'1984's Enduring Dystopian Legacy
In many ways, George Orwell’s 1984 has become the benchmark by which all other dystopians are judged. And for the readers who loved the tale of Winston versus ‘Big Brother,’ they are always looking for books that can compare in some way. Here are a few books I‘ve come across recently that have something in common with it.
THE CIRCLE
Replace an all-seeing authoritarian government with an all-seeing Facebook-type of company and you have The Circle, by Dave Eggers. This might be the closest thing I’ve found to a modern day ‘1984,’ with many of the same ideas of personal freedom versus the group’s lack of true identity being discussed. It even has a set of three contradictory mottos like ‘1984’. Instead of Big Brother saying:
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
The Circle says:
Secrets are lies
Sharing is caring
Privacy is theft
If you loved ‘1984’, I think you’ll enjoy ‘The Circle.’
HIGH-RISE
Although it doesn’t have an all-knowing tyranny or any of the themes found in ‘1984,’ High-Rise, by JG Ballard does have something important in common with Orwell’s work. Both books use the setting as the driving mechanism to push their social allegory. In ‘High-Rise,’ one apartment building encapsulates all of society by housing the lower class tenants on the bottom floors, the middle class tenants on the middle floors, and the upper class tenants at the top of the building. The scenario gives Ballard the same type of ability to drive home the social messages that made ‘1984’ so incredible. But whereas Orwell thrives under this type of approach, ‘High-Rise deteriorates into your typical anarchy type of story. I would only recommend ‘High-Rise’ only to fans of dystopian that can’t get enough of the genre.
WE
More than any other book, We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, is the book you have to read if you loved ‘1984.’ And it shouldn’t be any other way. After all, ‘We’ is the book that inspired Orwell to write his masterpiece. ‘We’s government of OneState is eerily similar to that of ‘Big Brother’, both authors write about authoritarianism with an air of absurdity, and the major theme is the individual versus the state, just like in ‘1984’. Everyone who loved ‘1984’ should read this book at least once.
THE THETA TIMELINE
I have to end with my own book, The Theta Timeline. My goal with this book was to create a novel that could continue what Orwell did in ‘1984,’: give readers a dystopian that is at times satirical, infuriating, scary, and all too possible, all while delivering an important warning. If you’ve been looking for the next ‘1984’ or if you just enjoy realistic, character-drive stories, you should definitely check out The Theta Timeline.
If you read any or all of these books, I’d love to hear what you think. Drop me a line!
THE CIRCLE
Replace an all-seeing authoritarian government with an all-seeing Facebook-type of company and you have The Circle, by Dave Eggers. This might be the closest thing I’ve found to a modern day ‘1984,’ with many of the same ideas of personal freedom versus the group’s lack of true identity being discussed. It even has a set of three contradictory mottos like ‘1984’. Instead of Big Brother saying:
War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength
The Circle says:
Secrets are lies
Sharing is caring
Privacy is theft
If you loved ‘1984’, I think you’ll enjoy ‘The Circle.’
HIGH-RISE
Although it doesn’t have an all-knowing tyranny or any of the themes found in ‘1984,’ High-Rise, by JG Ballard does have something important in common with Orwell’s work. Both books use the setting as the driving mechanism to push their social allegory. In ‘High-Rise,’ one apartment building encapsulates all of society by housing the lower class tenants on the bottom floors, the middle class tenants on the middle floors, and the upper class tenants at the top of the building. The scenario gives Ballard the same type of ability to drive home the social messages that made ‘1984’ so incredible. But whereas Orwell thrives under this type of approach, ‘High-Rise deteriorates into your typical anarchy type of story. I would only recommend ‘High-Rise’ only to fans of dystopian that can’t get enough of the genre.
WE
More than any other book, We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, is the book you have to read if you loved ‘1984.’ And it shouldn’t be any other way. After all, ‘We’ is the book that inspired Orwell to write his masterpiece. ‘We’s government of OneState is eerily similar to that of ‘Big Brother’, both authors write about authoritarianism with an air of absurdity, and the major theme is the individual versus the state, just like in ‘1984’. Everyone who loved ‘1984’ should read this book at least once.
THE THETA TIMELINE
I have to end with my own book, The Theta Timeline. My goal with this book was to create a novel that could continue what Orwell did in ‘1984,’: give readers a dystopian that is at times satirical, infuriating, scary, and all too possible, all while delivering an important warning. If you’ve been looking for the next ‘1984’ or if you just enjoy realistic, character-drive stories, you should definitely check out The Theta Timeline.
If you read any or all of these books, I’d love to hear what you think. Drop me a line!
date
newest »
newest »
Matt wrote: "Speaking of contradictory mottos. Do you remember when Google started off the "Don't be evil"?"I don't remember that at all. That's really funny.
'The Circle' isn't perfect, (there are a few things about it that irk me a lot) but overall, it's a great addition to the '1984' type of novel.
I loved 1984 so im marking these ones as to read, thanks.
I'm glad I could be of service, Samuel. Definitely let me know what you think of them when you get around to reading them.
Will do, might as well start with your book. That will be interesting, iv never spoken to an author about there book before!
Samuel, very cool! I can't wait to hear what you think of it.
I'm currently reading The Edward Snowden Affair. You could call that a non-fictional prequel to The Theta Timeline.
Matt wrote: "You could call that a non-fictional prequel to The Theta Timeline.""a non-fictional prequel to The Theta Timeline"
I love that way of looking at it. How is the book? Have you seen CitizenFour yet?
I have read one third so far (probably more, because there are a lot of footnotes at the end). It's basically a chronological and meticulously researched workup of the Snowden story + much biographical background about him, as much as there is available. I know most of the facts already, some I have forgotten, some are new. It's good to have all this info in one place. The footnotes contain links to the articles from where the quotes have been taken. It's hard to read and keeping your blood pressure down.
Thanks for the new fodder for my TBR shelf (as if it needs any help)!
Maureen wrote: "Thanks for the new fodder for my TBR shelf (as if it needs any help)!"Glad to help, Maureen. ; )
I'd love to hear what you think of them whenever you get around to reading them.
I had read 1984 of course, but the memory is too distant. We and The Circle were already on my list. High-Rise and your book were new to me.
Speaking of contradictory mottos. Do you remember when Google started off the "Don't be evil"?