The best dystopia books 📚

This is the best novel I will never read again. Except I’ve said that before. And then I read it again. I like hope, and this post-apocalyptic novel (not a pandemic, but almost everyone is dead, so it’s in the same vein) is short on hope.

And yet. The Road is gorgeous. It’s the story of The Man and The Boy on The Road in a devastated world. They have nothing but a shopping cart with a rearview mirror hooked up so they can get advanced warning of predators.

And they have love. This father and son love each other… show more.

Also, science fiction stories of past eras are an opportunity for a glimpse into the psyche of their times. I like that sort of thing.

I have never reread a book as many times as I have Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. To me, it stands out among other classics in this genre because Bradbury leaves so much room for imagination. His style gives you space on the page for your own struggles to fill the gaps and to expand the world into something that changes and grows every time you read it. 

Everyone should read Fahrenheit 451 at least once, but my recommendation would be to pick it up every few years and see how time has changed its personal resonances while at the… show more.

Hulu’s production of The Handmaid’s Tale has made the television show quite popular, but to know the power of this story, I strongly recommend reading the novel. The beauty of this work is in how personal Atwood makes this dystopian tale about the control of women’s bodies that, in 2022, is alarmingly close to our own realities. Like the white blinders that restrict the protagonist Offred’s vision, Atwood’s aperture is also small, thereby tying our vision closely to that of the main character’s. This, in turn, lends an incredible amount of dynamic tension to the novel, and we truly feel… show more.