By “modern” I mean like…written in the last 50 years about topics that are current issues. Allegorical political novels that are, how shall I say, pretty explicit about what it’s about and focus more on the message than necessarily the plots or characters.
Pretty open to what the point of view is, but like Orwell I consider myself a Democratic Socialist and I’m not looking for books arguing for opposing politics (nobody overly inspired by Ayn Rand please!). Liberal topics like queer issues, religious freedom, colonialism, equality and intersectionality are a plus.
by manicbestfriend
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The Accusation, the book of short stories smuggled out of North Korea, was fascinating, and also some of the stories were clearly meant to conjure Orwell.
This might seem like an odd choice for a couple reasons, but I would suggest Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead.
The message might not quite be as explicit as you’re looking for, and the plot and characters more prominent than you’re looking for. But there’s an essential message at the heart of the book.
The plot revolves around what looks like a horrific murder. As readers we start out bewildered how there could be a moral justification. But it’s a lesson in how what seems like a universal absolute is actually contextual. It shows the importance of considering other points of view, or if necessary, recognizing that you might be not be able to appreciate another point of view – certainly something we should appreciate. Card includes a frame works for thinking about how different another’s point of view is, and how able you are to understand it.
BTW, if you’re hesitate given Card’s beliefs, I honestly can’t explain how someone with those beliefs could write such a book. They seem quite opposite. But write it he did.
Also important to note – I would suggest reading Ender’s Game first. It sets up the motivation to get things right in Speaker for the Dead.
Handmaid’s Tale, obviously. Also Hum by Helen Phillipps for the ways we perpetrate our own surveillance state.
Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (and its sequel) is so spot on with America right now that it’s actually difficult to read. Maybe also Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, but my memory is a little foggier on that one.
Parable of the Sower depicts a late-stage capitalist hellscape that hits so close to home right now.
Ben Elton’s “Blind Faith” is one I enjoyed! It’s not a perfect novel, but it’s a good story.
Charles Stross’ Merchant Princes / Empire Games gets there in the end. Has a massive near future alternate US with an extreme digital panopticon (rfid tags in tyres tracking people, mobile phone batteries with their own sim to alert the authorities of sus behaviour if removed) and on the way it deals with economics, developmentalism, womens issues, etc. All in a scifi package.
Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is a takedown of the US’s prison-industrial complex and love for torture. I was surprised when Jenna Bush Hager picked it for her book club. It’s incisive in its critique but also pretty funny and definitely very queer.
Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handboo, by Mark Bray
***The Memory Police*** fits the bill – written by Yōko Ogawa and translated by Stephen Snyder – [https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a6d471b1-d6a3-4cf0-85b5-65d788954a57](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a6d471b1-d6a3-4cf0-85b5-65d788954a57)