Great political novels you have read

blacbird · Nov 10, 2017

Just a curiosity thread. Looking for great novels which have either a direct political theme, or portray issues with obvious intent on expressing political opinion. A quick list of some favorites I have read:

Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler
The Ministry of Fear, Graham Greene
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, John LeCarré
We, Evgeny Zamyatin
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
1984, George Orwell
Threepenny Novel, Bertolt Brecht
Kaputt, Curzio Malaparte

caw

autumnleaf · Nov 13, 2017

Political novels are tough to write; all too easy to let the message overwhelm the story. Here are a few that contained both a great story and a powerful message:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I'll second 1984 and Brave New World as well (are dystopias inherently political?)

Helix · Nov 13, 2017

House of Cards trilogy -- Michael Dobbs
Kim -- Rudyard Kipling
The Man Who was Thursday -- G.K. Chesterton
The Secret Agent -- Joseph Conrad
The Quiet American -- Graham Greene

JimmyB27 · Nov 13, 2017

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Do these count? I think they count.

DanielSTJ · Dec 11, 2017

I also like:

Catch-22
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kim
Fahrenheit 451

williemeikle · Dec 11, 2017

The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin

oneblindmouse · Dec 17, 2017

The Skull mantra by Elliot Pattison, and all his Inspector Shan sequels. Set in contemporary Tibet and Western China.

Death of a red heroine by Qiu Xiaolong, and the other Inspector Chen sequels.

Great political novels you have read

blacbird

autumnleaf

practical experience, FTW

Helix

socially distancing

JimmyB27

Hoopy frood

DanielSTJ

The Wandering Bard

williemeikle

The force is strong in this one.

oneblindmouse

The new me