I had something else planned for today, but the message of this t-shirt has been haunting me. Like an earworm, maybe if I share it I can get it out of my head.

Those of you who took any English literature classes in high school immediately understood the references. 1984 is a novel written by George Orwell. Brave New World was authored by Aldous Huxley. And Fahrenheit 451 is possible the best known work by Ray Bradbury. Published over a 20-year period in the mid-twentieth century (1932-53), the three paint a picture of a future dystopian society with autocratic governments and a society conditioned to obey. Citizens’ access to information not sanctioned by the state is prohibited. Truth is whatever the authorities want it to be.

Each author had a different vision of what the future would look like, but they were all agreed it wasn’t pretty. The Venn diagram on the t-shirt, showing the intersection of the three stories made me think.

Have we been blissfully unaware of the need to protect our freedoms? Has our society been shaped by those forces and people who do not have the best interests of the people in mind? And if so, is it too late to reverse the process?

I have a pile of books on my shelves that I want to read. And other on my tablet. I think those are all non-fiction.

There are works on gender, on violence, on poverty and politics. There are biographies, theological treatises and sociology texts. But no fiction.

Yet fiction speaks to the human condition. It tells us who we are, and who we want to be.

Maybe I need to add some fiction to the list, not new books, but ones I have read before, just not recently. Maybe I’ll start with Brave New World, then move on to 1984 and finish with Fahrenheit 451. I don’t remember much there that is hopeful, but it has been more than 50 years sicec I read any of them, so maybe it is just fading memory.

If you haven’t read them, what are you waiting for? They may not provide a solution to life’s ills, but you might see a portrait of who we are today, written when the events were just speculative fiction.

Then, if you are looking for some dystopian reading with a more optimistic outlook, try C..S. Lewis three speculative fiction novels: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. Also portraits of a society at war with itself – but one in which a glimmer of hope remains.

Happy Reading!