Do books enchant you to dream of another world? Or do you feel a dilemma to choose between dystopian fiction or utopian fiction? Books and their stories transcend you beyond this world. Once you indulge in reading them, you cannot but keep growing your imagination and dreaming every possibility.
Every book and its tales branch your thought process and make you choose what is best for you. They are your best friends for all the right reasons. Reading books inspire you to shape your life and add to it your creativity, colors, and stars. They also teach you love, friendship, and all the qualities that make us human.
Books entertain you with a qualitative time but they also trigger your critical senses. Some parts of their plot make you question and ponder upon finding answers to it.
Books have a wide range of genres. They can be fiction, non-fiction, humorous, horror, thriller, fantasy, romantic, science fiction, historical fiction, crime fiction, adventurous, mysterious, and dystopian fiction. You might already know about all these genres. However, let us look closely at dystopian fiction.
Dystopian Fiction- An Abstract
The future seems unpredictable and it can be either chaotic or calm. The dystopian fiction takes you to a catastrophic future. As you read a book rooting out from a dystopian concept, you will find numerous uncertainties and oppressions. However, in this particular generic story, some characters fight these oppressions and bring out the world from miseries.
Usually, the tackle issues in dystopian fiction are environmental degradation, governmental obstructions, and technological hazards. Once you finish these kinds of stories, it will put you in a position of deep thinking. You will be influenced to think differently about political, environmental, social, or other future problems.
This genre is also regarded as speculative fiction as it leaves you thinking about the cons of a society. It leaves you suspicious about how adverse the new changes in political or societal structures can be. The common theme explored by dystopian fiction is anarchism, poverty, oppression, and pessimistic alterations. This genre is both a means of educating and warning humanity about impending dangers.
Features Of Dystopian Fiction
Now that you have a brief understanding of dystopian fiction, here are some of its features to take you deeper into its ocean.
- The books belonging to this genre have a tyrannical ruling body or government.
- This genre is also about a journey to a post-apocalyptic world.
- This genre has fictional plots but they are relatable to current adversities.
- The technology is used either as a saving means or a destructive tool in this genre.
- This genre enforces the dishevelment of the environment and its possible effects in the future.
- This genre also confines stories about losing identity, survival, and suffocation of thinking freely.
Top 6 Books Belonging To Dystopian Fiction
Once you know the genre, you need to read the magnum opus of it. These masterpieces will further grow your knowledge about dystopian fiction and let you incline with your thoughts.
Here are the top 6 dystopian books, recommended by Podium School that you must read.
The Handmaid’s Tale By Margaret Atwood
A dystopian book published in 1985, the story in it explores the falling future of the Republic of Gilead. This state is based in New England which sees the hues of strong patriarchy, resistance, and loss of identity especially of the female population. The plot revolves around the lives of handmaids, a group of women who were subject to breeding. They had no individuality and were only assigned to breed children for the ‘commanders’. The book presents you with little independence and a slight hope of finding it shortly. With Atwood’s poignant tone and mind-boggling phrases, you will find yourself dreaming of a life that is far from reality.
The Road By Corman McCarthy
Published in 2006, The Road by Corman McCarthy will transfer you to the post-apocalyptic United States. The book narrates the tale of a father and son who find themselves journeying across a landscape that is covered only in ruins. The plot of the book will present to you how our future will be after mass destruction. Apart from this, the story will also break your heart and haunt you. With no life thriving, the father and son travel to find themselves one. After the father dies, the son finds refuge in the care of another family who happened to find him grieving.
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) By George Orwell
Published in 1949, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian book that includes the elements of social, scientific, and structural changes. The book takes you through the effect of totalitarianism, mass monitoring, and repressive conditioning of the population. The book also sheds light on politics and its malicious works that continue behind closed doors. The plot is set in an imagined future of 1984 where the world is diverting towards an impending war. As you read the story, you will come across the subjugation of independence, free-thinking, and rising rebellion.
A Clockwork Orange By Anthony Burgess
Published in 1962, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange narrates the tale of a future painted in shades of violence, vigilance, and youth retaliation. The book narrates the story of a teenage boy, Alex, and his violent exploits with the state authorities. It is written half in a Russian dialect called ‘Nadsat’. The book talks about how teenagers can be the age of breaking too. The plot revolves around the protagonist becoming withdrawn from ethics and choosing the path of destruction. However, the plot takes a good twist at the end when Alex realizes to be a productive citizen of his country and gives up the crime world. The basic theme of the story is a transition from vice to virtue. It also emphasizes the youth population and the right guidance they need to be responsible and productive.
Blindness By Jose Saramago
As the title suggests, Blindness by Jose Saramago takes you through a journey of remaining aware yet careless to difficulties. Set in the 1990s, the story highlights a city dwindling between life and death after a contagion infects it. This had forced the people to fall out of food resources and choose criminal activities to survive. The militants fail to maintain law and order and the city falls into dark slumber. The story reinforces how we have always avoided violence in our society even after seeing it closely thrive. With his imagery and touching tone, Saramago emphasizes how our world will continue to be destroyed as we fail to treat the ailing parts of it.
The Drowned World By J.G.Ballard
Set in 2145, The Drowned World will take you through a future of ruins. The story involves the hazardous lives due to global warming. There are flooding cities and animals turned into beasts. The territories which had been built were either perished or on their brinks. The book also talks about how changes in the climate can have a very grave impact on the human psyche. The book stands as a warning to humankind. If we continue to deplete nature, we will be left only with its bygones to live with. The book talks about a decade later and the future is based on what had been happening in 1962.
Final Thoughts
The dystopian fiction might be unreal but it is the closest to our deemed future. If we continue the way we are, we might end up in the dark hole of demolition. Books educate us about taking chances and curing the wrong turns soon.
We, at Podium School, believe in encouraging souls to author their thoughts too. With our Creative Writing classes, everyone can now develop the habit of writing what they feel. And who knows, maybe one day we get to read one of your spellbinding tales too.
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Till then, enter the dystopian world and be the savior! Ciao
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