On Dystopian Books

I've been reading a lot of good books, mostly biographies, memoirs, and reflections of the Church Fathers. But I want to write about a dystopian book. I don’t read much in this genre, but some are too beautiful to ignore. Isn't the cover gorgeous? Light and airy with silky threads. I was so intrigued by the idea of weaving time and realities that I picked up Crewel by Jennifer Albin. I thought it could be like the Matrix, reality upon reality, or Ember, and it does have elements of both. I have not been disappointed. Albin has woven an interesting tale and world. I especially loved the idea of weaving a moment, a bubble of time.

I think the first dystopian I ever read was The Giver. And of course, in all these books, it is presented first as a utopia. People don’t get sick. There is no suffering. Everything is carefully controlled, etc. Then the layers are peeled back to show what a façade all of it is. I suppose as humans we have always struggled between security and risk, and most of these stories show what happens when we love our comforts a bit too much, when we’d rather be taken care of, than take risks. Young people need to read these books to make them think. We are getting dangerously close to socialist Europe, where the government takes care of everything. Personal charity has gone out the window, because after all, the state redistributes wealth. I am not against a central government but the proper use of it. For infrastructure, for protection of the most vulnerable, but unfortunately, our government is not looking out for the welfare of its most vulnerable -- children, unborn, and old and infirm.

The common thread in all these dystopian novels is an absence of God, even if words like “blessings” are used. Blessed by whom? In a society devoid of God, humans play at being gods, and it’s been shown over and over again, that we are not good at it. It's the hubris of man to think he can be like God. We should all try abandoning ourselves to God's will. Thy kingdom come!