1984 by George Orwell was the first dystopian fantasy book I read — though I didn’t know it at the time. I was in high school. And I didn’t read another until the Hunger Games trilogy, which I recently finished. I loved them.
Laura Miller’s analysis of the likeness between this genre and what young adults are going through makes sense. But I don’t think teens realize it at the time. It’s interesting and popular because it’s different. It’s edgy. The suspense of everything and the wonder of a world being the way the story portrays is what nabs readers — young and old.
The thing that fascinates me about this genre is how much conversation could be had while reading and after, about what the story really means. I know I wouldn’t have taken away all that I did reading Hunger Games today versus when I was a teen. British academic Kay Sambell says the typical arc of the dystopian narrative mirrors the course of adolescent disaffection. The Uglies series is a perfect example, which is on my list to read.
For myself I look at the two books I read at two different times in my life — 1984 in high school, and Hunger Games today — and wonder what future dystopian novels will be like. Like Miller says, they’ll likely still include “the part about the world being broken or intolerable, about the need to sweep away the past to make room for the new” no matter what new technology and social trends there will be.
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