April 2026
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    I’m looking for two types of books: books about some kind of conflict between individualism and collectivism, and books that, in your opinion, are a good representation of individualism and/or collectivism, even if the author doesn’t name these concepts directly. What is meant by “individualism” and “collectivism” is a bit subjective, but that’s no problem: I’ll be thankful for all your recommendations (by the way, they could be both fiction and non-fiction)

    Here are some examples:
    1) Astrid Lindgren – her books are very individualistic, especially for children's literature. The characters' desire to fulfill their dreams, independence, and business acumen are presented as positive things (as long as the characters don’t harm others, of course).
    2) Naomi Novik. I think that her books are pretty individualistic, which is interesting, because her Scholomance series includes a huge "take that!" to extreme selfishness. Still, her characters never belong to a big group, and she makes a great emphasis on self-reliance (especially in Spinning Silver).
    3) Ayn Rand, obviously.
    4) Ursula Le Guin, my favourite “collectivist” writer (though I think that collectivist societies in The Dispossessed and Always Coming Home are pretty dystopian, but that's just because Le Guin is a very good and honest writer and I am an individualist).
    5) Red Plenty by Francis Spufford is a book about the Soviet economy, told from various points of view, among which there are more and less collectivistic ones.

    by BrittaBengtson

    2 Comments

    1. Tove Jansson’s ‘Moomins’ series. The fillyjonks and hemulens are on the side of collectivism, the moomin family and their closest friends are on the side of individualism in the sense of ‘live and let live’.

      (The comes out a bit in ‘Moominsummer Madness’ with the conflict between the Park Keeper on one side, and Snufkin and Little My who want to let it grow wild on the other).

    2. I wouldn’t waste my time with Ayn Rand. Her writing quality is awful, not to mention she was pure evil. 

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