The Bar Code Tattoo - 78/81

The Bar Code Tattoo, by Suzanne Weyn, teen category

The government knows everything about you. Where you live, where you work, your entire genetic code. And they keep track of you. But only for your own protection, of course. You have no reason to complain - unless you have something to hide. Right?

Kayla is a high school student with a talent for art, but when she refuses to get the bar code tattoo, her defiance starts making trouble for her in all kinds of unexpected ways. Who can she trust? Where can she hide?

This dystopian novel for teens is so close to reality on so many levels, that it makes for a slightly uncomfortable read. Could this really happen? I like to hope not, but I may of course be wrong.

I enjoyed the world in this one. The setting was very well done, and the ramifications well imagined in their chilling consequences. But the characters were not as well done, so I'm only giving it 4 stars. Still, a quick read that will still have me thinking for days to come.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (43/81)

Category: Dystopia and Apocalyse

I've renamed the category from just being Dystopia as this book and The Road are probably more about apocalyptic situations than technically dystopian societies.

I vaguely remembered The Day of the Triffids from the television series when I was a child, so I was expecting an adventure story about killer plants. I was expecting it to be dated and corny, but it was a complete revelation. It seemed so modern, it must have felt so ahead of its time when it was first published. The triffids appear directly in the book infrequently, so they remain an ominous when they could have so easily become a silly idea.

The book really does ask some big questions about what people would do faced with the destruction of society, and it succeeds in making you think about it. Some parts of it were actually rather upsetting to read which again I wasn't expecting.

I'll be returning to John Wyndham again.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (31/81)

Category: Dystopia

In case you are one of the few people who hasn’t already read the Pulitzer Prize winning novel “The Road”, I will explain that it is about an unnamed father and son walk along a road in America in the post-apocalyptic future. It is a very bleak depiction of the future, with a barren landscape and society crumbled to horrific lawlessness and immorality.

The other dystopian novels I’ve read so far have all described the system in place to rule society and largely these are intended as utopias but that have gone wrong. But there is nothing of that here. Society has completely crumbled and it is pretty much every man for himself. This is by far the darkest portrait of the future that I’ve read, and yet at the same time it was the most effecting.

Amongst the horrors of the desolate landscape, there is the relationship between the man and the son, which is an incredibly touching portrait and despite the world seeming very alien, this relationship always felt real.

“The Road” is a difficult read, not because of the lack of punctuation around reported speech, but because of the raw emotions and terrifying vision it depicts. Highly recommended but best read in private as it has the power to reduce you to tears.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (18/81)

Category: Dystopia

Guy Montag is a fireman, but in this vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires, they start them. Their job is to burn books, which are now illegal, being blamed for causing unrest in a population discouraged from thinking. After meeting a free-spirited young neighbour, Guy begins to question his life and work.

As an avid reader, I found the idea of a world without books an appauling, chilling prospect, so I was fascinated by the premise of this book. Unfortunately I did not feel that the book itself delivered on the promise. It is quite a short book, more of a novella, but apparently it was fleshed out from an even shorter original. Still at this length, I felt it lacked depth, both in the characters it portrayed (who never quite seemed real to me, just types to convey the story) and in the society which didn't seem as fully realised as the dystopia of Brave New World. Perhaps it did suffer in comparison in my mind to Brave New World as I loved that so much. I thought this seemed rather dated now, not so much in the dystopian vision which still has resonance, but in the writing.

I read the 50th anniversary edition which contained an introduction and afterword by the author that explained the genesis of the book, coming from several short stories he had written, which made me think that they might have been more interesting or this would have been better kept as a short story.

The Declaration by Gemma Malley (12/81)

Category: Dystopia

In the near future people live forever taking a drug called Longevity, but because of population growth putting a strain on the world's resources, anyone taking the drug must sign "The Declaration" that prevents them from having children. This book is about the children born as "Surpluses" whose parents broke the law in giving birth to them.

This is a Young Adult book, which I don’t normally read, but it was a good fit with my dystopia theme. The society presented here is as plausible as any created in the adult dystopian novels I’ve read, but the execution of it is much more simple. The narrator outlines most of the principles of the society straightaway, so you don’t have to try to figure things out for yourself. Therefore, despite it being a thought-provoking read, it was a very easy read. It reminded me of “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro as that is written from a similar perspective, but it lacked that book’s subtlety and it lacked that book’s emotional power.

There was also a “twist” in this story, which I thought was obvious, but I did think the ending was very good. However, I see there is a sequel and I’m not sure that I will rush to read that, as I think the dystopian element that attracted me to this book was explored fully here.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (4/81)

Category: Dystopia
(would also fit 1001 Books to Read Before You Die category if I need to overlap)

I dropped another category before the challenge began in favour of the Dystopia category after reading “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. I realised that I am fascinated by these visions of the future and whilst I’d read 1984 and A Clockwork Orange, there were still some classics of the genre that I had shamefully never read. The most obvious example being “Brave New World”, which I was determined to read this year.

I’ve no idea why it has taken me so long to get around to reading “Brave New World”. Perhaps it was just never in stock in the library! I suspect I might have felt a little bit daunted by it too. I think I had in my mind that it was going to be a challenging read. This misconception was blown away within a few pages. It is actually an incredibly easy read in terms of the language used and the accessibility of the plot, but that is not to say that it is a light read as Huxley’s novel provides much food for thought.

Before reading it, I didn’t actually know what the future society in the book was like and again I was surprised to find that it wasn’t portrayed as entirely bleak. Rather than a totalitarian state oppressing the masses, the society could be seen as a utopia. Unhappiness, loneliness, old age and disease do not exist, everyone knows their place in society and is happy with their lot. Unfortunately certain things have been sacrificed to achieve this, namely God, the family, individuality and creativity. The question is raised as to whether “happiness” is the highest goal man can achieve, and the happiness portrayed here is a hollow state, reached through a combination of chemicals, meaningless sexual encounters and rabid consumerism. The portrayal of this “ideal” society where all of our accepted morals and foundations of society (religion, parenthood, marriage, monogamy and nature) are considered “savage” and their opposites held as civilised makes some parts of the novel very humorous to read on one level.

Brave New World was written in the 1930s and Huxley’s predictions for the future were scarily accurate and he saw many of these things come true in his lifetime as materialistic values replaced traditional values. Before reading it, I did wonder if it may now seem dated, but it is just as relevant now, perhaps more so as we are in some ways almost living in this brave new world.

I absolutely loved this book and would encourage anyone who hasn't read it to read it immediately. A deserved classic.