This Article Just Quintupled My Reading List :D -- The Rise of Dystopian Literature

in literature •  7 years ago  (edited)

https://electricliterature.com/the-rise-of-dystopian-fiction-from-soviet-dissidents-to-70s-paranoia-to-murakami-a73b945c5d37
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(Looks best in Night Mode)

I do find it odd that the author didn't mention Lord of the Flies, which is one of several in the list I read as a teen and young adult. (I graduated in '85, so our senior class AP English teacher thought it would be a good idea to read 1984 and several other dystopian novels that school year.)

In addition to LOTF (a chilling book, to say the least) and 1984 (War is Peace -- our current reality), we also read and discussed Brave New World (haunting) and Fahrenheit 451 (anyone who has never read this or any other of Bradbury's works is really missing out). I later read A Handmaid's Tale (now on cable-TV) in college and A Clockwork Orange after arriving here in Bulgaria in '91.

I would also like to give an honorable mention here to Catch 22, which also shares some of the more bizarre aspects of dystopian novels. Ayn Rand also has a dystopian short story, I believe, though I haven't read it. (We the Living?)

One of the themes I find common to all of them is the dehumanization or perhaps the de-individuation (the collectivization) of people like you and me. Thus, I take issue with the Oxford English Dictionary only in that it says dystopias are fictional: I would argue that the term itself very well describes what is going on in contemporary society.

What do you think? Do you have any favorites from the article or any suggestions as to what else to read?

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I would agree, in many cases the dystopia has already arrived! You know, even though 'Brave New World', and '1984' seems to contradict one another. In some cases, I see them both manifesting simultaneously.

I think you're right: TPTB want to dumb us down -- bread and circus style. Immature personalities crave such entertainment, which makes them easier to dumb down -- and easier for TPTB to control their thoughts and actions. It's a vicious circle.