More than one reviewer has suggested that the bleak world I've painted in XVI is an impossibility. Yet - certain things - like surveillance (in Chicago - and the sex-ing up pre-teen girls (see the January French Vogue spread - or any current teen fashion magazine) - are already happening.
One thread in XVI has to do with Mike's dad, as a welfare recipient, having to be a human guinea pig for medical research. Imagine my lack of surprise when I saw this article. (Much of which you may have already heard of on the news.)
As a dystopian author, I look at the world around me, and imagine - given any certain trajectory - what could be next. It isn't always pretty, and it may seem far-fetched, or even impossible. But... some of it is already being unearthed behind us - and is hiding around the next corner, if we aren't vigilant.
What have you noticed lately that is indicative of a dystopian world come to pass? I'd be more than interested to hear...
A friend of mine is a huge fan of Orwell, especially 1984.
ReplyDeleteHe says that we live in that world of 1984, just that it's subtler. We are watched everyday by people who would report us, there are surveillance and security measures everywhere, even in ones own home.
One thing I dislike and even find myself slightly worrisome about is the fact that everything you delete on your phone, laptop or any other electronic device capable of memory, isn't truly deleted. Its still there, saved hidden in the hard-drive just in case police may want access. I find this exceptionally spooky and rather dystopian.
It's like we only have privacy when it is irrelevant and convenient.
I recently finished the book and I don't think it's impossible at all. Look at how women's reproductive rights are slowly being changed, altered, even taken away in some cases.
ReplyDeleteOur society seems to forget that women have only had the right to vote for 91 years...it might not take much to reduce our rights to almost nothing again.
SCARY!! But that's the point of sci-fi, isn't it?
Great post, and I think XVI ought to find itself on some required reading lists for high school.
Any of the myriad of laws that give the government more control of kids than their parents.
ReplyDeleteI think your examples are excellent basis for why a true dystopia could happen - for goodness sake, look at the situation in North Korea - there is not a piece of public information there that is not controlled. Also, in a sense, XVI already happens in certain religious sects - look at he FDLS. A particular age may not be a catalyst, but a girl hitting puberty is. Never say never - it's a slippery slope to extremism.
ReplyDelete-Linds, bibliophile brouhaha
Great comments, everyone!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely lots of dystopianesque stuff going on in today's world - and - we need to watch that & put it in check whenever possible!