What will the future look like?

On 21 January 1950 George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair) passed away. A British journalist and author, Orwell, wrote two of arguably the most famous novels of the 20th Century, 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' (published in 1949) and 'Animal Farm' (published in 1945), both of which feature on the Kumon Recommended Reading List.

In 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', Orwell tells of a totalitarian future with an omnipotent leader, Big Brother. In honour of Orwell, we thought we would bring you some suggestions of novels which tell of a future quote apart from our reality:



'I, Robot' by Isaac Asimov predicts a future where robots have become man's best friend. However, for reasons unknown things start to go a little wrong.

In 'The Time Machine' by H G Wells, our unnamed hero travels 800,000 years into the future where he finds a beautiful, peaceful race living in harmony. However, it isn't long before he realises there is another side to this world.

Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' sees a 'perfect' future; there is no war, the population is stable meaning resources are plentiful. People are conditioned to enjoy their jobs and never covet what others have. However, the price of perfection is rather high.

Lois Lowry's 'The Giver' appears to present the future as a peaceful, happy utopia where sameness is everything. However, as our hero Jonas receives his assignment in the community, he takes on the memories of the world and learns the horrible truth about his 'perfect' society.

Who knows what the future will hold, but why not mark Orwell's passing by exploring some possibilities (however fantastic they may be)?