Thread: Dystopian fiction

In view of Non Serviam's excellent writing challenge, I thought I'd throw some words here about dystopian literature for those of you who may not be familiar with this branch of the writing tree.
Here's a handy definition: "Dystopian literature is a potent vehicle for criticizing existing social conditions and political systems. While utopian literature portrays ideal worlds, dystopian literature depicts the flaws and failures of imaginative societies. Often these societies are related to utopias, and the dystopian writers have chosen to reveal shortcomings of those social systems previously considered ideal."
Plus the wiki version and list, plus some personal recommendations.
Novels
R.U.R. (this is actually a novel-length play) and War With the Newts, by Karel Capek.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
Stand on Zanzibar, the Sheep Look Up, the Shockwave Rider, the Jagged Orbit, by John Brunner
This Perfect Day, by Ira Levin
No Blade of Grass, by John Christopher
The Space Merchants, by CM Kornbluth and Frederik Pohl
334, By Thomas M. Disch

short stories
The Lottery, Shirley Jackson
The Seventh Victim, Robert Sheckley
Twilight, John W. Campbell
A Boy and His Dog, Harlan Ellison
Moderan (collection), by David R. Bunch

Arguably dystopian: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, by Ursula LeGuin.

*nods* Ursula LeGuin has quite a few stories and novels that treat with dystopian themes during the course of the narratives, but don't sit squarely within the bounds. That's one. The Word for World is Forest is another (look at it from the natives' point of view).

I have to add "Clockwork Orange" and "The Wanting Seed" by Burgess. The first is a classic. The second should be.

Cool. I haven't read most of those. New books for my list.

Originally Posted by Edgewise

I have to add "Clockwork Orange" and "The Wanting Seed" by Burgess. The first is a classic. The second should be.

I'd tend to agree. It seems to be rare that an author has more than one "classic", and the piece seen as superior often isn't the best work. Burgess' work in general adheres to a pretty high standard and both of those works are dystopian (see the wiki list). I tried with my recommendations (other than Fahrenheit 451) to include lesser-known works, or works that aren't as well-known outside of the genre.
Dystopianism is often confused with post-apocalyptic work-the two subgenres are related but not necessarily the same thing. Dystopian novels (and stories) are pessimistic, postapocalyptic novels (and stories) by and large optimistic (we survived, after all). The Stand is probably the best-known example of this, though far from the best. Cyberpunk novels are also largely seen as dystopian-they're not, for the most part, and only Gibson's and Pat Cadigan's seem to share the essential pessimism of the dystopian subgenre.
Here are a few more good short stories:
Ozymandias-Terry Carr
The Marching Morons-CM Kornbluth
The Big Flash-Norman Spinrad
The Hole On The Corner-RA Lafferty
novels:
What Entropy Means To Me-George Alec Effinger
The Chrysalids (aka Re-Birth)-John Wyndham
The Iron Heel-Jack London
Player Piano-Kurt Vonnegut

OMG...please allow me to add Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake to the list. Also Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents.

By all means, though I don't care for those books. They're certainly dystopian in nature. I think my dislike stems from disagreeing with the politics so necessary to those volumes. However I'd recommend Parable of the Talents to anyone who thinks that the Fundamentalist right wing of the Republican party of the US is a good thing.
Margaret Atwood I've always seen as a sort of bastard godchild of Joanna Russ, Kate Wilhelm, and Doris Lessing. The Handmaid's Tale especially seems to owe a large debt to Russ' The Female Man and Wilhelm's short story The Funeral, from Again, Dangerous Visions. Her tone owes a great deal to Lessing...unfortunately, imo, as Lessing is offputtingly arid reading.

"He, She and It", also by Atwood, I think would get your dystopian engine running.

I'll read it if you finish Dhalgren *ducks* Atwood just isn't my flavor of choice. The British New Wave dystopians are my literary chocolate.

Finishing Dhalgren doesn't conform my " life's too short for bad literature - mulch it and move on" philosophy. I've already noticed that Atwood isn't something you like, but I found "He, She and It" something of a departure for her.

"Whatever," to quote my teenager.

Originally Posted by moderan

The British New Wave dystopians are my literary chocolate.

Mmmm yes. You're a fan of Ballard, then? I spoke to him on the phone a couple of years back. Nice chap, visionary writer.

Dystopia is a peculiarly English art form. While American SF writers were launching spaceships and searching out metaphorical reds under beds, the English turned their gaze inwards and were frightened by what they saw.

Yes. I particularly like the novel The Crystal World and the short story The Drowned Giant. Certainly visionary. Never spoke to him on the phone, though. JG Ballard is probably the biggest "name" among the dystopians of the "new wave", i.e., not quite as recognizable as Orwell, Huxley, Wells, but moreso than Wyndham, Brunner, Aldiss, and probably Moorcock. Much more so than Christopher, or DF Jones.
There were some American writers doing dystopian themes, such as Harry Harrison (Make Room, Make Room), Thomas M. Disch (334), and Frank Herbert (Dune certainly has dystopian themes, and Under Pressure and The Green Brain do as well). Vonnegut and Le Guin also worked dystopian themes into their novels and stories, the latter pioneering efforts that worked on anthropological themes.
Anthony Burgess was writing dystopias as well, but he is seen as more in the "literary" school, along with Burroughs.

American sci fi dystopians aren't exclusivly about interplanetary stories Kim Stanly Robinson wrote a great trilogy dealing with global warming.and look at Michael Crichton before he passed.

Originally Posted by moderan

*nods* Ursula LeGuin has quite a few stories and novels that treat with dystopian themes during the course of the narratives, but don't sit squarely within the bounds. That's one. The Word for World is Forest is another (look at it from the natives' point of view).

Agreed. IMO she creates worlds which are utopias to some and dystopias to others, with the reader left to make the final judgement.