It's no secret that I was a teen in the 1960's (what a ride that was!) And, the '50's, 60's, & early 70's had more than its share of dystopian music, books, and movies that made major impressions on me. I have no doubt that subconsciously some of these influenced my mindset that eventually let to writing dystopia
Here are a few songs that may (or may not) have lodged in my subconscious..
For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield (I saw them live in the late '60s)
Zager And Evans - In The Year 2525 (this song totally creeped me out when I 1st heard it)
Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire (yeah... it's still so relevant - and that's sad)
(btw - the line in 2525 - "everything you think, do, or say, is in the pill you took today" - reminds me of MEMENTO NORA)
A few books...
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (what is not to love about Bradbury?)
Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut (fellow Hoosier!)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (no, it was not a school assignment! I was reading for enjoyment.)
And some movies (spawned mostly by books...)
A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick via Anthony Burgess's book) (great made-up slang! - no matter what some reviewers say! :) )
Logan's Run (Michael Anderson, book by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson) (young Michael York = hotness!)
2001, A Space Odessey (Kubrick again, screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke) (not necessarily considered dystopian, but, OMG - HAL = terror )
Okay - I'm guessing if you're here on the League's blog, you love dystopia in all its forms... What has influenced you in your reading / listening / watching?
Dystopian Influences
  The League of Extraordinary Writers is a group of debut YA authors who write science fiction and dystopian works. The ten of us have works that run the gamut of near-future mind control to far-future space travel, but they do have one thing in common: a future where the Earth we know now is twisted, gone. |
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6 comments:
Aldous Huxley's Brave New World was the first dystopia I read realizing it as such, and it's the book that spawned my near-obsession with dystopian lit. What's funny is that I mostly read it to impress a guy I had a crush on who had enjoyed reading it. :)
Too funny! I've definitely had more than my share of "did that to impress a guy" moments! Thank goodness I don't do that any more! :)
I love reading about your influences! I've gone back and tried to trace all the influences that made me love dystopia/sci fi a while ago and came with some films that I watched over and over and really impacted me: Running Man, Total Recall, Terminator (aparently Arnold Swartzenegger was in every sci fi movie of my childhood!!!). And more recently, Gattaca. Gotta love a soceity that's all pretty on top with a super scary underbelly!
I'm not sure if it's dystopia or post-apocalyptic, but The Girl Who Owned a City, a middle grade novel from the '70s, was a huge influence on me. Stephen King's The Stand, also.
The Stand, definitely. I watched the mini-series when it aired in the '90s. I should probably read the book! I love "Children of Men," as haunting as it is, it somehow captured beauty in destruction.
The Girl Who Owned a City - I don't usually run into people who've even heard of it, but both my friend and I read and enjoyed it a couple years back.
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