the days go by), but I probably won't be intrinsically involved in the actual fight. I guess we'll need teachers and librarians after all? 

Anyhow, I never wanted to live in a dystopian novel setting, but here we are. I'm tired. 

C