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Utopian & Dystopian Literature
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Author:  Larael [ March 15th, 2009, 4:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Utopian & Dystopian Literature
After reading such words as The Giver, Brave New World, 1984, and more recently, The Handmaid's Tale, I was wondering if anyone else was interested in dystopian and utopian literature. My favourite of those is The Handmaid's Tale mostly because of the religious undertones and themes concerning women's freedom in all aspects of life.
Author:  Will [ March 15th, 2009, 6:26 pm ]
Post subject: 
I read the Handmaid's Tale.. it was kinda freaky but refreshing in a weird sense.. It was kind of derpressing. I hated the open ending though.

And I watched the movie The Time Machine based on the novel of H. G. Wells but there was barely anything dystopian about it yet I liked the soundtrack :P
Author:  Larael [ March 15th, 2009, 7:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
The flashbacks and the open ending were the only things I didn't like about it, but the whole notion that the Bible could be used to justify such actions was what kept me reading it. That's quite a hard thing to imagine for any society.
Author:  Elenya [ March 15th, 2009, 8:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
Utopian/dystopian is one of my favorite genres. I've read 1984, Brave New World... haven't read The Handmaid's Tale yet. I like The Giver. Have you read the sequels - Gathering Blue and Messenger? It's pretty interesting to see how they all fit together.
Author:  StarCollector [ March 15th, 2009, 10:02 pm ]
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I love "The Time Machine" by H.G.Welles ,"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury,and "Farenheight 451" by Ray Bradbury...do those count? :-D
Author:  Elenya [ March 15th, 2009, 11:57 pm ]
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Oh gosh, how could I have forgotten about Ray Bradbury? I love Ray Bradbury's work! Yes, I think that Fahrenheit 451 would definitely count. :yes: I'm trying to think of other stories by him that are utopian/dystopian... I'm sure there are lots more, but I'm not remembering them right now.
Author:  Will [ March 16th, 2009, 10:04 am ]
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Lar - If you like religious themes in novels, you should read one flew over the cuckoo's nest, by Ken Kesey. It isn't a dystopian genre though. For acquiring my IB Higher Level, I wrote a review about the book and the resemblence of McMurphy and a Messiah..

I think you would enjoy the novel, if you haven't read it already of course. :yes:
Author:  Larael [ March 16th, 2009, 3:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
Aye, I have read it actually. It really is a good one, and I wish I'd read it for school so that I could have read more in-depth.

Oo, I've heard of Ray Bradbury, but I haven't read any of his novels. Except maybe one called The Veld or something like that. It was a short story I read a few years ago...
Author:  Elenya [ March 16th, 2009, 6:55 pm ]
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The Veldt? Yeah, that's a good one. :yes: Sorta creepy, though. :teehee: I highly recommend Bradbury, especially The Martian Chronicles.
Author:  Larael [ March 16th, 2009, 9:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
That's the one, Elenya. :) Please excuse my awful spelling. I've seen that word spelled way too many ways to count. I will definitely have to add him to my list.
Author:  ethelfleda [ March 17th, 2009, 1:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
i’ve read quite a lot of dystopian literature. i've read 1984, brave new world, cloud atlas, the paper eater, that hideous strength and the handmaid's tale. i also love lord of the flies, and i guess you could class the society created by the boys in that as dystopian.

in my opinion, 1984 is easily the greatest dystopian novel ever written, and one of the greatest books of all time. for me, even scarier than the torture and the surveillance, is the idea of the state stripping down the language until there are no words with which people can express their dissatisfaction with society, so eventually they won't be capable of even thinking anything against the state. freedom of speech and action is one thing, but freedom of thought is even more important - the idea of the state having absolute control over the thoughts of the people really freaked me out.

i think the idea behind the handmaid’s tale is an interesting and rather unsettling one, but i just found it’s concept too narrow (it was too focused on women, as opposed to society in general).

the only utopian novel i've read is aldous huxley's the island which i absolutely hated - not a patch on brave new world.

personally, i think dystopian fiction is much more effective that utopian fiction - it's much easier to create a society that readers will agree is wrong than it is to create one that readers will agree is perfect.
Author:  Dark, Queen of Angmar [ March 17th, 2009, 5:57 pm ]
Post subject: 
I read Brave New World for English IB last semester, and as a final project had to compare it to something else. In the end I chose to compare it to Wall E, and the similarities are striking, just going in depth to the root of both of them, and how the society actually performs, there are so many qualities that they both share. Despite Wall E being a movie, it is still a dystopia, and one that shares many links with BNW. Which is actually kind of scary since Wall E is a children's movie...
Author:  Raivynn Phoenix [ March 20th, 2009, 3:17 pm ]
Post subject: 
1984 would be my favourite book ever, if it weren't for a certain story created by JRR Tokien :P

I first read it in many moons ago when I was still in High School, think I must have been about 11 or 12. Anyways, it just affected me so deeply and have a very strong impact on how I grew up.

Quote:
in my opinion, 1984 is easily the greatest dystopian novel ever written, and one of the greatest books of all time. for me, even scarier than the torture and the surveillance, is the idea of the state stripping down the language until there are no words with which people can express their dissatisfaction with society, so eventually they won't be capable of even thinking anything against the state. freedom of speech and action is one thing, but freedom of thought is even more important - the idea of the state having absolute control over the thoughts of the people really freaked me out.


Bolded for truth.
Author:  ~RinielAranel~ [ March 24th, 2009, 11:54 pm ]
Post subject: 
Oh my gosh, I love dystopian literature. The Lord of the Flies is one of my favorite books of all time, as are 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. (The latter two, I had to read for school.) I've heard of The Handmaid's Tale and really want to read it, same with Brave New World. Oh and The Giver! How could I forget? I read it when I was quite young, still one of my favorites. :)

I don't know what it is about dystopias that I love so much. They can be a warning of course, and it can be disconcerting to compare them to our lives today. But more than that...what they hypothetically suggest about human nature under extreme circumstances speaks more truth than nearly any other type of genre.
Author:  Larael [ April 1st, 2009, 10:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
I completely forgot about Lord of the Flies! That one is definitely one of my favourites. :yes: I think it's amazing how people come up with this kind of stuff. I'd love to write some dystopian literature myself someday.
Author:  Caunion cyn Britannia [ February 25th, 2011, 2:52 am ]
Post subject: 
I'm rather surprised I didn't post in here yet.

I read the following: 1984, Animal Farm, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 but the thing is it's been so long since I've read them so I'm not quite sure I would understand it all. More recently I've read Blindness, A Clockwork Orange, The Handsmaid's Tale, and Battle Royale and I've enjoyed all of them.
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