It oftentimes marks the arrival of an excellent author in championship literary circles when they pen a best-selling novel of a dystopian future like Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” or George Orwell’s “1984.” More than ordinarily skilled wordsmiths have no trouble at all conjuring forth visions of an absolute breakdown in human society. For these prophets of forthcoming grimness, provided they play their ink-spilling roles skillfully enough, tomorrow’s terrors equal today’s cache of personal gold. Yet authors of this sort these days face unprecedented headwinds. How so?
If everyday media headlines speak of little more than present reality of a social order writhing in total anarchy, as did the Oct. 26 Page A3 headlines “Mass. students back in class, 2 days after killing,” “Police chase gunman across desert,” and “Recruiter charged in Tenn. shooting,” then isn’t it true that we are already experiencing dystopia?
Even Huxley and Orwell would face an insurmountable problem in that situation.
Frank Goheen
Camas
