Dystopia 101

I have a love of all things dystopian. I went through a phase about ten years ago that proved, in my mind, that dystopian fiction was the genre for me. In thinking of ways to make over the blog so that it is not all cooking, I decided that each week I would try to post a review of a piece of the dystopian genre. Since a book a week is a tall order, I will expand my reviews to cover all media, be they novels, movies or, sometimes, musical in nature.

First, let's get to the bottom of the real dystopia, at least the real one to me. I see a lot of suggestions about great dystopian books that just aren't. Two guys walking through a shell of the land, burned out by holocaust is not dystopian. It is post-apocalyptic (which I may add if the dystopian fare gets low). Guys with cyberware, wetware, brain burns, etc. is cyberpunk. The main theme in dystopian literature, to me, is an all-powerful, people-suppressing government hell-bent on keeping the sheep to be sheep through all manner of manipulation.

So, for example, Neuromancer, not dystopian. 1984, on the other hand, is. The Road? Nope. Father and son walking through the land. Brave New World? Yes.

Now, the format. I will right a synopsis of the piece, then give the method by which the government controls its people. Lastly, and maybe the most fun, I will try to imagine a path that would lead us from present day to that future presented by the artist.

So, buckle in, the path may be bumpy for a bit until I find my style. The cooking blog will continue, starting with homemade lasagna (with homemade mozzarella and ricotta cheeses and a homemade sauce) next week. But, until then, on with the dystopia!