/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.18222586]

Why are dystopian books so popular? What is it about this genre that attracts people?

[Anonymous No.18222596]

>>18222586
I honestly think a lot of people are bored with their lives and self-insert into media to cope.

[Anonymous No.18222598]

>>18222586
makes politics less boring

[Anonymous No.18222626]

Is it Fahrenheit four five one, Fahrenheit four fifty one, Fahrenheit forty five one, or Fahrenheit four hundred and fifty one?

[Anonymous No.18222758]

>>18222626
Can't tell if you're memeing or ESL, but people tend to pronounce larger numbers (numbers over 100) by pronouncing the the first digit (in this case, 4) as its single digit name and the rest as if it were its own number. So in this case it is generally pronounced Four-Fifty-One. Though you can pronounce it really however you like, but generally, especially in cases with units of measurement, its pronounced how I mentioned above. Also, why is Animal Farm on there? Is it considered dystopian? Its more about animals on a farm rather than a terrible future. I can't describe it as clearly as I'd like, but it doesn't seem dystopian to me. Why not just put Brave New World on there instead of two Orwells?

[Anonymous No.18222798]

They present the worst possible version of a political ideology, and allow people who are otherwise incapable of any political understanding to easily liken anything they don't agree with to 1984/animal farm/Fahrenheit/handmaids tale/whatever without any independent thought. In the end, people just want to read whatever agrees with them, and books like these consistently position the side opposite of the author as just purely evil bad guys without any nuance. "If [other side] does [thing] then this is literally [dystopian story]. Reminds me of this old youtube sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-_JhRJ0tWA Also, it makes you seem smart even when you aren't if you mention a book.

[Anonymous No.18222914]

I like reading them because if written well they might be plausible some day and that's interesting and entertaining to me. Also the concepts of freedom, oppression, free will. Interesting themes tbqh.

[Anonymous No.18222917]

>>18222586
Pseuds really enjoy discussing Bradbury and especially Orwell, it makes them feel smart to compare 1984 for example, to whatever situation they want.

[Anonymous No.18222923]

>>18222758
>people tend to pronounce larger numbers (numbers over 100) by pronouncing the the first digit (in this case, 4) as its single digit name and the rest as if it were its own number
no they don't

[Anonymous No.18222933]

>>18222586
Because they portray a "utopia" and show how the human condition will never allow such a thing to exist

[Anonymous No.18222946]

>>18222626
>Fahrenheit četiri pet jedan

[Anonymous No.18223028]

>>18222586
Agree OP, your thoughts are reinforcing so if you're constantly reading about dystopias and thinking "OMG our society is so Orwellian" it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
We should get more people to read this bad boy instead.

[Anonymous No.18223042]

They reduce the narrative to a series of interpersonal relationships and make the events of the world unfold as a result of those relationships and their interactions. It’s the perfect sort of setting for societies which are now mainly concerned with social goings on.

[Anonymous No.18223065]

Is the Year of Our Lord Nineteen-Hundred and Eighty-Four any good?

[Anonymous No.18223087]

>>18222586
The idea is to make high schoolers think about the future critically and not take the golden age for granted
If the populace becomes passive then it'll be like [X meme book]
It's a contemporary schizo shit post by the writers and a cautionary tale for the underage readers

[Anonymous No.18223186]

>>18222586
It's cathartic, because our societies are currently controlled by shitty, selfish, petty tyrants who nevertheless present themselves as being benevolent, selfless servants of the greater good. This is nauseating and infuriating, so it's a release to read books which portray power structures as shitty and evil, instead of being gaslit to about those institutions are actually good

[Anonymous No.18223207]

>>18222586
It's cathartic, because our societies are currently controlled by shitty, selfish, petty tyrants who nevertheless present themselves as being benevolent, selfless servants of the greater good. This is nauseating and infuriating, so it's a release to read books which portray power structures as shitty and evil, instead of being gaslit about how those institutions are actually good

[Anonymous No.18223235]

>>18222586
Read "Return from the Stars" by Lem. It's very simillar to Brave New World but much more complex and from a more down-to-earth human prespective.

[Anonymous No.18223722]

>>18223065
It's alright at best.

[Anonymous No.18224822]

>>18222586
>tfw non-fiction is becoming a dystopian genre

>male bias sex ratio, ~51.3% [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413335/]
>used to be mitigated by higher rates of miscarriage, infant mortality, and fatalities in tribal warfare
>no longer the case due to medical advances, resulting in persistent young male surplus
>coupled with inverted population pyramid in developed world
Darrell Bricker
Empty Planet: Preparing for the Global Population Decline
youtube.com/watch?v=bSAgHvETNSg

>developing world has male child preference and achieved through sex selective abortion
>india with 35 million surplus males
Valerie Hudson
The First Political Order
youtube.com/watch?v=q_I1Cja1czk

>resultant demographic imbalance, male/female and old/young have massive geopolitical repercussions
Peter Zeihan
Disunited Nations
youtube.com/watch?v=3_GrDbcC0N4

George Friedman
The Storm Before the Calm
youtube.com/watch?v=8qbhWdorC4M

>men are checking out of society, nothing to live for
Dr. Nicholas Eberstadt
Men Without Work
youtube.com/watch?v=d43Z3GnTrqs

>this is a precursor to chaos
Peter Turchin
Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall
youtube.com/watch?v=TttZmYRIILU

[Anonymous No.18224894]

>>18224822
Here's my new ingenious plan:
>suck it up
>simp for a roastie
>get married and have a kid
>pray it's a girl
>said girl can go on to be some guy's girlfriend so that he won't have to live the same existence as I have had to
I call it the Empathic or Selfess Cuck. What do you think?

[Anonymous No.18224919]

>>18222586
We live in a dystopia.

[Anonymous No.18224931]

>>18222586
jews prepping people for the nwo

[Anonymous No.18224944]

Because they're inherently simplistic. They're essentially one step up from YA and genre fiction in literary terms, lacking the thematic, narrative, and emotional complexity of actual literature. They also affirm the pervasive faux-pessimism of recent Western culture and are easy to graft on to any political program.

[Anonymous No.18224951]

Are there any dystopian books out there set in a fantasy dystopia? Magic, dragons, goblins, etc.

[Anonymous No.18224976]

>>18224951
The first book that came to mind

[Anonymous No.18224982]

>>18222626
>Fahrenheit four fifty one
I usually hear this.
t. American

[Anonymous No.18225416]

>>18224951
Perdido Street Station

[Anonymous No.18225452]

>>18222586
Idk it’s kinda like how chicks love true crime. It’s because they want to be murdered.

[Anonymous No.18225692]

>>18224976
>>18225416
Thank you, anon

[Anonymous No.18225722]

>>18222586
Because everything going to shit implies new opportunities emerge.

[Anonymous No.18225727]

>>18222626
It's four five one

[Anonymous No.18225745]

[Anonymous No.18225888]

>>18223065
You mean One Thousand Nine Hundred and Eighty Four?

[Anonymous No.18225894]

>>18222586
Reminder that pic related is the grand daddy of the dystopian genre and it predated the books in the OP.

[Anonymous No.18225901]

>>18225894
Reee forget pic

[Anonymous No.18226866]

>>18224894
Kek, very beautiful.

[Anonymous No.18226889]

>>18222626
>Fahrenheit four fifty one
fo fiddy wah

[Anonymous No.18226899]

>>18225901
Was I too stupid to get this book? So many numbers and math, what was the point?

[Anonymous No.18226918]

>>18222626
Fahrenheit quatre cent cinquante et un.

[Anonymous No.18228406]

They are fun to read.

[Anonymous No.18228618]

>>18222626
Fahrenheit 451

[Anonymous No.18228631]

>>18228618
Are the previous 450 entries in the franchise any good?

[Anonymous No.18228648]

>>18228631
Eh, it grew bad around the a hundred and sixty six, but it does get a little bit better around three hundred and two

[Anonymous No.18229085]

>>18222758
What country are you from? This isn't true, everyone I know would say 'four hundred and fifty one' if they were saying it properly. Othwerwise it sounds like you're saying a time ('4:51'). But in this case to shorten the title I'd pronounce it 'four five one'

[Anonymous No.18229121]

Handmaid’s Tale is a unique one.
The reason women always bring it up during a fit of hysterics over abortion is a subconscious act of reverse psychological manipulation towards men. Deep down they all secretly fantasize about being rounded up and treated like cattle

[Anonymous No.18229364]

>>18222586
The idea that the boring, soul crushing samness of life comes to an end, and that the protagonist (surrogate for the reader) is one of the select galaxy brain few who both realize the wrongness of it all, and have a spine so as to try and stand up to it.

Unlike the actual reader who, if they were to be in a dystopia, would STILL be spineless conformists.

[Anonymous No.18229382]

I don't like when they construct all these elaborate systems. 1984 is great because of its thoughts about language, not so much the detailed "world building" or whatever. Like who gives a shit.

[Anonymous No.18229407]

>>18224894
If you want my daughter, you better be well read.

[Anonymous No.18230720]

>>18222586
Power fantasy.

[Anonymous No.18230733]

>>18222586
Politics and Horror

[Anonymous No.18230747]

>>18222586
I think some anon in the other thread made the point that The Giver is the one that made it into the hands of students, and that sets off a reaction where there is demand for more dystopian world content.

[Anonymous No.18231306]

>>18222626
It’s 451

[Anonymous No.18232042]

>>18222586
Its the potentiality that we survive long enough to be in one ourselves

[Anonymous No.18232320]

>>18222586
Best dystopian novel inbound.

[Anonymous No.18232322]

>>18222933
based

[Anonymous No.18232324]

>>18222626
451.
checkmate retard