Saturday, February 19, 2011

Apocalyptic Lit: Some Thoughts

I'm going to temporarily end my series on apocalyptic literature, but I intend to pick it up again at some point.  Thus far, I have immensely enjoyed the conversation it has stirred in the various postings, and I am glad we have been able to chat about it in our little book blogging community.  I've been doing some additional research about this genre because of this short series I've been working on, and I feel I should clarify a few things.  First of all, "Apocalyptic Literature" is most often identified with books in the Bible that focus on the idea.  Perhaps it would have been more correct to refer to my series as that of apocalyptic fiction, or "dystopian literature", as someone else phrased it.  Nevertheless, I think the concept remains the same, and I hope it is not too misleading.

Another thing I've discovered is that there are a number of apocalyptic novels out there I have yet to read.  I stumbled upon a couple lists different people have provided, and I am keenly interested.  I've even discovered that someone has dedicated his entire blog to this genre.  If any of you are reading this and have some suggestions for me, I certainly would appreciate the feedback and will take note!

Finally, I want to share a cartoon with you that you may find interesting.  I found this on a news site a while ago, and it was part of the inspiration for doing this series in the first place.  Someone has drawn up a comparison between Brave New World and 1984, which I find easily accessible and quite interesting.  You can click on this link to check it out.  I find the implications of the novels today to be rather eerie in their relevance.

Thanks again for your participation.  I look forward to continuing to hear from you all!

2 comments:

Monica said...

Hello there,

It's my first visit here. I've taken a look at your recent past posts - you've been reading some juicy stuff.

I'm a big fan of dystopian fiction, although they were choices more in my 20's. The most recent I read, relatively speaking, was Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.

Amy said...

Hi Monica, I'm glad you joined in. Thanks for your suggestion - I will definitely look into it!