Friday, 15 May 2015

TOP 3 - dystopian reads

Thinking about what to read over the weekend? A fan of The Hunger Games? Consider checking out these other sweet dystopian books. They certainly tickled my fancy and stretched my brain. Get amongst it!

1. 1984 - George Orwell
// “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.” 

here
// 1984 is dark, disturbing and extremely thought-provoking. Orwell's 1949 novel follows Winston Smith, a government worker whose job is to rewrite history, changing things in newspapers to appear as though they never happened. Winston outwardly appears a strong party supporter, but secretly begins hating them and dreaming of rebellion. And yes, 1984 has the original Big Brother. Watching you. All. The. Time. 


2. THE ISLAND - Jen Minkman
// "Our world is small. We are on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us, as taught to us by our forefathers."

here
// The Island is a recently published dystopian novella, and is both a gripping and fun read. The Island is narrated by Leia, a young girl living in a world where children leave their parents at ten years old to take care of themselves on a separate part of the island. Guiding the kids is a psychopathic teenage boy and a divine book curiously inspired by the Star Wars films. The island itself is divided by a wall, where the inhabitants are fraught with a multitude of illogical prejudices. Leia goes on a journey of understanding, and uncovered at the end is the truth of the island.

3. BRAVE NEW WORLD - Aldous Huxley
//“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”

here
// Brave New World is a disturbing novel about a society based on a strict caste system, where the upper castes live a completely self-centred and controlled existence, and the lower class 'savages' live separate to society and work at menial jobs. Life at the top is easy: Sex without love, escapism through 'soma' (a hallucinogenic drug), and absolutely no deep thinking. In order to keep the lower casts content at their level, children are educated via the hypnopaedic process. This basically brainwashes each child with subliminal messaging about their place in the world. Read this novel to challenge your thoughts about the foibles of modern society. Yup. 


What dystopian fiction do you enjoy? Leave a comment below!

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