Day 2
Yesterday I revealed one of James Dashner’s deep dark secrets. I think he would probably be very ashamed if he knew you knew what I told you!
In return I am now going to share one of my deep dark secrets. It is not one I am particularly proud of, but sadly, that doesn’t make it any less true.
Though I have been a fan of dystopian fiction for years and specifically young adult dystopian book, I didn’t actually like The Maze Runner that much. Not liking The Maze Runner makes me feel a little bit like a fraud. Everyone else seems to love it and it is in my area of interest. Is there something wrong with me? (DON’T ANSWER THAT!)
But it seems only fair to start my Dashner month with admitting this dark secret. If you are interested in seeing my original post on The Maze Runner, you can find it here. It has been hard for me to figure out just what I didn’t enjoy about the book. And when I was at LTUE hear James Dashner speak on panels I learned a lot about his craft and writing influences. I found out that the way he intentionally write may have been exactly what I disliked the most about his dystopian novel.
Also, Dashner utilizes a lot of elements of science fiction and dystopia that annoy me that most. And that was just bad luck. I am not sure even if someone tried to write a book intending to annoy me they could have done it better. For being a fan of science fiction, I really don’t like survival elements in my fiction; that can be a struggling point for me. I care so much more about the creation of the world than the person who is trying to run away from it and survive in the wilderness.
I heard about The Maze Runner first as a dystopian and found out it was by a local author second. I admit that this made me doubly excited to read it. It also makes me wonder where James got inspired to write this story.
Throughout the month I will be looking at different perspectives on The Maze Runner and high lighting some of James’s other books. What books by him do you want to read?
Well, first of all, you know I think you're totally wrong about Maze Runner, because I completely adored it. :P
ReplyDeleteBut I like you anyway - and I am looking forward to reading his 13th Reality series.
You crack me up! And you already know I really loved this book. How can you not mix science fiction & dyptopia? It seems to me to go hand in hand, but then again maybe I can explore that a bit in my guest post...*thinking*.
ReplyDeleteI love science fiction and dystopia and PREFER that they be mixed. I just want to leave the whole survivalist thing out of it, I am into the really futuristic feel more.
ReplyDelete