To be fair, I am not an avid reader by any means. I barely read books outside of the required ones during my GCSE period. But the books that I did read were mostly fiction and I will explore a little bit about what interests me. Another English related fact about me is that I am in no means a very fast reader, but still, hope to read more than just the assigned books (maybe more in the holidays).
The first time I read ‘1984’ by George Orwell, I did not enjoy the ending at all. It cast a very depressing image on how life can work. But after using it as a text for my classic reads in class, it made me realize how much more impactful it created for me. That because of such a distressing ending, it caused me to think about my own perspective more critically. How democracy can function and what it could possibly evolve into.
The book that I introduced myself with, ‘Your Second Life Only Begins When You Realise You Only Have One’ may at first seem like a self-help book. But it isn’t as blunt as that. It followed the story of a woman who lived a very monotonous life, working a desk job, and trying her best to raise her family. But through the help of a new mentor in her life, she learns methods to take back control of her life. This book explored many avenues of life and how we approach it through pessimistic lenses, and the character took on her mentors suggestions on how to change to a more positive one; eventually leading to a successful change to her desired career and forming better connections with those around her. It was a short and sweet realistic fiction book.
Another book that has caught my eye is ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley. This book was mentioned in the beginning introductory section of ‘1984’, and through google searches turned out to be another classic book that had great relevance to a depiction of society. Though I intended to read it during my summer, I only started it right at the end of my holidays. From what I grasp so far in the first part of the book, though the story is a dystopian narrative, it is not as harsh and violent as the 1984’s portrayal, but still just as creepy and of a scary future to envision.
From this, I hope to have portrayed a little bit about what I am like as a reader. A style of book I also want to explore is biographies. One that I am particularly interested in is Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’, an autobiography as it was recommended to me by a friend and my mom. Though I feel that I might be swarmed by schoolwork before I get the chance to.
Nice taste in dystopia. What does this kind of reading say about you!?
Any interesting ideas about representation in them?
Reading dystopian has always been a fun genre for me to delve into. What attracts me is the idea that even in the worst kind of situations, there can be a protagonist that upholds his or her own values and in someway be a good person to overcome some challenges, etc.
I think these two books are both interesting alternative dystopian futures of how a government with too much control over society can lead to a terrible future. They explored how we should consider how governments manage/create a dynamic between citizens and government power.