Literature Review

So, as I've mentioned before, I greatly enjoy the genres of utopia and dystopia, as well as post-apocalyptia (e.g. The Road, Anthem, 1984, etc). I came across The Age of the Conglomerates by Thomas Nevins at B&N the other day and decided to give it a try.

The prologue was eerie, as it almost perfectly describes the current financial crisis going on.

The story itself is about two generations of a family currently living in America, which is under the rule of a political party known as the Conglomerates. Paper money has become underground and back market, people can discard their trouble children and trade up for designer ones, and the elderly, or Coots, are all shipped out to the desert to die. This story follows George and Patsy Salter, two Coots being sent out to the west, Christine Salter (George and Patsy's granddaughter), a Conglomerate doctor in charge of genetic manipulation and designer babies, and Xamina "X" Salter (Christine's little sister) who has been discarded by her mother.

While the story itself was a little slow to start, after thirty pages or so, I was hooked. Political intrigue, dystopian society (1984 is heavily present here), and medical drama, I was excited to read what was happening to these people.

But then the story ended. Half way, I would say, through the climax. I turned the last page of the book and thought, what the hell? That was it? There literally was no denouement.

So, I guess I would say read this book if you're into this genre, but don't expect to be satisfied. It was a great book, but there was no ending. (very Hitchcockian, now that I think about it).

Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia

I am currently reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road (review to follow as soon as I've finished), not because I enjoy Pulitzer Prize winning books, but because one of my absolute favorite genres of books is post-apocalyptic/dystopian society.





Because, throughout my reading career, I've had much difficulty finding my next post-apocalyptic fix, I've compiled a list of my favorite pieces within the genre, accompanied by a very brief synopsis.





The Road: Civilization is gone, all fluara and fauna are dead, and the majority of the remaining humans have resorted to cannibalism. A man and his young son travel through a dead world in a desperate attempt to survive. (Genre: Post-apocalyptic)


I Who Have Never Known Men: Forty women are caged in a bunker, watched over by armed guards. None of the women know one another, and the guards never speak. None of them remember how they came to be there, nor why they're being incarcerated. Then, one day, the guards disappear, and they're able to escape, only to find that they've entered a completely unfamiliar landscape. (Genre: Post-Apocalyptic) This book is in my top 5 favorites.

Oryx and Crake: A small tribe of genetically engineered humans living in a world where all the normal people have died off. (Genre: Post-apocalyptic)

The Giver: This book basically falls into the same category that Brave New World lives in. A young boy is assigned to carry the memories of a people no longer willing to experience anything unpleasant, and the burden leads him to rebel. (Genre: Utopian)

Uglies: A young-adult series set in a world where people are physically altered when they come of age and are made "pretty". This book examines what "pretty" really is, and what it actually means. (Genre: Utopian)

Alas, Babylon: We follow the survival of a group of people after America has been attacked by nuclear weapons. (Genre: Post-apocalyptic)

Anthem: In this book, there is no longer any such thing as the personal pronoun. The characters actually speak exactly like the Borg. This is the story of one person becoming an individual. (Genre: Utopian)

A Canticle for Leibowitz: This book is about post-apocalyptic society trying to reclaim civilization. Pretty cool for people into archeology and exploring abandoned buildings. (Genre: post-apocalyptic)

I Am Legend: I'm not going to bother summarizing this, since it was out in theaters so recently. I will, however, say that the book far, far outshines the movie in every possible way. (Genre: Post-apocalyptic?)

**I am aware that I did not include any dystopian titles on this list. I can give honorable mention to 1984, which is dystopian, but, honestly, I thought that book was too cumbersome a read.