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After reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, I was so fascinated by the following key features explored in the book:

- Social Media
- Technology (Artificial Intelligence)
- Casual Relationship (destroyed concept of family, parent-child, and love)


Is there anyone who could suggest or share any literature that has a criticizing or concerning view on those elements in our modern society?

It would be GREAT if there’s any contemporary poet who specifically wrote about those in his/her collections of work.

However, other types of literature such as drama (play), non-fiction, essay, short story, or autobiography, anything is fine!

Hi Ruhan,

I think this tread belongs in the "Chit Chat & All That" folder. "Question of the Month 2024" is run by Lynn for one monthly question.

For those three points you mention what first springs to mind is The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster. Don't be fooled by it was written in 1909. It has live streaming, Social Media FOMO and ChatGPT. I am not kidding!

Absolute classics in Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451, but they both focus more on society than Social Media.

On a lighter note maybe Ready Player One. The background story about Earth being neglected is well done � and frightening realistic.

This list:
Best Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
/list/show/4...

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Hi Ruhan,

I think this tread belongs in the "Chit Chat & All That" folder. "Question of the Month 2024" is run by Lynn for one monthly question.

For those three points you mention what first spri..."


Ruhan I agree with J Blue flower. She gave a good answer with book recommendations. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is often taught in Literature classes alongside 1984 by George Orwell. Both focus on a government that has imposed its will upon the people and there is a loss of individual freedom in the society. Another example of that theme would be found in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

Ruhan thank you for this question. It is right up my alley. I moved your thread here

/topic/show/...

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Hi Ruhan,

I think this tread belongs in the "Chit Chat & All That" folder. "Question of the Month 2024" is run by Lynn for one monthly question.

For those three points you mention what first spri..."


Ruhan I agree with J Blue flower. She gave a good answer with book recommendations. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is often taught in Literature classes alongside 1984 by George Orwell. Both focus on a government that has imposed its will upon the people and there is a loss of individual freedom in the society. Another example of that theme would be found in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

To your three bullet points you listed:

- social media,

I have never thought specifically about social media but the 1984 uses radios for propaganda purposes and large gatherings in front of television screens.

Fahrenheit 451 also has intrusive television screens.

- if you are interested in technology/robotics and the nature of humanity vs machine intelligence I would suggest I, Robot by Isaac Asimov, There is actually a series but the major work read is I Robot. Another that is very good is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Philip K. Dick is credited with creating a dystopian vision that many other authors drew inspiration from.

- all of the books mentioned in both my posts touch on the family as an institution

Families - This one might be a little off topic, but it deals with families in a startling way Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke. A similar short story would be Mimsy Were The Borogoves by Lewis Padgett

- For an overall dystopian society read Logan's Run by William F. Nolan

- For a farcical view on the meaning and purpose of human life The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut Jr..

Ruhan wrote: "After reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, I was so fascinated by the following key features explored in the book:

- Social Media
- Technology (Artificial Intelligence)
- Casual Relationship (..."


Ok last response for now. I immediately thought about Classic Science Fiction, but as our modern society begins to resemble the books from a century ago, there may be recent non-Science Fiction works on these topics.

I can't think of examples of Science Fiction poetry. That would be really interesting.

Ruhan, for those particular topics, I think you can't do better than Ted Chiang. I recently read his collection of stories Exhalation, and he handles the moral issues surrounding technology, AI, and social media beautifully. He's especially perspective as to the human and cultural costs. His work has a quality that approaches literature, even if it is too recent to fit into that category.

For social media (and an imagining of the future of such things), I particularly recommend his story from that collection, "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling." For AI, I recommend the longest story from that collection, "The Lifecycle of Software Objects" - it's fascinating.

What about something by Robert A. Heinlein

Lynn wrote: "To your three bullet points you listed:

- social media,

I have never thought specifically about social media but the 1984 uses radios for propaganda purposes and large gatherings..."

Lynn wrote: "To your three bullet points you listed:

- social media,

I have never thought specifically about social media but the 1984 uses radios for propaganda purposes and large gatherings..."

Lynn, thank you for reminding me of Logan's Run! I had forgotten about that one. I'm sure I saw the movie in the '70s but have never read the book. I'm reading it next!

Zamyatin's We (1924) and Thea von Harbou's Metropolis (1925) are early examples of dystopias

and yes, The Machine Stops is essential reading in this context

Terris wrote: "Lynn wrote: "To your three bullet points you listed:

- social media,

I have never thought specifically about social media but the 1984 uses radios for propaganda purposes and lar..."


Terris, I can't say that the writing in Logan's Run is great literature, but it follows the movie very well.

I know that it is not a "classic" but I thought social media themes were explored extremely well in "Extras" by Scott Westerfeld. It is considered Book 4 in a series, but is essentially a stand-alone story.

I just finished with Logan's Run and The Machine Stops and they were two of my favorites this year, and will echo that these are great dysopians to read with "upside down" worlds/socities.

And Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 is always a good one too.

Lynn wrote: "Terris wrote: "Lynn wrote: "To your three bullet points you listed:

- social media,

I have never thought specifically about social media but the 1984 uses radios for propaganda p..."

I'm not expecting great literature, but I feel like I need to have this one under my belt if I'm to be "well-read" in the sci-fi genre ;)
I'll let you know what I think!

You've already had some great responses, but I wanted to add Atwood's Madd Addam series: Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, MaddAddam. A great take on technology gone wrong.

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

Anisha Inkspill wrote: "We by Yevgeny Zamyatin"

I really want to read this one! It's been on my list for awhile -- I need to finally read it! :)

Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov (the new dictatorial society being built; a torn-apart family; sacrifices one makes to stay himself under pressure)

Non-Fiction:

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
The Technological Society

Darya Silman wrote: "Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov (the new dictatorial society being built; a torn-apart family; sacrifices one makes to stay himself under pressure)"

Bend Sinister

Never even heard about it.

"The state has been recently taken over and is being run by the tyrannical and philistine ‘Average Man� party. ... the most overtly political novel he ever wrote..."

I read it only a year ago

Terris wrote: "Anisha Inkspill wrote: "We by Yevgeny Zamyatin"

I really want to read this one! It's been on my list for awhile -- I need to finally read it! :)"

I just read We, and led a discussion of it in a Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ group, George Orwell Matters. George Orwell reviewed the book, back when it was fairly new.

It's a fascinating book and comes recommended by Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin and Bruce Sterling. Sterling and Atwood have both written introductions to editions of We.

Discussion here, if you are interested:
/topic/show/...

Ruhan, I know it's been mentioned a couple of times already but We by Yevgeny Zamyatin will probably do the trick for you. In an ever so slightly different vein (and although its far from a contemporary take), News From Nowhere by William Morris (the man better known for founding the Arts and Crafts movement) is an intriguing little concoction.

Greg wrote: "Ruhan, for those particular topics, I think you can't do better than Ted Chiang. I recently read his collection of stories Exhalation, and he handles the moral issue..."

I just wanted to put a plug in for Chiang. Though I really preferred his first collection Stories of Your Life and Others. I reviewed most if not all of the stories. My list is:
here.

Greg wrote: "Ruhan, for those particular topics, I think you can't do better than Ted Chiang. I recently read his collection of stories Exhalation, and he handles the moral issue..."

I just want to put in a plug for Ted Chiang though I preferred his first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others. My reviews of the stories in both collections can be found here.

Have you read The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein? I definitely has AI and unusual relationships of a casual nature. Not sure about the social media.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. Not anything like 1984, but if you want to ponder the future it is a huge winner.

I would also highly recommend The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster.

As for poetry, I haven’t read this myself, but have on my TBR Aniara by Harry Martinson, described as an epic science fiction poem