# Why read dystopian novels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363 "2020-04-08T17:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/1 "2020-04-08T17:45:16Z")
For those of you who like them, why? Isn’t the real world dark enough? I’m genuinely curious. I read to escape from reality, not to visit a worse version. What is it about dystopia that appeals to you? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/2 "2020-04-08T17:46:39Z")
One of them’s going to be accurate. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/3 "2020-04-08T18:12:48Z")
Some of the good ones are weirdly optimistic. After all, they start out after the worst has already happened, so really, things can only get better from there, right? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/4 "2020-04-08T18:18:26Z")
I just realized all my favorite novels and movies are the dystopian type. My favorite book is The Road. My favorite movies are Children of Men, Mad Max Fury Road, Bladerunner 2049. I loved the Hunger Games books. I think I like them since the stakes are so high in everything the characters so. Life and death decisions force them to be strategic and resourceful in all their actions. Some of the decisions have to be made on the spur of the moment and it’s interesting to see the aftermath of their actions. They also feel way more personal to me following someone navigating a stressful situation with concentration out of necessity. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/5 "2020-04-08T18:26:03Z")
It’s always fun to take a little trip into another world. A dystopian setting has certain advantages that a good author can use to make a story work better. ---
**Author:** ![Garak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Garak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garak)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/6 "2020-04-08T18:26:38Z")
because art is supposed to make us see how bad humanity can become and hopefully avoid that that’s why Lord of the Flies is so good ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/7 "2020-04-08T18:33:53Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > For those of you who like them, why? Isn’t the real world dark enough? I’m genuinely curious. I read to escape from reality, not to visit a worse version. What is it about dystopia that appeals to you? The fact that the world in a dystopian novel is so much worse is the main appeal for me - it makes my life seem so much better. That, and a general fascination with disasters. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/8 "2020-04-08T18:44:48Z")
Someone pointed out that utopias are boring, so people write about dystopias. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/9 "2020-04-08T18:56:34Z")
I like good writing and interesting stories – dystopia, utopia, fruitopia, doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/10 "2020-04-08T19:01:28Z")
Kuzcotopia! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/11 "2020-04-08T19:49:19Z")
> [@Garak](#): > > because art is supposed to make us see how bad humanity can become and hopefully avoid that > > that’s why Lord of the Flies is so good Exactly, they function as cautionary tales. Or they can be distorted mirrors of contemporary society for purposes of satiric social commentary. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/12 "2020-04-08T19:53:34Z")
Dystopian novels tend to focus on the characters’ ability to overcome their circumstances. Its a celebration, so to speak, of mankind’s ability to adapt and overcome circumstances. They hinge on characters’ ability to survive and thrive in any circumstances. I can’t recall a dystopian story where main characters said, “Well Fuck. I’m screwed, what’s the point?” and sat down and died. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/13 "2020-04-08T19:56:06Z")
I read and enjoy any dystopian book I can find, my list of faves matches **Hampshire** closely. To get into the psychology of it, I think books like that give people a safe way to process their fears. If I share my fears about the future with friends, I tend to depress the hell out of them. And as someone who isn’t exceptionally vocal about my fears in the first place, I don’t have many outlets. Reading about them actually gives me comfort that I’m not the only person who worries about this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/14 "2020-04-08T20:27:14Z")
> [@Garak](#): > > because art is supposed to make us see how bad humanity can become and hopefully avoid that I feel that was the point Orwell was making with _Nineteen Eighty-Four_. He was describing how things would be after an absolute regime was established in order to warn people that once that regime was in power, it couldn’t be overthrown. So he was telling people they had to take action now in order to prevent such a regime from taking power. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/15 "2020-04-08T20:29:20Z")
There’s something appealing about the lone survivor, often an anti-hero who makes their way through the wasteland, and imagining what the breakdown of society would actually be like when everything goes down the drain, it is all sort of an illusion after all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/16 "2020-04-08T20:34:31Z")
They make me appreciate my real life more. Also being reminded of how fragile life can be is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/17 "2020-04-08T20:46:17Z")
Because they show the negatives of our familiar existence in a context where they stand out sharply. Through such allegory - or through the reasoning needed to interpret the hints - our awareness is heightened. We see more clearly the issues we need to overcome, and hope that others who read may do the same (or may see themselves and the problems they cause reflected, whether consciously or otherwise, and start to change). ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/18 "2020-04-08T21:08:00Z")
> [@turner](#): > > Dystopian novels tend to focus on the characters’ ability to overcome their circumstances. Its a celebration, so to speak, of mankind’s ability to adapt and overcome circumstances. They hinge on characters’ ability to survive and thrive in any circumstances. I can’t recall a dystopian story where main characters said, “Well Fuck. I’m screwed, what’s the point?” and sat down and died. While it’s not as obviously dystopian as other works here, in Neon Genesis Evangelion the main character very much so would rather sit down and let the aliens take over the Earth at multiple parts of the series. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/19 "2020-04-08T21:21:03Z")
They’re about problem-solving and thinking through how to survive. Frankly, my early speculation and preparations for COVID-19 were well-served by dystopian fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2020, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363/20 "2020-04-08T21:34:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Some of the good ones are weirdly optimistic. After all, they start out after the worst has already happened, so really, things can only get better from there, right? > [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](#): > > It’s always fun to take a little trip into another world. A dystopian setting has certain advantages that a good author can use to make a story work better. > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > They make me appreciate my real life more. Also being reminded of how fragile life can be is a good thing. All of these. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-read-dystopian-novels/851363.md?page=2)