Just finished Orwell’s 1984 and loved it. The fact that it was in 1947 is both amazing and terrifying with his predictions of constant surveillance and tribalism of parties. Looking for any suggestions of where to go next?
Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 if you haven’t already.
Majestic_Area on
Stranger in a Strange Land. Robert Heinlein. It’s in my opinion unique and very much worth reading.
Aggressive_Staff_982 on
The water thief was a great one. It’s also set in a dystopian future where corporations run literally everything.
oddays on
Like others here, Brave New World jumps immediately to mind. I always think of that and 1984 together. BNW is a lot more fun, though, imho.
salydra on
Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale to complete the Dystopian Holy Trinity.
Beshelar on
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner if you want some pretty impressive predictions for the future (while also being dystopian).
jjruns on
I’ll throw out Plot Against America by Philip Roth, It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
NixNada on
I read 1984 again this year, so I could follow up by reading Julia by Sandra Newman, for a different perspective on the story. Well worth a read.
lacklustrellama on
I recommend some of Orwell’s other books if you haven’t read them- Homage to Catalonia is so poignant and I thoroughly recommend Down and Out in Paris and London. Some of his essays are also really thought provoking, well worth a read (esp ‘Politics and the English Language’).
Quirky_Dimension1363 on
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
SimilarWall1447 on
Fahrenheit 437 by Bradbury
venerosvandenis on
*We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.*
It was the book that inspired 1984, the original anti-utopia. Quite similar themes but different writing styles.
giveitalll on
See lots of comments about Brave New World. Well, 1984 is one of my favorite books. And I gave up BNW after the first chapter or so. I understood that the author wanted more to describe a world than tell a story which is secondary in the book. In 1984 Orwell uses Winston’s storyline to describe the world of 1984, so you get to know both Winston, and the world around him. That’s why to me it’s very immersive and you can’t beat Orwell’s storytelling.
14 Comments
Brave New World
Brave New World and Fahrenheit 451 if you haven’t already.
Stranger in a Strange Land. Robert Heinlein. It’s in my opinion unique and very much worth reading.
The water thief was a great one. It’s also set in a dystopian future where corporations run literally everything.
Like others here, Brave New World jumps immediately to mind. I always think of that and 1984 together. BNW is a lot more fun, though, imho.
Brave New World and The Handmaid’s Tale to complete the Dystopian Holy Trinity.
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner if you want some pretty impressive predictions for the future (while also being dystopian).
I’ll throw out Plot Against America by Philip Roth, It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.
I read 1984 again this year, so I could follow up by reading Julia by Sandra Newman, for a different perspective on the story. Well worth a read.
I recommend some of Orwell’s other books if you haven’t read them- Homage to Catalonia is so poignant and I thoroughly recommend Down and Out in Paris and London. Some of his essays are also really thought provoking, well worth a read (esp ‘Politics and the English Language’).
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Fahrenheit 437 by Bradbury
*We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.*
It was the book that inspired 1984, the original anti-utopia. Quite similar themes but different writing styles.
See lots of comments about Brave New World. Well, 1984 is one of my favorite books. And I gave up BNW after the first chapter or so. I understood that the author wanted more to describe a world than tell a story which is secondary in the book. In 1984 Orwell uses Winston’s storyline to describe the world of 1984, so you get to know both Winston, and the world around him. That’s why to me it’s very immersive and you can’t beat Orwell’s storytelling.