[dis-toh-pee-uh]
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noun
1.
a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.
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Examples:
1984 by George Orwell
It's a disturbing, dystopian world of constant surveillance and government-controlled media for sure, but one which, uncomfortably, we recognise more as real life than when Orwell wrote it in 1949.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Huxley paints an image of a cold world with numbing drugs, organised reproduction, no concept of family, and brainwashing from birth. While superficially a hedonistic environment, it soon becomes clear that this is no place to live: if you cannot feel pain, can you ever truly feel joy?
The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Bacigalupi describes a world where catastrophes are commonplace, global warming has caused huge sea level rises and biotechnology rules, with mega corporations - calorie companies - controlling food production.
Logan's Run by William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson
A simple, but terrifying concept: a world where resources are maintained and the population controlled by the mandatory death of all humans once they reach the age of 21. Set in the 23rd century, the eponymous Logan-6 is the trained killer responsible for enforcing this; quelle surprise, when it's his turn to meet his maker, he's less keen on the idea.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Westerfeld describes a place where conformity is everything, achieved through mandatory extreme cosmetic surgery - making everyone 'pretty' - upon reaching the age of 16. Individual choice has been removed and - of course - Big Brother is watching your every move.
One of my favorites is The Giver. I think the concept of how to community is run is so interesting, efficient, and logical, if not very controversial. If people weren't about free choice, or preserving life, and everything was strictly for the benefit of the community, it could work.
The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole no contest. There are so many things I love about it if I started I would have a hard time stopping.
Psst! I recently wrote a Take you might like.
www.girlsaskguys.com/.../a29946-beyond-twilight-paranormal-romance-urban-fantasy
Fahrenheit 451 is really good. Bradbury made many predictions on the advancements of technology that actually came true, such as bluetooth, flatscreen tvs, and social media.
Also predicted a culture obsessed with media and censorship too.
1984 (written in 1948 by George Orwell) is closest to the way society is developing.
The end:
"The voice from the telescreen was still pouring forth its tale of prisoners and booty and slaughter, but the shouting outside had died down a little. The waiters were turning back to their work. One of them approached with the gin bottle. Winston, sitting in a blissful dream, paid no attention as his glass was filled up. He was not running or cheering any longer. He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything forgiven, his soul white as snow. He was in the public dock, confessing everything, implicating everybody. He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The longhoped-for bullet was entering his brain.
He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."
https://www.george-orwell.org/1984/22.html
You fail.
1984 is not in your list and the inventions in 1984 are CURRENTLY in USE in the world.
Hell the NSA BRAGGED about being inspired by 1984! George Orwell creates a book about the dangers of mass information gathering. Government response. That's a good idea! Let's make that.
It isn't fiction it is happening TODAY.
@kxera Here's 1984 , free on line. You'll find it on Gutenberg too, of course.
https://www.george-orwell.org/1984
@jacquesvol Thank you!
Opinion
16Opinion
1984, Brave New World, and Hunger Games
Giver by Louis Lowry
1984
I loved 1984. Giver was just okay in my opinion.
So many things in 1984 are still relevant in today's world. It's just fascinating
Agree with 1984
Go. Do it. Big Brother demands it.
After Cyteen
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Everything else
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Is child's play.
https://i.imgur.com/AZR1bac.jpg
Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
My absolute favorite book next to Kerouac's On the Road.
1984 or Animal Farm by George Orwell. in my opinion you haven't really read a dystopian novel until you've read George Orwell's literary works.
"1984" by George Orwell because in light of the politics, cultural atmosphere, and general political correctness of this Millennial generation, it seems almost prophetic.
True that. It's so relevant even today.
The Unwind series but Neal Schusterman is INCREDIBLE. Also love 1984 by George Orwell, Anthem but Ayn Rand and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
1984. It has so many theories of government control that I think parallel nicely with the world today. It's almost terrifying, yet it's so good.
I like Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror books, but Dystopian is not exactly my favorite sub-genre, although, I like some of them.
Can't stand the genre typically, but one of the original dystopian novels - "The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood - was pretty good.
What do you typically find so offputting?
@redeyemindtricks When they first started showing up, it was an interesting concept; a blending of fantasy/sci-fi and literary fiction, basically. But the market is so saturated these days and this results in a lot of really sub-par books in the genre. They've also become significantly darker and more twisted as time goes on, and are often just vehicles for a thinly veiled political/societal message (with which I usually don't agree, anyway).
Only a very few these days seem better than mediocre, and not obviously written for teens. One that was exceedingly clever, if it qualifies as semi-dystopian, was David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas." And no, the movie wasn't even remotely close to the depth and breadth of the novel. :P
Interesting, I'll check it out sometime.
I don't really watch movies. I can't watch a screen for more than about a minute or two if I'm not interacting with it (or talking to someone else about what's happening on it).
Well, the only dystopian ones I've read are Nineteen Eighty-four and Brave New World (which could be either dystopia or utopia depending on your point of view). I can't decide which one I like more, but BNW is more accurate, I think.
Both are accurate.
The political development is best described by Orwell.
Booze , drugs, corporate Las Vegas conventions and Ibiza/Chersonisos vacation dreams by Huxley.
@jacquesvol That's fair enough, actually. It's possible that the boot in the face described by Orwell is what most governments would resort to fairly quickly if society got any funny ideas. I'm probably more biased towards BNW because I finished it more recently, but it really made me think about entertainment; what forms we consume it in and how easily a large amount of people can be controlled. Quite scary stuff, really.
I admire Orwell's description the evolution of language use in politics:
https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/section11.rhtml
@jacquesvol That must have been one of the scariest parts of the government he described. If you could limit how people think to that degree, there *really* would be no room for resistance.
@Dpffydood in Bradbury's Farenheit 451 ideas are attacked by burning all books. In Newspeak it happens by introducing new words. Newspeak is used intensively in the media today. Read this example: www.theharbinger.org/xvii/980908/solomon.html
Read also this: linguisticus.wordpress.com/.../ That's how the GOP started fighting Hillary.
Another example is the abuse of the term 'PC' to label ideas the conservatives don't like:
www.upworthy.com/what-political-correctness-does-and-doesnt-mean
And so on...
Love them and I found the giver to be very raw and intense. Makes me emotional just thinking about it's ending. It's about a "utopia" that the main character finds is actually a dystopia. It's theme is about forbidden knowledge and sacrifice.
The Unwind series are my favorite dystopian novels.
Dystopian novels are my favorite! James Dashner is a brilliant author (all his books are beautiful). Maze Runner series was my favorite. I am now reading Eye of Minds.
Failed to include 1984, the world's most renowned dystopian novel. Can't take this seriously...
i'll list three. not sure where i stand on all of them
brave new world
animal farm
shades of grey
runners-up... hunger games and the giver
Brace New World is one of my faves and it feels quite prophetic. I also liked the Windup Girl.
Yeah, it's all about Brave New World. Probably the best one.
Not a fan, but everyone should read 1984 at least once.
I've only read the Divergent and the Darkest Minds series, I really like them just not how they were wrapped up in the end. The ending were just... hmm.. I have high hope for the Red Queen though... still waiting for the 3rd book
Haven't read many in this particular genre, but ill tell you the hunger games is a rip-off of battle royal, which i loved.
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