Authors: George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury
Interest Level: Upper Grades (9-12)
ATOS Reading Levels: 5.2-8.9
AR Points: 7.0-17.0 each
Book Type: Paperback
Dystopia Pack
A dystopian society is one in which the conditions of life are miserable, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution.
There are three GREAT books that are recognized as the BEST dystopian classic, and we have packaged them together into one set of books for you! "1984" by George Orwell, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, and "Fahrenheit 451" each have millions of copies sold and are recognized as the three greatest classic dystopia novels ever written.
Books in the Series:
Nineteen Eighty-Four (also titled 1984), by George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair), is a 1949 English novel about life under a futuristic authoritarian regime in the year 1984. It tells the story of Winston Smith, a functionary at the Ministry of Truth, whose work consists of editing historical accounts to fit the government's policies. Smith is degraded and tortured after he is arrested by the Thought Police under the instruction of the totalitarian government of Oceania.
The book has major significance for its vision of an all-knowing government which uses pervasive and constant surveillance of the populace, insidious and blatant propaganda, and brutal control over its citizens. The book had a substantial impact both in literature and on the perception of public surveillance, inspiring such terms as 'Big Brother' and 'Orwellian'.
Aldous Huxley's tour de force, Brave New World is a darkly satiric vision of a "utopian" future—where humans are genetically bred and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively serve a ruling order.
A powerful work of speculative fiction that has enthralled and terrified readers for generations, it remains remarkably relevant to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying entertainment.
School Library Journal: "The advanced vocabulary and complex themes lend themselves to class discussion and further research." Grades 8+
"The system was simple. Everyone understood it. Books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden."
Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. he had been a fireman for ten year, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs nor the joy of watching pages consumed by flames...never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do...
Internationally acclaimed with more than 5 million copies in print, Fahrenheit 451 is Ray Bradbury's classic novel of censorship and defiance, as resonant today as it was when it was first published more than 50 years ago.
The New York Times: "Frightening in its implications...Mr. Bradbury's account of this insane world, which bears many alarming resemblances to our own, is fascinating." |
