(Penguin Modern Classics, ₹350)
Written in 1914-15 and published posthumously in 1925, Kafka’s vision of a chilling dystopia, where logic and justice are subverted relentlessly, feels shockingly real today. The story focuses on Joseph K., a young and conscientious worker, who is suddenly arrested on unknown charges and then dragged through a trial he can scarcely hope to exonerate himself from. Anthony Perkins played Joseph K. in a movie adaptation in 1962.
DARKNESS AT NOON BY ARTHUR KOESTLER
A towering precursor to 1984, this bleak revisiting of the horrors of Stalinism is a classic of 20th century fiction. Set in 1939, in the wake of World War II, the story does not explicitly mention the USSR, though the reign of terror it describes obviously resembles the tyrannies of Bolshevism. The plot revolves around the trial of Rubashov, an “Old Bolshevik”, whose fate will be decided by the arbitrary cruelty of a ruthless dictator.
THE HANDMAID’S TALE BY MARGARET ATWOOD
Published in 1985, this grim tale of misogyny under a repressive, patriarchal regime had a fresh lease of life after being adapted as a TV series in 2017. Atwood described the novel as “speculative fiction of the George Orwell variety”, signalling her debt to the English master. Conceived during the years she travelled in Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the story draws from totalitarianism in real life, blurring the possible and the improbable.
In the fantastical country where she grows up, Meiji, who is at the heart of this compelling novel, happens to be the only surviving woman. Protected and nurtured by her three uncles, she must be hidden away from the dictatorial gaze of the “generals”, clone brothers and rulers of the terrain. Meiji’s adventures to escape this living nightmare begin in this book and conclude in the sequel, The Island Of Lost Girls.
(Simon & Schuster India, ₹350)
Set in the near future in an unnamed city, this is a frightening parable for our times, recently adapted into a Netflix series. An obsession with purity, ghettos overflowing with garbage, and rising inequality form the blueprint of the story. The plot revolves around Shalini’s quest to find her daughter Leila, who was separated from her under tragic circumstances 20 years ago. Leila offers a vision of the world too close to the bone.
