Video: 3 Good Dystopian Novels

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Dystopia! Could it actually happen? Let’s hope not.

Here are 3 good books about a world-torn-apart dystopia that’s completely fictional and unrealistic…I hope.

1. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

   I find myself thinking about this story a lot lately. In it, a new president forcefully takes power and the new regime very quickly strips power from all but the elite. News and communication with the rest of the world is censored or banned, women lose their rights to be much more than puritanical laborers or breeders, and obedience is enforced by death. Surely this couldn’t happen…right?…right?

2. When She Woke by Hillary Jordan.

   A woman awakens in jail, her skin pigmented red to match her crime. This is another puritanical dystopia in which people are held to insane standards and publicly shamed when they slip. There’s one character in this book I think I’m supposed to be sympathetic towards whom I feel is whiny in his self-flagellation. Otherwise, though, it’s an interesting concept.

3. The Giver by Lois Lowry.

   This is the gold standard of dystopian novels, right? Most kids have to read it as part of their school curriculum. My favorite part of the book is the ambiguous ending, which I don’t think a ton of kids are able to quite understand as being ambiguous quite yet. And yes, I know I’m being hypocritical because I’ve often expressed distaste for how often authors overuse ambiguous endings. But it works here.

Got any other book ideas? I know there have got to be a lot of dystopian novels I haven’t gotten my hands on yet.

I know I’m missing some. The Hunger Games trilogy comes to mind, as does 1984 and The Road. Let me know which dystopian novels you’ve enjoyed.

Okay, “enjoyed” might be too strong a word for the subject matter. How about “endured.”

Thanks for watching!