Brave New World discussion

hi guys i am new to good reads community.
i would like to know any good dystopian novels like brave new world because i was honestly quite blown away by it.
thanks.
(p.s:any kind will suffice.)

Well everyone knows 1984 by Orwell also and my favourite is erewhon by samuel butler...

thanks!!

I'll second 1984, it's practically a must read.

We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin. One of the first dystopian novels. As Orwell's 1984, it is a must.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76...

Neel wrote: "hi guys i am new to good reads community.
i would like to know any good dystopian novels like brave new world because i was honestly quite blown away by it.
thanks.
(p.s:any kind will suffice.)"

I agree that 1984 is a must, but would also recommend the following:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

All are excellent.

Try contemporary writer Antti Tuomainen, a well-accomplished dystopian author. His first book "The Healer" is considered to become a classic in dystopian type of novels. (Türkçe çevirisini de ben yaptım, yakında basılacak :)

Haven't read it yet, but check out "The Not Yet" by Moira Crone. Sounds compelling.

Dang, people here beat me to my personal favorites: We and 1984. Seriously, if you haven't read Orwell's classic yet, you absolutely have to get on it! A teacher of mine once said that no one should graduate high school without reading that book, and he was right. It wasn't on our mandatory reading list, so I made a point of borrowing my mother's copy and getting it in over the summer.

But there are others worth mentioning, like Fahrenheit 451, The Iron Heel, The Giver, and even the Time Machine. These last two are not purely dystopian, but they do contain many of the requisite elements. If you want to go even further back, there's Candide by Voltaire and Gulliver's Travels. Again, not dystopian novels in the modern sense, but the basics are there.

Matthew wrote: "Dang, people here beat me to my personal favorites: We and 1984. Seriously, if you haven't read Orwell's classic yet, you absolutely have to get on it! A teacher of mine once said that no one shoul..."

Candide is my personal favorite but I have never thought of considering it as a dystopian novel. Now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. Thanks for the comment.

A number of great suggestions already.
Some oldies but goodies to add to the dystopia catalog:

Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald

Time Storm by Gordon R. Dickson

A series that isnt' exactly dystopian, but 'something' happened to the world and you, the reader, won't find out for several entries. If you only read the first entry, it is an interesting premise:

To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip José Farmer is the first entry in the Riverworld Series [ http://www.goodreads.com/series/49120... ].

A personal favorite is The Sheriff Of Purgatory by Jim Morris.

Other than Level 7 these are fairly 'light' reading for dystopian visions.

This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper. - T.S. Eliot

If you like Brave New World, I'm sure you will like Fahrenheit 451.

Along with the great books that have already been mentioned in this discussion, I would recommend...

The Childhood of Jesus by J.M.Coetzee

On the Beach by Nevil Shute.

Gizem wrote: "Matthew wrote: "Dang, people here beat me to my personal favorites: We and 1984. Seriously, if you haven't read Orwell's classic yet, you absolutely have to get on it! A teacher of mine once said t..."

You're welcome. And yes, it really only comes up in a discussion about dystopianism as a forerunner, something which dealt with the idea that the "best of all worlds" was something that merely concealed the truth about suffering and injustice. And of course, its impossible to discuss dystopian literature without mentioning utopian too. I think that would be a great discussion too, showing how these are basically flip sides of the same coin since they both serve the same purpose.

You also may enjoy Vonnegut's Player Piano—quite close to us, now.

Unfortunately.

Ben wrote: "If you like Brave New World, I'm sure you will like Fahrenheit 451.

Along with the great books that have already been mentioned in this discussion, I would recommend...

The Childhood of Jesus by..."

On the Beach! Yes, that's a good one. A bit dated in the whole Cold War way, but a great 'end of it all' novel!

Two of my favourite dystopian reads:

and both by Margaret Atwood.

I see no one's mentioned In the Country of Last Things

I love it.

Most of the major ones have been mentioned already:
1984
We
Farenheit 451
The Handmaid's Tale
Level 7

Some other good dystopian/post apocalypse books:

Hugh Howley's "Wool"
Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Drowned Cities" and "The Wind-up Girl"
Sarah Hall's "Daughters of the North"
Garth Nix's "Shade's Children"
Thomas Disch's "Camp Concentration"
Carol Emshwiller "The Mount"
Suzy Mckee Charnas' "Walk to the End of the World"

This isn't a novel but it's about a real-life utopian community that, of course, ended up being a dystopian community: "Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People." It's about Jonestown and the infamous mass suicide in the Guyana jungle. It is an actual example of a group of people with good intentions turning into a horrifying and dangerous prison led by a conflicted man with deep-seated issues. A long read but extremely fascinating.

Jack London's the Iron Heel was the earliest modern dystopia. It all starts there.

Gizem wrote: "Try contemporary writer Antti Tuomainen, a well-accomplished dystopian author. His first book "The Healer" is considered to become a classic in dystopian type of novels. (Türkçe çevirisini de ben y..."

I will definitely read it if you are the translator :)

Any novel by Kurt Vonnegut but especially Cat's Cradle

Here's a start: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/41...

Neel wrote: "hi guys i am new to good reads community.
i would like to know any good dystopian novels like brave new world because i was honestly quite blown away by it.
thanks.
(p.s:any kind will suffice.)"

As recommended by others, We, 1984, the Handmaid's Tale and Fahrenheit 451 are good reads for dystopia fans. I'd also suggest you try J G Ballard, especially Cocaine Nights and Supercannes. High Rise, Kingdom Come and the Atrocity Exhibition are also worth a go.

I'd agree with JG Ballard, though I'm not sure if it quite fits the bill of dystopian. Although you should just read his works because they're brilliant.

For a particularly depressing read, Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

I don't think anyone has mentioned Anthem by Ayn Rand: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66...

Ah, yes, Haley. The inspiration for Rush's 2112 album!

Raising Stony Mayhall FABULOUS
Only Begotten Daughter
God's War more like SF but what a world
Feed
America Pacifica
Souls in the Great Machine (Greatwinter destroys all technology)
American Elsewhere
Bar None (quirky)
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse: A Novel humorous
The Suicide Collectors (thoughtful)

a clockwork orange

Rebecca wrote: "Jack London's the Iron Heel was the earliest modern dystopia. It all starts there."

Great book. And, we won't even talk about the ending!

Anthem by Ayn Rand.

I recently read The Dog Stars by Peter Heller and thought it was terrific.

Just finished Alas, Babylon and about to start Earth Abides

Haley wrote: "I don't think anyone has mentioned Anthem by Ayn Rand: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66..."

Yeah, but it pretty much ripped off We by Zamyatin. In truth, many dystopian authors are picking the crumbs off of his table, but this one practically stole an entire slice.

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut
for religious dystopian like a Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, there's a newer book called Christian Nation by Fredric C. Rich
You can't go wrong with Bradbury! And there's a followup novel to Fahrenheit 451 that is pretty interesting especially if you love the novel... It's called A Pleasure to Burn.I'd even throw the Martian Chronicles in the mix with it's sci-fi twist on things

Also for a really quick read try Harrison Burgeon by Kurt Vonnegut you can find it in his collected works in the book Welcome to the Monkey House which has fantastic short stories. I mean the Title Story inspired scenes from Soylent Green, talk about a dystopia!

Galapagos by Vonnegut and Oryx and Crake by Atwood are two of my favorites.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned P. K. Dick., who in my opinion created a new dystopian world with each novel - just a couple of examples: Counter-clock world and (cant' really avoid it..) Do Androids dream..
Counter-Clock World
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

As an extreme case, I dare say Abbott's Flatland can fit here, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

SPOILER ALERT!

although there's actually nothing depressing about it except the miserable end of the poor square!

Matched I really enjoyed this series of books....

Neal Asher's recent Owner series is good

Try THE HEALER by Antti Tuomainen (Finish author).

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf (this is not a vampire adventure!) or The Helmet of Horror: The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur - both by Viktor Pelevin.

Ruth wrote: "Just finished Alas, Babylon and about to start Earth Abides"

I finished Alas, Babylon earlier this month and enjoyed reading it. Having grown up in the 1950's, I could relate to what happened in the book and also what led up to what eventually happened.

It is not necessarily a socially conscious novel like some of the aforementioned, but The Stand, by Stephen King, is a terrific post-apocalyptic epic.

War With the Newts , R.U.R. , The White Disease by Karel Capek

Just finished Ayn Rand's "Anthem", bit disappointed really.. Maybe "the Fountainhead" is better, but i must say I was expecting much more! Orwell is definetely on another level..

What a brilliant topic !!!
I have some of the books people are recommending, I've read some of them ... I like them all

For the stuff that's not mentioned here I can recommend Traveler by John Twelve Hawks, it's a trilogy actually, this is the first book

Neel wrote: "hi guys i am new to good reads community.
i would like to know any good dystopian novels like brave new world because i was honestly quite blown away by it.
thanks.
(p.s:any kind will suffice.)"

Yeah, I do. I just finished writing "Take the Pilgrim Road." Here's a look at the opening page:

In the twilight of our glory, the sad longings of dreams gone by wither on the vines of our heritage. In the throes of a malignancy, casting a pall over the Lady of the Harbor, we send forth no clarion call for the world’s hungry and poor. We replaced our open arms for barriers to their entry, and we replaced the streets we paved with gold for the residue of broken dreams we exported back to the huddled masses. This land of opportunity has become a bastion of bellicose ballyhoos blasting one another’s ideas into oblivion. Truth is its greatest casualty. We don’t seek truth to bring minds together; we use it as fuel to blow them asunder.

Did Apollo cast his malignant arrow at our upstart nation? Or did our own success poison us? Are we the withering Empire of Rome? Or did we just lose our soul along the way? Our government ceased to be a democracy. No one knows when that happened and most would deny it anyway. The government that was owned by its citizens came to look upon its constituents as customers in the grandest corporate takeover ever. Chosen by the few and elected by the many, it served the fewer, with the beguiled masses convinced that it’s better this way.

We have a new kind of government, run as a business in the interest of business. Government has ceased to be a leader, creating order out of chaos. The new government brings the chaos. The American Party says government must cease to be a friend to the poor and the hungry. If one is poor and hungry, it’s one’s own fault. Let him find help in the church. Government must be used to protect the interests of the wealthy, for they create wealth.

Individuals don’t need government. Let them be enterprising and thrifty and full of spunky responsibility. If one finds he is in need of a job, let him create one, of his own resourcefulness. The American Party is the the stalwart party the nation would look to for leadership. They had the answers. Their opponents, the Populist Party, had all the problems according to the prevailing thought. Some people would say if we could get rid of the Populists we’d get rid of the problems too.

You can buy it at Amazon. It's available in kindle or paperback. Happy reading.

I would strongly recommend "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban. Challenging but worth the effort.

Here's a few I can recommend:

The White Plague

The Children of Men

A Canticle for Leibowitz