This is the first book I’ve read that reads like this. I will never forget it.
So to help me recover I need a book with a happy ending but is also a powerful book aswell.
Edit: Also, if you know of a book with an extremely hopeful ending, that will also do. I feel like I need to counter curse what I’ve just read.
by I_hate_reading_books
9 Comments
Fahrenheit 451. Ending is not happy, per se, but hopeful.
Out of curiosity, did you read the appendix as well ?
Ok so my suggestion isnt a dystopia novel with a happy ending. Instead it is speculative of the way a world could be if people were open and honest about what their needs were and everyone made good faith efforts to be respectful of others. Also lots of interesting tech and ways of living/relationships between people. Very hopeful and sweet.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
>I need a book with a happy ending but is also a powerful book aswell.
Amakta by Karin Tidbeck. Very similar to 1984 in some ways, with an ambiguous ending. Not nearly as bleak as 1984, but not *completely* happy.
Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham, a fairly short 1950s sci fi novel that’s aged surprisingly well and has a happy ending.
We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker, near future sci fi with a happy ending. I find this author’s writing style very easy to read.
Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre. As much unlike 1984 as you can get while still being sci fi. I like this because it’s the kind of book where conflict is resolved nonviolently, and it shows a post apocalyptic future where lots of people are actually doing ok. There’s still plenty of misery and strife, but it’s hopeful.
“He who controls the past controls the future, and he who controls the present controls the past”
What a book
The #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. Takes you to a completely different place, he doesn’t hold back from reality, but I swear when you finish it, you will find yourself bizarrely uplifted and happy.
Logan’s Run
oh did you skip over the afterword?? i’m not gonna spoil it but it will give you closure.
The Telling, Ursula K LeGuin.
I’m struggling with how to say this without spoilers, but the novel subtly messes with our narrative structure expectations in ways that mean it doesn’t meet the specifics of your ask – but it’s a perfect follow up and palate cleanser if you’re someone who finds pat answers unsatisfying, and also needs a palate cleanser after 1984.