Hello readers! This week, I’ve been in Oxford exploring their cultural scene. On returning from my travels, I was struck with a desire to read more about dystopian literature, a topic that, sadly, I do not know well.

To rectify this problem, I’ve asked my trusted advisor on all things dystopian, Charlee Buzzard, to inform me on the wonders of the genre and why narratives that follow the destruction of whole civilisations are actually a fantastic source of literary pleasure!

Brave New World

Often cited alongisde Orwell’s 1984 as a classic work of dystopian fiction, it is difficult to compress the scope of Aldous Huxley’s work into a few lines. The novel explores capitalism, genetic engineering, human passivity, the loss of individuality and much more. This book should be read by every human being for its eloquent articulation of a society that pursues stability and contentment above purpose or meaning. 

The Handmaid’s Tale & MaddAddam Trilogy

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is an undeniably powerful book. In a totalitarian theocracy where fertility is rare, Offred’s body has been claimed by the state for reproductive purposes. More recently, Atwood’s MaddAddam novels deal with the collapse of civilisation, the power of storytelling, beginnings and endings. As ever, Atwood’s writing is beautiful, brutal and strange.

The Children Of Men

P. D. James explores in chilling detail the whimper of mankind approaching extinction, when sudden and absolute infertility strikes the human population. James’ novel is compellingly readable, with the pace and tension of a good thriller yet rich and deep in its themes. 

The Chrysalids

Better known as author of The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham here presents a post-nuclear world inhabited by a Puritan-style community who abhor any genetic mutation. Wyndham is adept at creating a sense of the familiar, and as we read about David, hiding his mutation from the rest of community, the intolerance and commitment to ‘purity’ that surrounds him is a pattern we can easily recognise.

Fahrenheit 451

Worth reading for Ray Bradbury’s  unusual writing style alone, this novel centres upon a world in which books are forbidden and, when located, burnt by ‘firemen’. Published in 1953, Fahrenheit 451 is not a dated read. The emptiness of Bradbury’s world, with its substitution of intimacy and thought for rapid and meaningless entertainments serves as an enduring threat to the modern world.

The Declaration

As the teenage (and all too human) desire for meaning and identity lends itself well to a protagonist’s struggle against a totalitarian state, many of us get our first experience of dystopian literature at a young age. Suzanne Collin’s The Hunger Games will be known by many but Gemma Malley’s The Declaration contains an interesting premise in a population struggling to cope with immortality.