r/literature•
VBoheme

Dystopian Lit - Which Style Works Better For You?

Discussion

Question: What particular subgenre (or style, I'll get to this in a sec) of dystopia appeals to you the most?

You've got Gibson on the cyberpunk end, Orwell in the adult/political sense, Fahrenheit in the YA set (technically), The Hunger Games (which has yet to prove its staying power, but IMO has potential).

Which provides the take on it you best relate to both as reader and lover of literature?

For me, Fahrenheit is my perennial fave because it takes something mundane (firefighters) and turns it into both an important point and statement of society. Bradbury's YA stuff is the best take on it for me. Because it often works with simple ideas and transforms them into something else entirely. Orwell (though I do like his stuff) doesn't translate as well to me, because it works with higher level or very specific things. Animal Farm, case in point. And to me, the same is true of Gibson. Love Neuromancer, but the fact is - it's not widely relatable, Gibson's style aside. It focuses on the dystopia of a time, not the dystopia that more feasibly could be (see 1984. It could well happen).

To relate back to Fahrenheit specifically, the underlying thing with it is government reeducation and destruction of conflicting ideology. As far as how "real" it could be, in the way Bradbury does it, it could be. But as far as relation to the real world? Maybe not so much, especially how things are today (internet, etc).

That said - I also read for escapism, so there's that. For my tastes, I don't like the hyperrealistic stuff when I'm trying to read in my downtime. And thus, not claiming my opinion as law.

So what's your dystopian poison?

Posted Apr 13, 2013, 9:11 PM UTC

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