The Great Dystopian / Utopian Novels

For those who are familiar with this subgenre (usually associated with Sci-Fi/Fantasy) this list will contain many of the novels that he or she has already read (maybe even numerous times). But for those new to reading, or those who wish to venture outside the genre they usually occupy, this list will open up a world where societies are structured differently. It will expand their mind to the possibilities of what might be in the near or distant future. It will warn them of what could happen and in the process reveal the inner thoughts of some of the greatest writers of past and present, whether positive or negative. At the least, the following novels will be quite enjoyable reads, and in the end, that is what great fiction is all about.

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1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932) Huxley's greatest novel tells of a world where everyone is manufactured to match their designated professions in work and society. Written during a time when eugenics was a competent and respected theory, Huxley shows off a possible outcome if it becomes entrenched as a societal ideal. Babies are produced in factories. Children are taught sexual play at a young age. There is no marriage. Everyone is programmed to love their station, whether as a labourer or a government official. If people become anxious there is a drug that relieves everyone of worry. It is a perfectly structured and truly horrifying vision of society.

2. 1984 by George Orwell (1949) What would the world look like if an oppressive state ran every aspect of its citizen's lives? Orwell gives a scary and realistic picture of such a society in this novel. We are introduced to Big Brother, the totalitarian dictator of Oceania, the telescreen, a television that you can watch and it can watch you, and doublethink, a way of thinking that destroys independent thought. Orwell gave the world a novel that warns of the possible outcome of communism if it was allowed to spread outside the Soviet Empire.

3. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962) This is Burgess' vision of a world where good and evil is a relative term. It tells a story where a chronically violent gang leader is reprogrammed to be the ideal citizen. The novel is a thinly disguised morality play where free will is the main actor. If a violent man is reconditioned to be incapable of violence, is he really a man? If his choice to commit or not commit evil is taken away, can he be considered a fully functioning member of a society? The novel was written during the time where subliminal advertising was being questioned as it showed that popcorn sales increased at theatres where millisecond flashes of the product were shown on screen during the movie's presentation; magazines where showing outlines of voluptuous women in the ice cubes of popular alcoholic beverages. Burgess expanded this idea in A Clockwork Orange. He also invented a new language (Nadsat) which was a mix of Russian and English slang.

4. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle (1963) Boulle's satire that is just as biting as Swift's Gulliver's Travels. What would the world look like if apes instead of humans were at the top of the food chain? It is a veiled slap in the face to our arrogance as a race and our treatment of the planet. The guinea pigs of our experiments now rule and treat us in a similar fashion; an eye-opener and a warning to treat all living creatures with respect.

5. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) Women, except for a very few, have lost the ability to give birth. What would society look like if this became a reality? Atwood gives one version in The Handmaid's Tale. In this novel birth-women are prostitutes (to affluent men) guised as pseudo-nuns. They are prized yet enslaved, loved yet hated, revered yet exploited. A scary vision of what could occur as women at present are having more and more difficulties with their reproductive organs than ever before in human history.

6. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953) Fahrenheit 451 tells of a world where the firemen start rather than put out infernos. Bradbury creates a world where reading and books are banned. Firemen search out and destroy libraries for the good of the state. Written during a time where censorship was a hot topic, Bradbury takes the issue and runs with it. If you were to take the proponents side on censorship and bring it to its logical end, this novel could be one of the results.

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