George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, an English writer who died in 1950 at the age of 46. His best-known works are the novels Animal Farm (1945) and 1984 (1949), both of which are dystopian novels. This year marks the 75th anniversary of George Orwell’s death. The Royal Mint of the UK has announced that they are releasing a £2 coin to honor Orwell’s writing contributions. The coin will feature the iconic phrase “Big Brother is Watching”, which is taken from 1984.
The book 1984 describes an imagined future in which much of the world is at war, and Great Britain has become part of a totalitarian regime headed by a dictator called Big Brother. During Orwell’s lifetime, he said that the book was a satire as well as a cautionary tale. In response to criticism when the book was published, he indicated that the world he had penned could happen, not that it necessarily would happen.
A case can be made that all dystopian books are satire, or contain elements of it. Satire uses exaggeration to expose faults or vices, and most dystopian novels describe exaggerated worlds where imbalances (in behavior or ideology) have led to suffering or injustice. If you are a fan of dystopian novels, you can follow 1984 with some of these titles:
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011) - Virtual reality masks a bleak existence in this dystopian story, where a young man searches for hidden keys that will change his future.
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993) - In a ravaged world, a young African American woman has a trait that causes her to feel others’ pain.
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985) -Handmaids, in this totalitarian regime, are conscripted from the few women who are still fertile, and subjected to rigid social roles.
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014) - Shakespearean actors in a post-apocalyptic world weave a story of relationships that moves back and forth through time.
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953) - Books are illegal, and firefighter Guy Montag’s job is to burn the books - and the houses in which they were found.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) - Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a father and son’s harrowing journey through a post-apocalyptic America.
- The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993) - In a colorless world, a young boy is chosen to receive all the memories - and truths - of his flawed world.
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008) - Each district in a dystopian North America sends human tributes annually to the Hunger Games, a life-or-death battle for a better life.
- The Stand by Stephen King (1978) - After a flu virus kills 99% of the world’s population, a handful of survivors must choose between two powerful leaders.
All of the titles on this list have movie or TV adaptations, some of which are in production.
New at the Library
Fiction
- Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Vendetta by Brian Freeman
- The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan
- Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix
Nonfiction
- Knitting with Dog Hair: Better a Sweater from a Dog You Know and Love Than From a Sheep You’ll Never Meet by Kendall Crolius
- Beautiful Rocks & How to Find Them: A Modern Rockhound’s Guide by Alison Jean Cole
- Gray Matters: A Biography of Brain Surgery by Theodore H. Schwartz
Children
- To See an Owl by Matthew Cordell
- Olive’s Angry Day by Megan Borgert-Spaniol
- The Last Dragon on Mars by Scott Reintgen
