ok, so we all know dystopia’s the new vampire, right? and the new black, and the new harry potter, and the new … oh, screw it. y’all, we also all know dystopia is an awesome genre that’s been around for-like-ever and it’ll really REALLY suck if it gets screwed up now thanks to publishers jumping on the hunger-games bandwagon (not that it’s a terrible place to be. i mean, for a dystopia) because we here LOVE dystopia. i’d like to suggest a few badass dystopian classics everyone should get their grabby hands on before the publishers ruin the genre by flooding the market and/or finding the stephenie meyer of dystopia out there.
my highly scientific selection criteria included books that were at least kinda old (like, i did/coulda/shoulda read them as a YA) and were books i’ve read. so that’s why i might not have mentioned some truly badass dystopian novels like the chaos walking series, or some book you’ll be dying to recommend/wonder why i left it out (i can’t read everything, you know). see something missing? add it in the comments! bonus points for constructing yr concept of what the stephenie-meyer-of-dystopias book would be like (yeah, yeah, i know she did it already with the host – read it, gagged about the “it’s the woman’s fault she gets the shit beaten out of her by her boyfriend” message in it, over it).
now, in no particular order (other than the random one my scrambled brain spit out, and the order they were listed on goodreads when i searched for “dystopia” to find anything i’d missed), here ya go:
a wrinkle in time by madeline l’engle, published 1962
the whole book’s not a dystopia, but kamazotz was my very first intro to the wonderful world of total mind control and the loss of individuality, where i learned that “Alike and Equal are not the same thing at all.” plus, it introduces the totally swoonworthy couple of meg and calvin, and the crushworthy twins (although they’re not crushworthy until later on, in many waters). AND bonus — math and science are awesome, and awesome for girls!
shade’s children by garth nix, published 1997
i’ve already reviewed this book, but it’s a composite of the dystopian classics “harvest humans for parts/all the adults disappear leaving only children/artificial intelligence a la HAL9000″. and garth nix is just awesome (y’all, for some seriously badass zombie/fantasy shizz, check out the abhorsen trilogy). this is one of those books that’s the one that got away for me — i really REALLY wish i’d read it as a teenager, before the matrix came out and before i read a bunch of other similar, more recently published books. because i’d love to have this one as my reference point, not the other way around.
the handmaid’s tale by margaret atwood, published 1985
not a YA book, but since it’s often studied in school and is just generally awesome, i have to include it. my favorite thing about atwood’s dystopias is they’re so grounded in reality. she takes one crazy thing about our society — here it’s the rise of fundamentalist christian anti-feminist neo-cons (particularly the brainwashed female variety) — and tweaks and twists it to push it to its farthest believable limit, then builds a whole potential future around it. scary? you bet your ass. but whatever you do, don’t let the bastards get you down.
parable of the sower by octavia butler, published 1993
the u.s. is a complete disaster — overrun by disease and major cray cray — and people huddle together in walled neighborhoods, venturing out only in well-armed groups. lauren olamina suffers from “hyperempathy syndrome” and feels the pain of anyone she’s around (for reals, though — this is no bill clinton bullshit). when things go from as awful as you can imagine to even worse, she takes off with a backpack and survival guide (and mad girl scout skills) and ends up starting a new religion. it’s an awesome book (and series), and EVEN AWESOMER? lauren’s black. attention YA publishers: we like reading about non-white heroines. and seeing them on the covers of the books, kthx.
lord of the flies by william golding, published 1954
this one’s a no-brainer, just like the next one on the list, but who can leave out the island of feral boys? and poor piggy? and jack and simon? HEY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME? I HAVE THE CONCH. thank you.
1984 by george orwell, published 1949
again on the list of school assigned reading, but who hasn’t looked around and thought about big brother when getting yet another fucking privacy settings update from facebook? also awesome — secksin’ saves the day and is the key to freeing yr mind. and no damn talking pigs and horses.
the giver by lois lowry, published 1993
this one’s right up there with a wrinkle in time as one of the first truly mind-blowing books i ever read. i mean, yes, i was probably 10 yrs old so it didn’t take much (oooh, nope, it was published in 1993, so i had to be at least 12!), but still. a world where yr future is decided for you at age 12? *cough* magnet schools *cough*? it’s a classic false utopia rather than a dystopia — seems perfect, but evil lurks under the surface. extra fun fact: cover image came from this crazypants website.
day of the triffids by john wyndham, published 1951
i haven’t actually read this book, and i’m not sure it qualifies as a dystopia, but my husband insisted i include it. apparently it’s the MOST AWESOME BOOK EVER if you’re a 12-yo british boarding school boy (which he’s not anymore, don’t worry). and it’s about an alien invasion that makes everyone blind or insane or something, except for a few people, like john masen, who then has to save the world. bonus factor: audrey II.
what do y’all think? what are your recommendations for rescuing dystopia from the likes of stephenie meyer? what books totally rocked yr 12-yo world (actual or inner 12-yo, of course)?
and for bonus points, watch my favorite dystopian movie of all time — brazil. a world where bureaucracy and totalitarianism and an insane addiction to technology for technology’s sake are all melded together by terry gilliam to create the best nightmare ever, including the most creepy dolls you’ll ever see.
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BRAZIIIIIIIIIIIL. The first time I watched that movie I had a nightmare that involved being in an orgy with robots and then they removed my skin and started wearing it as a suit, only all the parts were in screwed up places, like my ears were attached to their hips, and they’d twist them when they were happy.
Ahem.
I love all of your recommendations! Also, ha ha, The Giver is going to make us love SATAN!
I actually think Stephenie Meyer’s version of dystopia WOULD be The Handmaid’s Tale. Only obvs the babies would be chewed out of the Handmaids, and then the Handmaids’s babies would be given to the Generals to become new Handmaids. And it wouldn’t be a dystopia, obvs, because that is like SMeyer’s perfect world.
It’s important to point out that SMeyer is super Mormon, and as a result I prefer to think of SMeyer as a Mormon genre author that accidently got picked up by the rest of the YA world and prefer to think Twilight is a big Narnia-esque Mormon allegory about finding the perfect eternal companion and was never really intended for our consumption. As an Ex-Mo I could talk about the Mormon connections in Twilight alllllll day, but I’ll spare you.
Her dystopia would be, like, a single-sex education planet, sort of like Sparta, where all promising girls were sent to play sports (gross!) and become hyper-educated but they could never be mommiez or have babiez. Obvs handsome men would have to come rescue them in the end and take them back to earth so they could live their dream of having mad babiez with their perfect husbandz and never having to do math again.
I loved Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix when I was little. I thought it would be kind of awesome to have a secret brother.
shyloh, i LOVE yr version of smeyer’s dystopia. PERfect. also — ex-mo. ha. that cracked me up.
and erin, i think yrs is right on, too. and yr brazil dream is totally freaky, and i can definitely understand where it came from.
The scary thing there is that – provided SMeyer hasn’t read that comment and already run off to start work on her [stolen] “new dystopia fantasy” (i.e. sex fantasy) – you could totally write that book yourself, and loads of tweens would buy it, and learn about how superior men are to us, and how our role in life is to have babies chewed out of us by men [who sparkle].
And you would make a damn lot of money. I think the only thing standing in your way here is your own sense of justice, and anti-Meyerism. Which I commend you for.
Thanks for the Octavia Butler rec. Her novel, Kindred (1970′s black woman time-travels to pre-Civil War South), is fantastic and I’d not heard of Sower.
Helen Ellis
helen, thanks for that rec! it sounds like a great book. i really like octavia butler.
Love these suggestions. Some of the more recent releases I’ve enjoyed are Feed by MT Anderson and Unwind by Neal Shusterman. You’ve already mentioned most of the ones I enjoyed when I was younger. Others that come to mind (I’m not sure they count as YA, or even dystopian in some cases): C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy (starting with That Hideous Strength), HG Wells’s Time Machine, Richard Adam’s Watership Down.
This is an awesome list! I am excited to say that I teach several of these novels and that my students (Bahamian middle schoolers with no background in this genre) eat them up. And it’s not even because it’s fun to say, “take off your tunic and lie on the bed” like Jonas in The Giver. We read a lot of short stories in our class, including the classics “Harrison Bergeron” and “The Veldt”. I agree with Shyloh, “Among the Hidden” is pretty radical!
I can’t wait to see more suggestions.
Oh man! Brazil! Watership Down! I didn’t really read dystopia until recently, but I have to say my new favorites are the Gone series and The Enemy. And The Gardner.
1984 rules. Julia made my Ocean’s 11 list.
Feed!! Someone mentioned Feed! It’s up there with THG as one of the best books of the past decade. Srsly. It’s a deceptively simple read with so much going on in the background, so many layers that every time I read it I think about it for days and days afterward. It’s a dystopia verging on apocalypse, and also a love story, and also a portrayal of today’s teens (and, ok, 20′s ish folks too) that will make you cry. HIGHLY recommended!
enders game by orson scott card blew my mind at 12 years old, 11 years later it is still my favorite book.
ender’s game HOLLA!!! you know what the scariest thing about that book was for me? the fact that they had to drink their pee. THEY HAD TO DRINK THEIR PEE. THAT IS SOME HARDCORE DYSTOPIAN SHIZZ RIGHT THERE.
I had to argue this list with my fiance who thought Handmaid’s Tale shouldn’t be on it (he hasn’t read it, natch) because it wasn’t YA enough? But I read it when I was 16 or 17 and it BLEW MY FREAKING MIND HOLE so it MUST stay on the list. And while I do NOT think HMT is a girl/woman’s book, I DO think it affected me a thousand times more bc I was one.
(Oh, I just got him to explain his opinion and he will NOT get over that you wrote 12 y.o. so he thinks this list is for 12 y.o.s — talk about taking things literally.)
I would also add Brave New World, which I’ve always liked more than 1984. I still cannot get over that that was written in the 30s, jeez. I haven’t read it, but We is supposed to be good and supposed to be the first big dystopian that a lot of others take from.
It’s half dystopian, but probably more sci fi, but the Tripod series is one of the best out there that was written for YA in mind. They were written in the 60s and are AWESOME.
I haven’t read Triffids, but I hear Wyndham’s other book, The Chrysalids, is also supposed to be great. And that lots of high schools read it (I think the main character is a YA).
I haven’t read the book, but I’m seen the movie version of Battle Royale, which I love. I think there’s a manga version too. But I’ve got to stop before I start talking about movies too ha.
‘We’ was a great book, I highly recommend that as well. Free sex, but imagination is a crime.
Wouldn’t that make the sex very boring?
Sex requires imagination?
It should!
the good kind does!
Nice! I’ve got it on my book shelf…just have to get around to reading it one of these days
i guess i should have been more clear — i just put the 12-yo thing there at the end because that’s when my husband read triffids, the last book mentioned. oops.
i actually really didn’t like brave new world. eep. i liked the first half, but then didn’t like the last half at all (i had the same issue with stranger in a strange land). but hey, glad others like it! that’s what we like to see here!
and the tripod series sounds intriguing!
Yeah, I mean, I got it, but he didn’t and then I made fun of him and he came on to defend himself lol.
Haven’t read BNW since I was a YA, so I’m not positive how much I’d like it now. Probably the first adult dystopian so that probably had a lot to do with my liking it.
The Tripod books are great! I don’t know too many people who have read them though. I’d love it if someone from this site read it, thought it might break my heart if they didn’t like it :/
aww. i’m definitely interested in reading them, and from yr recs, i think it’s a safe bet they’re gonna be AWESOME.
Now that my better half has exlpained that the list is more “things that teenagers can an do read” than “things written specifically for teenagers”, here’s my suggestions:
Brave New World : I consider this and 1984 the masterpieces of the genre.
Chrysalids: By the triffids author, actually a bit more of a dystopia than triffids (which is 28 days later with plants, and totally awesome, I wish I had read it at 12!)
We: Not quite as readable and exciting as 1984 and BNW, but has similar themes and predates them, bonus points for being written in Russia in 1921 and being the first Soviet banned book. Both Orwell and Huxley read this, and the consensus is they lifted from it.
That Hideous Strength: 3rd in C.S. Lewis’ sci-fi trilogy, but unlike the first two it skips some of the Space Jesus religious allegory and has a great dystopian plot here on Earth.
Harrison Bergeron: An excellent dystopian short story by Kurt Vonnegut, and all over the internet, so read it now if you haven’t!
A Clockwork Orange: I read this at 16, but I still dunno if it would qualify for this list as it is pretty intense for teens. It is amazingly written, and one of the most terrifying dystopias ever. Unlike the movie, the book does not delight in in the horrible things that happen, which were based on things Burgess saw and fell victim too himself.
great list, david! right, the books i mentioned are ones i read as an actual YA, even if they aren’t really all written FOR teenagers. i totally agree with clockwork orange — i read it in either 9th or 11th grade (same horrible english teacher both years, so i get confused). it was on a reading list from which we had to choose books to read and write about, and i purposely chose all the books my teacher mentioned she hated. so i read this one, a lot of faulker and the princess bride (i KNOW, i can’t believe she hated that one!). and i def. agree with yr assessment of clockwork orange — the version i had included the 21st chapter, which was not included in either the us or uk original publication (it’s been a long time, so i can’t remember exact details), and had the main character growing up and out of his viciousness.
and i remember reading about we when i read brave new world, but haven’t actually read it. must go fix that.
I loved the shit out of Harrison Bergeron when I read it as a kid. It blew my freaking mind!
And seconded on the A Clockwork Orange rec. (Though I also love the movie, because I find people who delight in being a sociopath to be quite entertaining. When they aren’t murdering you, that is.) SUCH a good book.
By the way, did you realize there are two versions of ‘Clockwork Orange’? The one with 21 chapters is the author’s version, the one with 20 is the publisher’s cut.
Yes, the 21 chapter version was what Burgess intended, but the publisher thought the “evil Alex” ending would be more attractive to American audiences and cut the last chapter. Kubrick wasn’t even aware of the 21st chapter until he was almost through filming, and still preferred to leave it out. I think most modern versions include the last chapter, which does change the meaning a lot. Burgess has said he wished he could undo writing the book because leaving out the crucial final chapter changes the message to something he does not approve of.
I often have trouble convincing people to read the book because they are horrified by the movie. I think the movie is great, but it certainly does not include the morality that is in the book.
david, i just want to say THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING. we need more dudes on this site (not that we don’t love our brian).
Sci-fi/post-A/dystopian features are good for getting the boys to crawl out of the woodwork!
*cue footloose soundtrack at “let’s hear it for the boy” and watch all the boys run away …*
srsly, we’re SO GLAD to have you!
still trying to get him to read Hunger Games though…..
My husband devoured the Hunger Games and then gave it to a kid in his class (Hubby is an English teacher) and now we have to buy a second set b/c all the teen boys want to read it. Tell David that.
this is such a great list! i’ve read all except the octavia butler book and as i was scrolling down, i was thinking “she better include The Giver. it’s the best ever!”
and now i’m going to have to reread a hella lotta L’Engle.
Ender’s Game…great! Really liked MazeRunner although not sure that it’s totally dystopia. Checked a dystopia book called Deception out of the library this afternoon. (plus its sequel). Anxious to see if it’s any good.
Yay Maze Runner!
I would call it a false utopia, but that’s pretty much the same thing! I actually love False Utopias best of all the dystopic/post-apocalyptic/etc genre.
Declaration, not Deception…bah.
Good book! Nothing earth shattering, but a decent read!
meghan, I really have nothing to add, but I just wanting to thank you for sticking to (what i believe) is true dystopia. doesn’t it seem that nowadays people just interchange “post-apocolyptic” and “dystopia” as if they are the same?
like HELLO THERE IS A DIFFERENCE read a (dystopian) book
Oooo, that said, you all should make a post-apocalypse list as well! Thought I can’t really think of too much YA PA off the top of my head.
Maybe you all should do YA reading lists for lots of different genres! Though I’m glad you guys posted this one, since dystopian is one of my all time favs.
right! i mean, sometimes an apocalypse is all we need to get rid of the bastards in charge … um, i mean start things off clean. right? hello? you guys, are you still here?
but srsly, we could get all kinds of technical and talk about post-apocalyptic, dystopia and false utopia (like the giver). maybe it’s just because it’s easier to throw out one word to sum everything up instead of thinking about finer differences. kind of like in politics.
OH, and i totally forgot to include this link, but there’s a v v interesting critique of dystopia in YA lit as an allegory (not quite the right word, but i’m operating on half-caf coffee today) for high school, and why it’s slightly different from grownup dystopia. from the new yorker (thanks, posh, for finding this!). i linked it in a comment on another post a while back, but here it is again.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller
haha yes! I mean, I do agree that there are many instances of blurring the line, and many books that are both, but it just annoys me when there’s a booklist that’s called like “apocolypse now!” and it’s all straight dystopias or calling something like “How I Live Now” a dystopia. Like, WHAT?
EXCELLENT post. I’m a huge lover of the dystopian novels. I actually took a master’s class in college called Victorian Dystopia about, well, that. SO GOOD.
The Giver rocked my shit as a kid.
meredith, i would go back to college JUST FOR THAT CLASS.
Totally worth it! And the professor was a DREAM. He was from South Africa and had a gorgeous accent and wore, like, cloaks and shit. LOVED HIM.
Read as an adult, but think it must be read:
House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer
Future world where North America has new boundaries. Clones. Politics and drug lords. Border wars and insane immigration policies. I think someone basically bought Texas and turned it into hell on earth, to boot.
I also enjoyed Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, which is a kind of companion to The Giver. I liked it better than The Giver, but I’m not a huge fan of The Giver. I don’t really buy the role that Jonas plays as necessary or likely in that story.
Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward is an honest-to-goodness utopia, set in (IIRC) 1888/1988. It’s unintentionally both ironic and hilarious in that he imagines a military socialist state BUT for some reason everything turns out peachy instead of winding up with 1984. Maybe Julia managed to turn things around? ;D