#EmptyShelf17 #12-13 Dystopian Futures with The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World

drbexl
1131
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley My rating: 4 of 5 stars I don't know quite what I expected from this book - but have quoted Huxley (not from this book) in that persuasion/propaganda can 'only canalise a pre-existing stream'. I can see why the book has new resonance in a world in which we chase experience, happiness, and consumerism ... and the final question of whether we're entitled to be unhappy - aka, have…
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[NETFLIX] Thoughts on Black Mirror: Nosedive

drbexl
1575
I have loved the previous series of Black Mirror - particularly as it offers great content for discussions in teaching sessions - especially at MediaLit, with the insights of those being trained within a theological context, as we questioned the impact that the digital age is having on humanity. I've signed up for the free month on Netflix (we'll see if I bother to extend it), and that first episode Nosedive was worth waiting for: I'm a passionate…
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#EmptyShelf2016 #60-62: The Gender Game @AShadeofVampire; The Last Girl @AuthorJoeHart

drbexl
1403
Although I already have PLENTY of books waiting to be read on my Kindle (and my physical bookshelves), I wasn't feeling too well over Christmas, and an email came from Amazon offering The Gender Game and The Last Girl for 99p each - so I downloaded them ... sold as 'if you liked the Hunger Games, you'll probably like these', which is probably a fair analysis! Bella Forrest (who appears to be better known for Vampire novels…
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#EmptyShelf 2016 #23: The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (Bloomsbury, 2015)

drbexl
1130
Mentioning to a friend that I have always enjoyed dystopian/utopian (futurist) fiction (it always seemed to be a staple of my teenage reading, and more recently, books such as The Hunger Games, and TV series such as Black Mirror and Mr Robot), having just re-read the Divergent trilogy, he suggested I should try (and lent me) The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood. In brief, Charmaine and Stan, who had been happily employed, mortgaged, and planning for kids, victims…
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