Dystopias

[Downer]

Any recommendations for great dystopian novels? I don't know why I'm so drawn to them but I do find them a fascinating subject to study ( I'm wondering about setting up a fantasy dystopias discussion forum - build your own ).
So far I've done most of the obvious ones - 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, The Trial, Ivan Denisovitch ( does that count technicaly? ) etc but I'm after the more obscure side of the genre now particularly authors I wouldn't have stumbled across by myself.
I don't particularly have favourites as such - can you have a favorite dystopia? Forced to live in one though, I think the trade off in 'Camp Concentration' - Thomas Disch would be well worth it though the book itself I find a little forced at the end, he appears to have strained himself to get an upbeat ending when personaly I think he'd have done much better to let the main character die and possibly to have had the guards infected,
cheers
Downer

[Munro]

All I can think of really is A Clockwork Orange, which measures the effect of youth on a chaotic society, and vice versa, as well as considering the morality of free will. It's written in an innovative, clever style of language, and it's brilliant, clever and funny as well. You'll like it, or tell me how you found it. I was obsessed with it at the time (hence my avatar...which I can't be bothered to discard).

[Downer]

I'd forgotten about that - superb book once you get the hang of the slang which suprisingly wasn't that difficult, I've never read any other Burgess - I take it Clockwork Orange is rather atypical?

It's got me thinking of another - Gore Vidal - Messiah, absolutely fantastic book, I am a bit of a fan of Gore Vidal not so much his historical novels as the more 'pure' fiction stuff I think Messiah and Kalki stand out as my favourites, I suppose both could be considered dystopias though I can't help think of Kali's actions as ultimately a good thing ( even if I don't agree with his motives ) though that's largely a result of the way that Vidal carris the reader along with very little effort,
Downer

[chrisvosje]

I guess you can always turn to SF or cyberpunk SF. I've read 'Neuromancer' by Gibson and that was good. And it certainly counts as dystopic. I remember reading something about dystopias once, a book by a certain Booker I believe, and in it three major dystopias were compared: Brave New World, 1984 and 'We' by Zamyatin, if I remember correctly. I didn't find it in any library here then, but maybe I didn't look hard enough :oops:

[waxmephilosophical]

The Handmaid's Tale (forgot the author) is an excellent dystopian novel. I have it at home, I'll get back to you on who wrote it. Anyway I had to read it for AP English, and loved it.

[AbdoRinbo]

Gravity's Rainbow is a dystopia, believe it or not. You'd have to see it to believe it, I can't even think of how to put it into words.

[Downer]

We I found one of the creepiest novels of the whole genre, It's also the earliest I've read but I don't know if it counts as the earliest dystopian novel.

Gravities Rainbow I shall have to get, you know you're in for a serious spot of reading when in comes up on Amazon with an annotated version, notes on the reading, a guide to and passnotes guide.

The Handmaids Tale is on my queue of books - I tend to buy them faster than I can possibly read them, also waiting on there is a read reading of Lord of the Flies plus another three I can't recall the title of.
Still, I've got a holiday coming up and I rekon on a book every two days on holiday.
Downer

[Zootopia]

1984 is next on my list to read. I'm near the end of my Orwell catalogue and I have to say it has been the most pleasant of reading experiences.

[imthefoolonthehill]

Two great dystopias: 1984 (Orwell)and Brave New World (Huxley) can both be found on this web site.

[Jesuisunefille53]

I have just completed the novel- "A Handmaid's Tale" and highly recommend it to all! Disturbing at parts, but not uncomfortably so. Leaves room for personal interpretation.(by the way, the author is Margret Attwood)

[sloegin]

Anthem by Ayn Rand

[reader]

Philip K Dick's Man in the High Castle is one of my favorites of this genre. Filled with symbolism and very strange it takes place in a United States that lost World War II. Given this premise the work is not what a person would expect it to be. As long the reader does not expect an ending where everything is neatly tied up, one should find this book to be well worth the read. This novel prompts the reader to think about its meaning, and the meaning of reality.

[camilla]

Kallocain by Karin Boye is a great dystopia.

edit: a link!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0299038947/qid=1065948392/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-5893630-5268932?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Isagel]

Kallocaain is really good. Glad somebody else have read it :)

My favorite of this genre is "Aniara", an epic poem by nobel prize winner Harry Martinson. The story takes place in the spaceship Aniara, after the destruction of earth. Aniara is taking refugees toward Mars but looses its coordinates and starts to drift in space. A wonderful work where Martinson, like Huxley, invents new words. The story about the people trying to fight of boredom and finding meaning in the vast emptiness of space can be seen as a symbol of the twentienth century. /Isagel

[kobe2buy]

Hi to everyone this is my first post.
I am taking a British Lit class and we just finished reading 1984. It was different but I enjoyed it. We are now starting Clockwork Orange, the language is very different, I am having to use the glossary...I hope it will also be a good book...

[Virgil]

Hi to everyone this is my first post.
I am taking a British Lit class and we just finished reading 1984. It was different but I enjoyed it. We are now starting Clockwork Orange, the language is very different, I am having to use the glossary...I hope it will also be a good book...

It is an excellent book.