Whatcha Reading, Li'l Postmodernist Nerds?

No longer human has many manyy postmodernist genres in it, including historiographic metafiction when he talks about his early childhood through high school. With fragmentation when reconciling with himself through different period.

I was going through my closet and found some old books from previous years so I decided to read them all in one night and they were super good. I read Dead City and Fahrenheit 451. Dead City about a girl who discovers there are monsters all over her city and she must fight them to protect her city and go underground if she has any chance of finding out more about her mom. Dead City by James Ponti incorporates paranoia, fabulation, and magical realism.

The second book that I read was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and that was my favorite of the two. Fahrenheit 451 is about a dystopian society that burns books to maintain one mind and prevent unwanted ideas or thoughts. Guy Montag, a fireman, questions the book burning policy and suffers as a result of his protests.

Some postmodernist elements found in the novel include paranoia, fabulation, and hyperreality.

Here’s a quick summary of Fahrenheit 451:

Ok I’m not doing the extra credit but any chance I get to share this series I will absolutely take. The series is called “The Mirror Visitor” and… HOT TAKE… it’s up there with Harry Potter. This is not an exaggeration. If you love all things magic and fantasy this is absolutely the series for you. These are not check out at the library books, these are purchase new and keep forever books. But do not be deceived! Even though people think magic and fantasy is childish, these books are far from childish with complex plots and wicked conflicts! I have the first three but I still need to read the fourth and final one, however I am waiting for it’s release in paperback so all my books will be the same.

John Smith, 7th:

I don't read much only because I found a different medium of words. I love reading lyrics from songs because it's a form of poetry. My favorite album lyrically is Sevdaliza's Shabrang. It's one of her best works and it includes many postmodern elements through her lyrics. The album is about her identity and her growth through hardships. My favorite song on the album is Human Nature, and No Way. Here's an excerpt from No Way.

"You say, "I can't let you go" God won't interfere You pray on the devil The heart won't let you near

Go, don't let me know The brave will live forever Turn my soul away Say what I can't fucking say

There is no way I can feel There is no way this is real There is no way for your heart To contain mine "

Here's the album cover, it shows Sevdaliza covered in bruises to signify her pain.

Hello, Hero brine from 7th here. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge book nerd. But one book that a actually read and enjoyed is called space case. Its an amazing murder mystery where the main character is on a space station with only a hand full of people and the main character suspects that the recent death that happened on the space station was in fact not an accident, but MURDER. The book has elements of irony and fragmentation as clues and important details of the story are scattered through the book. It is a fun and unique twist of your typical murder mystery and I highly recommend it.

Bentley&Scout 7th

One of my favorite series to read in middle school was the selection series. It has a lot of postmodernism elements including magical realism as a prince spends all of his time looking for the perfect girl and fragmentation due to all of the different points of views taken throughout the story.

Bentley&Scout 7th

The selection series is one of my favorite books that I used to read in middle school and I feel like it has a ton of postmodernism elements in it. One of the main characteristics is magical realism as well as fragmentation because of all the point of views and perspectives that it gives us.

BOB ROSS 3RD

THE HUNGER GAMES!!

In the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins she gives us a description of a dictated futuristic reality through the main characters eyes Katniss Everdeen (the girl on fire). In her reality the capital keeps a close ruling on the 12 districts after a failed revolution that had happened in the far past. In each district they are treated cruly while the capital and its citizens inside their perimeters sit comfortably. Because of this revolt in return 2 people from each district must go and fight to the death for their district.

Though such a good story this book sends a really good message to the reader about power and control I feel that the bigger message presented would be the disstruction of innocence. All throughout our story we see the mockingbird as hope but appear whenever it comes around we also see that death and distruction normally follows. Everything they do revolves around the mockingbird their pins, solute, brand, and even clothes is represented by it bringing to a greater importance than we think.

CyberSurfer 4th:

One of the more recent books that I have finished is, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. The story includes elements of technoculture, hyperreality, paranoia, and maximalism. Crichton writes about advance technologies that can genetically engineer dinosaurs from mosquitos preserved in amber from the prehistoric periods. In the novel, John Hammond, the owner of InGen, is consumed by the idea of creating an amusement park full of dinosaurs. He is blinded by the fact that it has its extreme dangers. The people sent to evaluate the park's safety are paranoid at the sight of these resurrected creatures. They warn Hammond but no much later, a terrible accident happens in the park. Hammond's desire for "more" gets himself killed in the end when he falls down in a ravine, and gets eaten by dinosaurs. The moral of the story is classic postmodernism. Crichton conveys to readers that advances in technology corrupt people's morals and blind them of reality.

porcifan234 p3

One series I just recently read was A Court of Thornes and Roses series. It is the epitome of magical realism, as it is about faeries, and includes fragmentation because the chapters sometimes switch from one character's point of view, to another's. This series is about a human that kills a faerie while trying to provide for her starving family and is kidnapped as punishment for her "crime." Humans have been raised to believe that faeries ruined their dying world and were the root of all evil, but when she is living with one she falls in love and realizes that they aren't as bad as she believed. Then an evil faerie takes over all of the faerie land and wants to kill all the humans, so -of course- the main character has to step in and save the whole world. The fragmentation in this series allows you to really watch the relationships form between the characters, and the hatred for each other fade. It is such a great series and the imagery in it really makes you feel like you are actually there. However, it is a little spicy, so if that makes you uncomfortable then I would suggest skipping those parts or reading something else by Sarah J. Maas like her Throne of Glass series or her Crescent City series which I haven't read yet, but hear are just as good.

Here's a picture of how one reader imagines all the characters in the book that I added because it is really pretty :)

Anonymoussmile05 p. 5

"Ready Player One"

The book and movie, "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline is one of my favorite books that focuses on the postmodern elements of techno culture, hyperreality, and magical realism. While the real world is collapsing and going downhill, a virtual reality game/world is created as an escape from the real, broken world. After a character dies, the main character's goal is to find the digital easter egg hidden in the world. He is on a mission and finds himself to be a possible hero in this fantasy world. It was one of my favorite books I have read, because I love any dystopian storyline and the virtual reality world is a current interest with the advancing technology today.

Silent Shark 6th

I read this book all the way back in middle school, but it still sticks with me! A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle includes elements of hyperreality, technoculture, paranoia, and many more. The novel is about a scientific discovery that manifests to a new reality. This novel is set in modern day, but with a dystopian twist in this new world. The discoveries are not far off, but require a whole new advancement in technology that we have not seen...yet.

Legolas 3rd

As you can see in the name, one of the books l‘m reading is part of Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy. (As a side note my brother randomly calls me Legolas sometimes so that’s why I chose the name. I don’t think I‘m quite tall enough to fit the genetics of an elf though :/ ?). I‘m currently on the Return of the King which is the third book of the series.

There are so many characters in the books that it can get quite overwhelming at times. It gets more and more difficult as you progress through the books though. In the Fellowship of the Ring you follow Frodo Baggins who has to carry the One Ring in order to destroy it in Mordor, the land of the Dark Lord. (There are more rings than just one. Frodo only just has to carry the “One Ring to rule them All,” the most powerful of the rings and the ring the Dark Lord Sauron is looking for and uses all of his power to find and reclaim.) I find that these books are like reading history textbooks; you start reading the journeying and the very detailed descriptions of the trees and grass and forests and trail they‘re on until you finally get to a battle or pub or other location. (Now that I think of it, I do one-up the little Hobbit people in height. They they don’t have to wear shoes due to their hairy feet.)

I need to get back on track. Book two, The Two Towers get a little bit more confusing. There are basically two stories going on since the fellowship of the ring was broken up by wandering orcs. There is also the Battle of Helm’s Deep and talking trees called Ents.

Finally, book three continues this split narrative with the siege of Gondor, and a crazy king and another heroic king and his stoic daughter.

I think the best part of these books is when you get a character who just says the wisest thing in that very moment. It total makes up for those other characters whose attitude causes you to think whether they are sane or not. Finally, not to mention Gandalf.

As a final note, this quote is in reference to Strider, and life in general:

Overview: 2nd Thing, 5th period, Heartstopper (Volume 1 & 2), Temporal Distortion and Paranoia.

I've been reading the entire Heartstopper series by Alice Oseman and I'm now working my way through volume 2.

Paranoia

My absolute favorite aspect of Oseman's writing is the perfect representation of the paranoia (postmodernist alert) of being closeted. The constant fear of someone finding out more about you while you're not even sure how you are yet might be the most relatable thing I've ever read

Temporal Distortion

The novel appears to be cute and lighthearted, but the series tackles heavy topics such as eating disorders, sexual assault, and bullying. Oseman tackles these topics by utilizing temporal distortion throughout the series that serves as a way of leaving bread-crumbs leading up to where the character is now, until finally you're able to connect all the puzzle pieces.

The representation in the book is absolutely phenomenal. I read the book before the Netflix series came out, and both times knocked it out of the park. It's relatable, funny, cute, aggravating, and pretty gay and those are my favorite things in a book.

BelugaGray 7th

One if my favorite authors Nicola Yoon recently came out with Instructions for Dancing. I preordered this book, and similar to her other book, I loved it. Unlike her others, this one uses elements of magical realism. They use powers and magic in this book.

Steve Rogers-5th

I am currently reading The Thing Itself by Adam Roberts. This is mainly sci-fi, containing fabulation, fragmentation, and technoculture. This novel also echoes the John Carpenter film The Thing in which a group of American researchers have a base in antarctica where they discover a different form of life that is truly surreal. The Thing Itself is very similar in that it is set in antarctica with scientists who encounter an "extraterrestrial species". Although I have not finished it, I can tell from how uncanny the first part was that it will be filled with more twists and turns.

King Midas 3rd

I recently read the book "The hate you give"; as Starr strives to negotiate the largely black world of Garden Heights and the primarily white world of Williamson Prep, The Hate U Give explores the relationship between race and identity. Starr is torn between her Garden Heights and Williamson Prep selves, and she adapts her speech, mannerisms, and behaviors to fit the situation. Starr is hesitant to speak about Khalil's death after the shooting for fear that her friends Hailey and Maya, as well as her boyfriend Chris, will not grasp what is going on in her Garden Heights environment. Starr feels "too black" at school to discuss Khalil's life and death with her classmates, yet "too white" at home to defend Khalil, especially after Kenya accuses her of acting like a white person who thinks she is better than her neighbors.

The book "Missing" by Lisa McMann is a story about a girl from a small town with a dark history. After her boyfriend goes missing, she must discover the truth about the old school for boys and fight the urge to fall in love with the new mysterious boy at school. This story uses the postmodernist element of paranoia to convey feelings of insanity, the feeling that you are being watched or that you aren't being told the whole truth. This is one of my all time favorite books, it's dark and full of passion and tension and McMann does an amazing job of putting you in the moment.

The Book I Read

I read a book recently that completely changed the way I perceive life and other people. It became my favorite in an instant, and if the title wasn't catchy enough, "They Both Die At The End" by Adam Silver, was about two teenage boys, Mateo and Rufus, who received a call early in the morning saying that they will be dying within the next 24 hours-it's no secret. I loved the magical realism the book exposed with the explanation that said death could not be avoided because Death cast, the company making the calls, has always been spot-on on predicting people's deaths. However, the thing about this book is that it is fragmented in a way that every chapter is broken down into tiny ones where the perspective changes in each as does the person who is telling their share of the story.

Both characters are alone and come to meet one another during their last day. One is scared of living but wants to live his last day to the fullest and the other one wants to teach the other how to live it right; both boys become comfortable in the presence of one another to the point where their friendship becomes something more and they fall in love. The purest kind of love to say the least, but you know, they both die at the end. It's no secret.

Kachan 6th

Darrell Barrel 2nd

This book has a lot of maximalist world building qualities, where the author takes the reader through a journey of finding joy in all circumstances. He uses what we would call RR embedding text evidence for intertextuality, in order to back up his claims and identify towards the reader as a reliable source. This book has allowed me to see that happiness isn't created through people or circumstances, it is created on the outlook within those realms and within your own mindset.