7 Novels That Depict Present-Tense Dystopias
When you pick up a book described as “dystopian,” it’s natural to assume you’ll be reading science fiction set in the future. But that’s not always the case—certainly some would argue dystopian societies exist right now in the real world, and some authors obviously think so too, because their dystopian visions are set in the here-and-now, or, at best a few moments in the future. These seven novels don’t need to travel forward in time to make us feel unsafe, oppressed, and paranoid about the world we live in.
The Circle, by Dave Eggers
Eggers’ spectacularly depressing novel about a social media company that slowly encroaches on every aspect of privacy brilliantly plays on the concept of “Big Brother” without explicitly name-checking Orwell. Instead of societal laws, Eggers’ protagonist Mae repeats The Circle’s corporate mantras—Sharing is Caring, Privacy is Theft, Secrets are Lies—mantras that wouldn’t be out of place in 1984. Although the technology is slightly advanced from where we are right now, the novel isn’t really set in—or about—the future. We’re already living in an age in which oversharing is the new normal, we sell our privacy in exchange for trinkets, and subject ourselves to monitoring by corporations who are edging their way into every corner of our lives, from our thermostats to our medical records.
Bend Sinister, by Vladimir Nabokov
If your knowledge of Nabokov begins and ends with Lolita, it’s worth reading this earlier novel, which received little attention when first published, but remains chilling to this day. In a small Eastern European town, the Party of the Average Man assumes control. Disparaging any differences between people, the Party enforces equality by denying that anyone is different in needs or ability, and quickly moves to crush all opposition—including that of the renowned philosopher Krug, schoolmate and childhood bully of the leader of the Party, Paduk. As the Party’s efforts to make everyone exactly the same grow increasingly violent, Krug suffers endless torments, even after he gives in and agrees to support the regime. Bleak and violent, the story has nothing to do with the future and could conceivably happen—or be happening—right now.
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Golding’s classic isn’t often thought of as a dystopia, precisely because it’s not set in the future—but it is one, certainly. This exploration of what might happen if children, not yet completely educated and socialized, were forced to create their own society, is a stark consideration of the many, many ways societies can go wrong once the comforts and protections of a functioning civilization are removed. As the children descend into fear, superstition, and appeal to bare animal strength, the island sours, turning from a paradise without chores or homework into a primitive hell—something Golding clearly believes could happen anywhere. The island setting makes the novel more or less timeless—the same story could be told at almost any time in human history, past, present, or future.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
Another novel that isn’t often described as a dystopia (it’s not set in the future, nor is it science fiction)—but it is a dystopia. From the moment McMurphy arrives in the hospital, his entire world narrows down to the ward, run by the controlling, intolerant Nurse Ratched. McMurphy rebels and seeks to subvert Nurse Ratched’s authority, slowly coming to see his fellow inmates as human beings in need of respect, and his rage at Ratched builds to a violent outburst that ends very, very badly. Considering the book’s themes of individual freedom versus societal control, if Kesey had stated in the first chapter that the it was set in the future, it would be regarded as a dystopian classic.
Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk
Another novel that’s not really science fiction and not set in the future, Fight Club clearly views our present day world as dystopian. From the unnamed Narrator’s obsession with materialism, to his deadened hatred of his job and entire existence, to the ease with which Tyler Durden subverts civilization simply by giving men a violent outlet for their darkest impulses, the world inhabited by the Narrator is hellish. This society has broken to the point where it simply can’t be fixed—or is it the Narrator who is beyond repair? The novel raises the question of whether dystopias arise from outside forces or the interior decay of the people who live in them.
Flowertown, by S.G. Redling
Redling’s novel finds dystopia once again in an isolated location, as the residents of a town are poisoned by a leak of pesticides. Thousands die, but the survivors are forced into a facility where the spread of the toxins can be halted. There, they are given drugs that keep them alive but cause them to give off a sweet scent, earning the facility the nick-name “Flowertown.” The dystopia isn’t in the disaster, though—it’s in the way the facility is allowed to disintegrate due to the difficulty of getting people into it for repairs. As life inside becomes more and more desperate, everything begins to break down. It’s an examination of the way our society treats the sick, the dispossessed, and victims in general. It’s not a pretty picture.
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand’s famous novel of Objective philosophy and endless monologuing isn’t technically set in the “real” world; her version of the United States is a little sideways from our reality of the 1950s. This slightly alternate universe isn’t the future, but rather a past present day massaged in support of a philosophical argument, a story in which America is a dystopia because the talented, the wealthy, and the exceptional are required to carry the masses on their broad backs. Rand’s simple question is, what would happen if all the truly talented people just decided to stop carrying everyone else? Atlas Shrugged is still controversial, a dystopian novel written by a woman who saw dystopia all around her.